| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 29 March 1894 |
ENGELS TO BENNO KARPELES
IN VIENNA
London, 29 March 1894
122 Regent's Park Road, N. W.
Dear Sir,
I am in receipt of your esteemed note of the 19th inst. (postmarked Rome) and have also just received the first half volume of your book[1] from Vienna. I am most grateful to you for having sent it to me.
The extent to which both science and events have progressed since the appearance in 1845 of that early work of mine[2] —a work to which you accord such honourable mention but which in my view is much overrated—cannot be better demonstrated than by the plan you were able to draw up for the elaboration of your book. The very fact that it was possible to tackle such an inquiry, embracing as it does every detail, even those which seem least significant, that might have a bearing on the point at issue within the field of investigation, and this by a simple layman, is an enormous advance in itself. May you succeed in completing your work exactly in accordance with your plan, thereby presenting us with a picture such as we have not possessed hitherto of the general situation of a large and highly interesting working-class community.
I am Sir,
Yours faithfully,
F. Engels