| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 1 December 1885 |
ENGELS TO PAUL LAVIGNE
IN PARIS
[Draft]
[London,] 1 December 1885
Citizen,
When I received your letter of 8 August,[1] together with your manuscript, I was on the point of leaving for Jersey, whence I did not return until 14 September. Since then I have had so much urgent work to deal with that I was unable to revert to the French translation of the 18th Brumaire. Now, having at last had time to come back to it, I find myself placed between two rival mss.
To begin with, it is impossible for me to set myself up as judge in a dispute when I am unable to make a careful investigation either of its causes or of its substance. All I know is that Fortin had been in correspondence with Marx for a number of years prior to the death of the latter, that he asked me to revise his translation, that I promised him I would do so and that I have already attended to the revision of part of his ms. Accordingly I feel I am committed to him. Such being the position, I do not consider that I have the right to use your work in any way. I shall take good care not to read a single page, for were it to prove better than Fortin's, I should be unable to prevent myself from introducing some of your turns of speech into his ms. And that would be unfair to you and also, perhaps, to Fortin, since the two of you no longer get on with one another. Much to my regret, the need for me to be impartial prevents my familiarising myself with your work.
I am holding the ms. at your disposal. The translation of the 2nd volume of Capital is an extremely difficult business. Moreover it will be absolutely impossible for me to undertake any revision at all next year. And then there are still many other things to consider. At the moment I cannot commit myself to anyone; that must lie in the future.
Yours sincerely