The Marx-Engels Correspondence: The Personal Letters 1844-1877

by Friedrich Engels

s/t: A Selection

194 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

German social theorist Friedrich Engels collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto in 1848 and on numerous other works.

With the help of Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867-1894).

Friedrich Engels, a philosopher, political, historian, journalist, revolutionary, and also a businessman, was the closest and dearest friend of his lifelong colleague and collaborator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedri...

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

The editor of this collection of Karl Marx-Friedrich Engels correspondence promises us an up close and personal portrait of a decades long friendship that changed the world. Alas, this is too close for comfort. Do we really need to pry in on Marx while he babbles to Fred on about the carbuncles on his posterior? This volume is not a contribution to the understanding of Marxism, rather more like character assassination. With a priori prejudice the editor decided to pry from these letters between Marx and Engels everything that could prove embarrassing, particularly to the politically correct crowd, a hundred years after they were written. Engels comes out more favorably that his famous comrade. His letters to Marx illustrate the life of an English squire whose father had handed him the family textile business in Manchester and expected him to take over the firm when the Old Man, as Engels calls him, flew off to Valhalla. Engels rides the hounds, curses his father for making him inspect the factory and keep the books, and still finds time to publish THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASS IN ENGLAND. At worst, he might be accused of hypocrisy---the capitalist-communist. But, Marx? Oy vey! These SELECTED LETTERS zero in on three Marx obsessions: Bills, bills and more bills to pay, sent to Engels; Illness, or oh, my aching back, and stomach and liver and kidneys and derriere; and slimy gossip about political rivals inside the socialist camp, especially Ferdinand Lasalle, Wilhelm Liebknecht and Mikhail Bakunin. Did Marx enjoy even one moment of peace in his London exile? Marx, despite or perhaps because of his large family, lived the life of a solitary genius. Engels is forever hounding him to finish OUTLINE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY and later DAS KAPITAL, and Marx writes back on how much he owes this week to the butcher, baker and tax collector, and would Fred, in his next letter, please enclose five quid? The squalid conditions of his London flat cost his family their only two sons at an early age and produced the coughing sickness that doomed his wife Jenny to die young too. Marx in England had to balance these horrific domestic concerns with his writing and keeping in touch with the German comrades of the Working Man's International, a triple task that would have doomed a lesser man. According to these carefully culled letters and the hostile comments attached by the editor, Marx approached all three with childish petulance. Others must provide for his upkeep, Engels foremost but also Charles Dana, editor of the NEW YORK TRIBUNE, who Marx complains took his articles on France, England and Continental affairs but refused to pay. The growth of the German socialist movement, headed by one-time Marx protege Lassale infuriated him. Marx, after much gossip on Lassale's extra-marital affairs gleefully writes to Engels of his death in a duel fought with a jealous husband. Marx's man in Germany, Liebknecht, fares little better in these pages. He is "an oaf and imbecile" who fancies himself an author and labor organizer. Bakunin, father of Russian anarchism, vexes Marx by creating a rival Black International, with a particular strong following in the Latin countries of the Mediterranean. We are also treated to Marx obiter dicta on homosexuality, many puns on frontal and rear attacks, anti-Semitism, Marx could be vicious with fellow Jews, and the usual Victorian misogyny. Only towards the end, end of the letters, end of Marx's life, do we glimpse the more gentle Marx who regrets having afflicted his late wife and daughters with so much misery. What is all of this meant to prove? That Marx was a crude and picayune man in private? So are most men and women, particularly if their thoughts are preserved for posterity. The correspondence of Harry Truman and written recollections of Churchill, to name two statesmen, are equally revealing of their racism and gossipy talk. If the SELECTED LETTERS are mean to discredit Marxism the endeavor fails. A cause, or philosophy, is not beholden to the man or woman who strives for its accomplishment. Wittgenstein was equally cruel towards women and Jews, Kant and Hume dedicated racists. This correspondence is an exercise in mud-slinging, but the mud failed to hit its mark.

[Peter Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This selection of the letters between Marx and Engels is focused primarily on their personal interactions rather than contributions to theory. In practical terms that means there's a lot of Marx asking Engels for money and complaining about his health. It does give you a sense of how the two founders of Marxism interacted, but it isn't the book to go to for a significant contribution to your understanding of Marx and Engels' work.

I read this as part of my reading theme on Marx's life and method (documented on my blog here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2...) and as such it is useful.

[Karlo Mikhail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal correspondence between Marx and Engels. Mostly Engels pushing Marx to finish his work and Marx asking for money and complaining about health. Nice selection but editor's comments are often off the mark, especially on political and ideological issues.