Letter to Wilhelm Liebknecht, August 21, 1883

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 21 August 1883


First published, in Russian, in Marx-Engels Archives, Vol. I (VI), Moscow, 1932
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 47


ENGELS TO WILHELM LIEBKNECHT

IN BORSDORF NEAR L E I P Z I G "

[Eastbourne,] 21 August 1883

Dear Liebknecht,

Your letter[1] has remained unanswered because of final work on the 3rd edition,[2] after which I came to stay here at

4 Cavendish Place, Eastbourne, England where I intend to remain until about 12 September.[3]

Mrs Marx died on 2 December 1881, Jenny on 9 January 1883. Both deaths were reported in the Sozialdemokrat}[4]

The Paris Vorwärts! was a little sheet which is now being accorded more importance than it deserves; the editors were a dilatory lot. Marx's main concern was to keep it on the right lines and from time to time he also wrote polemical articles and reviews attacking the Prussians.[5] Heine sent Marx some of the advance proofs of the Winter- märchen from Hamburg for publication in the Vorwärts! before the book appeared in Germany.[6]

I actually only set eyes on a few numbers and the little paper did not survive for long, so I cannot let you have any further de- tails.

Marx wrote quite a lot of things for the Deutsche-Brüsseler-Zeitung, including a polemical discourse against Heinzen.[7]

Bebel's letter safely received; will be answered from here[8] ; along with all the other correspondence, have been unable to attend to it because of overwork. Tell Bebel that Schorlemmer, who is here, will be going to Darmstadt shortly and staying there until about the mid- dle of September. If Bebel is visiting those parts before then, Schor- lemmer would like him to let him know (Prof. Schorlemmer, Darm-

Stadt is sufficient address) and tell him where Schorlemmer can meet him; in which case he will do his utmost to look him up. Lafargue finished half his time today.9

Your

F.E.

  1. ↑ In his letter of 10 August 1883 Wilhelm Liebknecht asked Engels to let him have the exact dates of death of Marx's wife and eldest daughter. He further enquired about Heinrich Heine's links with the Paris Vorwärts! as well as Marx's cooperation with the same newspaper and the Deutsche-Brüsseler-Zeitung. Liebknecht intended to use this information in his article 'Karl Marx' which was later published in Die Neue Zeit, N°- '0, 1883.
  2. ↑ the third German edition of Volume I of Capital
  3. ↑ Between 17 August and 14 September 1883 Engels was on holiday in Eastbourne on the south coast of England.
  4. ↑ F. Engels, 'Jenny Marx, née von Westphalen'; 'Jenny Longuet, née Marx'.
  5. ↑ K. Marx, 'Critical Marginal Notes on the Article "The King of Prussia and Social Reform. By a Prussian"'; 'Illustrations of the Latest Exercise in Cabinet Style of Frederick William IV'.
  6. ↑ It is clear from Heinrich Heine's letter to Marx of 21 September 1844 that on the same day he also sent Marx some of the proofs of his book Neue Gedichte. It included the poem 'Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen', which Heine intended to publish as a separate edition. He further requested Marx to write an introduction to this poem to appear in Vorwärts! In October 1844 the newspaper started to publish the poem, preceded by an editorial article probably written by Karl Ludwig Bernays.
  7. ↑ K. Marx, 'Moralising Criticism and Critical Morality. A Contribution to German Cultural History. Contra Karl Heinzen'.
  8. ↑ See this volume, pp. 52-55.