| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 8 July 1891 |
ENGELS TO JOHANN GUSTAV VOGT
IN LEIPZIG
[Draft]
London, 8 July 1891
122 Regent's Park Road, N. W.
Dear Sir,
If I have not replied until today to your esteemed letters of 20 June and 5 July,[1] this is due solely to the fact that I am still vainly await- ing a line from Liebknecht whom you gave as a reference and to whom, through Richard Fischer, his colleague on the Party Execu- tive, I also sent a special request for information; this is the more nec- essary in that Bebel has only just made your acquaintance, whereas Liebknecht has known you for some time past.
Compliance with your request does not depend on me alone. It is Marx's heirs, for whom I merely act as agent, and also the publisher of Capital[2] who must have the casting vote. As regards the latter I can, I believe, tell you straight away that he would in no circum- stances give his consent to such a scheme. Nor would you be likely to fare better at the hands of Marx's heirs. Neither of his two surviving daughters[3] would agree to their father's writings being translated from his own German into that of another author. Indeed, upon in- quiry I have already been told as much.
I myself could not, with a good conscience, endorse your proposal. You have been kind enough to send us your writings — a new system of natural history. Since it is only in my spare time that I can turn my attention to the natural sciences, it will be some little while before I can venture to give an independent opinion on your mode of thought. As soon as time permits, I shall peruse your work and am most grateful to you for sending it to me. Even though it may not con- vince me, I shall certainly be able to learn something from it. But of that thorough command of political economy which must be the first prerequisite for your proposed task, there is no suggestion whatever in your writings.
Hence, aside from all other doubts and difficulties, I could give my consent solely on condition that the work be revised by me. In this way, however, it would become more or less my work and that would not suit you or, for that matter, myself since there are already far too many demands on my time.
So I can see absolutely no possibility of your attaining your goal with the consent of all concerned, nor can I conceal from you my opin- ion that Marx is best able to speak to Germans in his own German. Even the working men come to understand it in due course. They are far more intelligent and, indeed, more cultivated, than is generally supposed.
Yours faithfully