Letter to Eugen Oswald and an Unknown Correspondent, October 5, 1880

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	5 October 1880

First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, Second Russian Edition, Vol. 34, Moscow, 1964
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 46

ENGELS TO EUGEN OSWALD AND AN UNKNOWN CORRESPONDENT^[1]

IN LONDON

[London,] 5 October 1880 122 Regent's Park Road

Dear Oswald,

Many thanks for the recommendations for Beust,^d which have all been attended to. As regards Kaulitz, I got an identical letter —

sein Himmelreich' corresponding to the English 'The will of man is the arbiter of his fortune'.-⁰ All yours-^d Adolf von Beust

my reply on the reverse. As regards Br.,^[2] we are unlikely to quarrel.

Ever yours

F. Engels

[On the reverse of the letter]

(Copy) Confid.

Sir,

Mr Kaulitz was introduced to me on his arrival in England last spring, by a letter from an old friend in Germany. The letter stated that Mr Kaulitz was of a very good family, his father being one of the first notaries in Brunswick (a position of much importance and great trust in Germany), and recommended him warmly to me. From what I have seen of him since, he appears to be a man of very great business abilities and to have succeeded very well, so far, in the scholastic line; but on this point no doubt the professional gentleman to whom Mr K. may have referred you, will be able to give you more satisfactory information.

I am etc.

F. E.*

↑ Following the publication of Part One of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy in 1859 (see present edition, Vol. 29), Marx wrote a lengthy economic manuscript in 1861-63. It was a second rough draft of Capital (the first being the 1857-58 manuscript). In 1863, he definitively decided that the work was to have four books, the first three being theoretical, and the fourth, presenting a historical and critical survey. In August 1863, having completed work on the manuscript of 1861-63, Marx began preparing Capital for the press.
This work resulted in a third rough draft of Capital—the Economic Manuscript of 1863-65, consisting of three theoretical books. The draft for the fourth book (Theories of Surplus Value) formed part of the 1861-63 manuscript. Subsequently, Marx returned to the first book. On Engels' advice, Marx decided it would be the first to be published, and was preparing it for the press throughout 1866 and the first half of 1867. The first German edition of the book appeared in September 1867 as Volume One of Capital. Under the plan agreed with the publisher Otto Meissner, the second and third books, analysing the process of circulation of capital and the forms of capitalist process as a whole, were to appear as Volume Two, and the fourth book, dealing with 'the history of economic theories', as the third and final volume of Capital.
Marx, however, did not manage to prepare the second and third volumes of Capital for the press. After his death, Engels completed the work and published Marx's manuscripts of the second and third books as Volume Two (1885) and Volume Three (1894). Engels also intended to prepare for the press and publish the above-mentioned manuscript of the fourth book as Volume Four of Capital but died before this plan had been carried out. In the present edition of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels, this book of Capital has been included in the Economic Manuscript of 1861-63 (vols 30-34), while the first three volumes of Capital make up vols 35-37 respectively.
↑ Presumably Bennet Burleigh (cf. this volume, p. 38).

[1] Following the publication of Part One of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy in 1859 (see present edition, Vol. 29), Marx wrote a lengthy economic manuscript in 1861-63. It was a second rough draft of Capital (the first being the 1857-58 manuscript). In 1863, he definitively decided that the work was to have four books, the first three being theoretical, and the fourth, presenting a historical and critical survey. In August 1863, having completed work on the manuscript of 1861-63, Marx began preparing Capital for the press.
This work resulted in a third rough draft of Capital—the Economic Manuscript of 1863-65, consisting of three theoretical books. The draft for the fourth book (Theories of Surplus Value) formed part of the 1861-63 manuscript. Subsequently, Marx returned to the first book. On Engels' advice, Marx decided it would be the first to be published, and was preparing it for the press throughout 1866 and the first half of 1867. The first German edition of the book appeared in September 1867 as Volume One of Capital. Under the plan agreed with the publisher Otto Meissner, the second and third books, analysing the process of circulation of capital and the forms of capitalist process as a whole, were to appear as Volume Two, and the fourth book, dealing with 'the history of economic theories', as the third and final volume of Capital.
Marx, however, did not manage to prepare the second and third volumes of Capital for the press. After his death, Engels completed the work and published Marx's manuscripts of the second and third books as Volume Two (1885) and Volume Three (1894). Engels also intended to prepare for the press and publish the above-mentioned manuscript of the fourth book as Volume Four of Capital but died before this plan had been carried out. In the present edition of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels, this book of Capital has been included in the Economic Manuscript of 1861-63 (vols 30-34), while the first three volumes of Capital make up vols 35-37 respectively.

[2] Presumably Bennet Burleigh (cf. this volume, p. 38).

[1]

[2]