Letter to Karl Marx, December 5, 1860

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ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

[Manchester,] 5 December 1860

Dear Moor,

Herewith at last the famous POST OFFICE ORDER for £2—PAYABLE Charing Cross since I didn't know of a MONEY ORDER OFFICE closer to you; let me know for future occasions.

Lupus has specially requested me to tell you in advance how much he enjoyed the dressing-down you gave Mr Simon.[1] The more I read of the book,[2] the better it pleases me. But shocking misprints and spelling mistakes. Once there's Russian instead of Austrian Emperor. Moreover, it looks bad when all the foreign words that your wife wrote in roman characters are printed in roman type. This invariably happens in the case of foreign printers and special precautions have to be taken to avoid it.

What you have omitted are résumés. E.g. at the end of the 2 chapters: 'Bristlers' and 'Brimstone Gang'; again, after 'Police Matters', after all the personal business (i.e. before the 'Studies'), and elsewhere, résumés would also have been appropriate, for in that way you would have presented your philistine ad oculos[3] with a general impression. It would have meant only four extra pages and would have been extremely effective in a book in which the material and the innumerable names—the latter pretty well unknown to the said philistine—tend to be somewhat overwhelming; it would also have brought out the artistry of the whole arrangement, which is truly admirable.

How is your wife?

Your

F. E.

  1. See this volume, p. 220.
  2. K. Marx, Herr Vogt.
  3. plainly and visibly