Letter to the Editors of To-Day, April 1883

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This is a draft reply, written by Engels on behalf of Eleanor Marx-Aveling to the To-Day editors over the publication (No. 1, April 14, 1883) of an English translation from the French of Chapter XXIII of Capital (corresponds to Chapter XXI of the German original). Its heading, “I.—The Serfdom of

Work” was the editor’s invention. In the letter, permission to publish the translation of one more chapter was made conditional on certain terms. They were fulfilled, as may be seen from the editorial note to the publication of Chapter “II.—The Lordship of Wealth” in the To-Day, No. 2, June 1883.

“This chapter is translated from the second and third sections of Chapter X of the original. The selection published in our last issue was translated from Chapter XXIII of the original. The translations are, of course, our own, and not those of the late Karl Marx." The sub-heading noted that the translation was from the French edition of 1872.

[Draft]

To the British Publishing Co.

Sir (or Gentn)

In reply to your letter of the — I beg to say that since my last I have compared your article with the original Le Capital.

I find that it is a very imperfect translation of Ch. XXIII (23) Réproduction simple, and that the translator has made very important mistakes in consequence of want of sufficient acquaintance, partly with the leading ideas of Le Capital, partly with French grammar.

It must appear to me very unfair that a single chapter should be taken out of the middle of a closely-reasoned scientific work and without a word of introduction be presented to the public.

When it comes to the publishing of translations of entire chapters of my father’s works, the question of copyright crops up. Please do not forget that I am responsible for their share of that copyright to other people and to my father’s memory for the way his works are done into English. Upon this point I reserve all my rights.

However I will permit you to publish another chapter in your next issue, on condition that you head it with a few lines stating

1) That the last was Ch. 23 and the present is Ch. so and so, out of Le Capital, published in Paris 1872.

2) That the translation is yours; and

3) That you inform me which further chapters you intend to translate after which I shall consider whether I can give you my permission to do so, which will very materially depend upon the character of the translation itself.

Your allusion to a poem of V. Hugo is entirely irrelevant, considering that it is well known that V. Hugo could not write a line of English and that my father has been an English author for more than thirty years.