Letter to Charles Caron, September 20, 1890

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 20 September 1890


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVIII, Moscow, 1940
Printed according to the original
Translated from the French
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 49


ENGELS TO CHARLES CARON

IN PARIS

[Draft]

[London, 20 September 1890]

Dear Citizen,

In reply to your letter of the 17th,[1] I cannot give you the authorisation you ask for until I receive clarification on a number of points.[2]

In the first place it seems to me that, if any pamphlets are to be reissued, they should appear as complete and separate pamphlets and not in the form of a revue, each number of which would contain a mixed assortment of disconnected fragments of works that would, as often as not, contradict one another. Hence I should like, first of all, to be in a position to weigh up the reasons that have led you to prefer this latter form.

Again, is it not the intention of the Workers' Party to republish a large part of these same works in its Bibliothèque socialiste? If so, the party undertaking ought to take precedence over the private undertaking.

Lastly, you have yourself a pretty expensive task. It would take you from 4 to 6 months merely to complete the publication of the six pamphlets advertised[3] as commencing in your first number. Were the revue to cease appearing for want of funds midway through the publication of a work I had authorised you to reprint, a heavy responsibility would fall on my shoulders.

So have you the necessary funds? There are, in addition, further points to be considered. So as to settle the matter I would ask you to get in touch with Citizen Lafargue, to whom I have sent a copy of this letter.

I should be obliged if you would refer to me in future before using my name in public; indeed, as to the present instance, I reserve the right to have recourse, if I think fit, to measures of an equally public nature.

  1. ↑ In a letter of 17 September Charles Caron asked Engels' permission to publish translations of works by Marx and Engels in L'Oeuvre socialiste. Revue politique et littéraire.
  2. ↑ See previous letter.
  3. ↑ Engels has in mind the advertisement of L'Œuvre Socialiste. Revue politique et littéraire, enclosed in Charles Caron's letter of 17 September 1890.