Letter to Jakob Lukas-Schabelitz, December 22, 1849

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To Jakob Lukas-Schabelitz in Basle

London, 22 December 1849 6 Macclesfield Street, Dean Street, Soho

Dear Schabelitz,

I received your letter and, if I failed to answer it from Lausanne, it was for a variety of reasons, but more especially my great circumnavigation of the globe from Genoa to London, which kept me 5 weeks afloat. The reason I didn’t let Bamberger have my manuscript [The Campaign for the German Imperial Constitution] was because I wanted to have it published either as a pamphlet of my own or, failing that, in the Revue which we already had in mind at the time. This Revue has now come into being and in January the first issue will appear in Germany — as you will have already seen from a somewhat premature announcement in the Berner Zeitung. We should be very pleased if you or your old man would make yourselves more or less responsible for sales in Switzerland and open an account direct with us. The copies would reach you through our Hamburg commission agent, [Julius Schuberth] and you might perhaps be able to take over some kind of general agency for Switzerland, since we prefer in any case to work only with sound houses and I don’t know the fellow who put his name to the announcement in Berne. [Davoine] You might tell me some time whether the man’s any good. Consider, then, how this might be arranged and let me know on what terms. At all events, these would have to provide for quarterly accounts and payments, at least as regards sums received from regular subscribers. We also require this of our Hamburg commission agent. [Theodor Hagen]

Kindly have the enclosed announcement inserted in the National-Zeitung [Marx and Engels. ‘Announcement of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Politisch-ökonomische Revue, — published in the Schweizerische National-Zeitung, 10 January 1850] and, should you from time to time require a fill-in, use this one for preference.

Besides the general introduction (by Marx), the first issue will contain a first article by me on the campaign for an imperial constitution, an article by little [Wilhelm] Wolff on the last days of the Frankfurt and Stuttgart parliaments, a survey of events by Marx and myself and, if feasible, the first of a series of lectures on economics which Marx is giving at the Workers’ Society here. Also miscellanea, perhaps something more by red [Ferdinand] Wolff. The latter, Marx, Weerth and I, are now here and Lupus will, if at all possible, be joining us shortly.

All in all, things are going quite well here. Struve and Heinzen are intriguing with all and sundry against the Workers’ Society and ourselves, but without success. They, together with some wailers of moderate persuasion who have been thrown out of our society, form a select club at which Heinzen airs his grievances about the noxious doctrines of the communists.

Write to me as soon as possible on the business question.

Your
F. Engels

Happy New Year in advance.

Be so kind as to send me forthwith a parcel containing Mieroslawski’s ‘Rapports sur la campagne en Bade’, Daul’s ‘Tagebuch eines pp.’, the Becker-Esselen screed, and anything else of importance that has appeared on the Baden business, i.e. that contains facts and not hot air. You can either draw the amount on me, or charge it to the account of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung against future business transactions.