Letter to Hermann Schluter, December 21, 1885

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 21 December 1885


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVII, Moscow, 1934
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 47


ENGELS TO HERMANN SCHLÜTER

IN HOTTINGEN-ZURICH

London, 21 December 1885

Dear Mr Schlüter,

20 Dührings (in all) and 4 of the Peasant War received with thanks.[1]

Kindly tell Mrs Wischnewetzky that, as agreed, I shall be prepared to go over the ms. of her translation[2] and write the preface[3] as soon as she has made a firm arrangement with a publisher. I'm so snowed under with work that it's downright impossible to take on anything else unless it's urgently required.

I shan't be able to turn my mind to a new German edition[4] until I have shed considerable part of my present load of work. In January I have to revise the English translation of Capital, negotiate with the publishers, etc. After that there's the Peasant War[5] and numerous other incidental jobs. Then comes the very urgent matter of the Capital, Volume III. Once I've cleared the decks to that extent, I'll be able to turn my mind to the old book.[6]

I cannot recall the pamphlet mentioned by Bucher.[7] Peel died in 1850. Marx's PAMPHLETS[8] appeared in 1855. Nor is it likely that Palmerston would have given some writer or other 100 guineas and a cask of sherry to provide proof that Palmerston was a Russian agent. It is possible that Tucker, when alluding to the earlier piece, suggested the same title for one of Marx's PAMPHLETS; that would explain everything. Nor were there any woodcuts in Marx's PAMPHLETS.

Kindest regards.

Yours,

F. Engels

Martignetti wants to translate Wage Labour and Capital[9] into Italian along with a biography of Marx which he hasn't got, as the few scrappy items in the Socialiste[10] are inadequate. Could you send him Bracke's Volks-Kalender containing my biography of Marx[11] ? I think it's in the 1878 volume, but you'll find it easily enough. The address is

Pasquale[12] Martignetti Benevento, Italia.

  1. ↑ See this volume, p. 371.
  2. ↑ F. Kelley Wischnewetzky's translation of Engels' The Condition of the Working-Class in England
  3. ↑ F. Engels, 'The Labor Movement in America. Preface to the American Edition of The Condition of the Working Class in England.
  4. ↑ of Engels' The Condition of the Working-Class in England
  5. ↑ Engels' The Peasant War in Germany
  6. ↑ Engels' The Condition of the Working-Class in England
  7. ↑ See this volume, p. 369.
  8. ↑ Lord Palmerston
  9. ↑ by Marx
  10. ↑ The reference is to the short biography of Marx carried by Le Socialiste, No. 12, 14 November 1885 and probably written by Paul Lafargue.
  11. ↑ F. Engels, 'Karl Marx'.
  12. ↑ Should be Pasquale; see also this volume, p. 421.