Karl Marx

by Francis Wheen

  118. ‘The aim of the League is the overthrow of the bourgeoisie … ’ From Die Communisten-Verschwörungen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts by Karl Wermuth and Wilhelm Stieber (Berlin, 1853).

  119. ‘The Central Committee charges its regional committee … ’ Quoted in The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, edited by David Ryazanov (Russell & Russell, New York, 1963).

  120. ‘a lyrical celebration of bourgeois works … ’ From All That is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity by Marshall Berman (Verso, London, 1982).

  125. ‘Our age, the age of democracy, is breaking … ’ Deutsche-Brüsseler-Zeitung, 27 February 1848.

  126. ‘What an ass Flocon is!’ Letter from FE to KM, 15 November 1847.

  126. ‘Good and loyal Marx … ’ MECW, Vol. 6, p. 649.

  127. ‘The German workers [in Brussels] decided to arm themselves … ’ From ‘Short Sketch of an Eventful Life’ by Jenny Marx, RME, p. 223.

  127. ‘When Jenny appeared in court the next day … ’ See ‘To the Editor of the Northern Star’ by Friedrich Engels, Northern Star, 25 March 1848, and letter from Karl Marx in La Réforme, 8 March 1848.

  131. ‘There’s damned little prospect for the shares here … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 25 April 1848.

  131. ‘The most bitter complaints about Marx came from Engels … ’ From Erinnerungen eines Achtundvierzigers by Stephan Born (Leipzig, 1898), translated in KMIR, p. 16.

  133. ‘For a fortnight Germany has had a Constituent National Assembly … ’ Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 1 June 1848.

  135. ‘He could not have been much more than thirty years old … ’ The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (London, 1909), Vol. 1, p. 138.

  136. ‘A characteristic feature of the Rhineland … ’ Reported in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 13 September 1848.

  137. ‘Indescribable rejoicing broke out … ’ Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 9 September 1848.

  138. ‘Name: Friedrich Engels; occupation: merchant … ’ Kölnische Zeitung, 4 October 1848.

  138. ‘It is clear from this that the Belgian government … ’ Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 12 October 1848.

  139. ‘this newspaper, with its inventive maliciousness … ’ Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 29 October 1848.

  140. ‘What country in Europe can compare with France … ’ From ‘From Paris to Berne’ by Friedrich Engels, MECW, Vol. 7, pp. 507–29.

  140. ‘I am truly amazed that you should still not have received any money … ’ Letter from KM to FE, first half of November 1848.

  141. ‘I have devised an infallible plan … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 29 November 1848.

  142. ‘The overthrow of the bourgeoisie in France … ’ From ‘The Revolutionary Movement’, Neue Rheinische Zeitung, 1 January 1849.

  144. ‘In political trials the government nowadays has no luck … ’ Deutsche Londoner Zeitung, 16 February 1849.

  144. ‘becoming increasingly more audacious now that he has been acquitted … ’ Letter from Colonel Engels to Oberpräsident Eichmann, 17 February 1849.

  145. ‘Relaxation of discipline must have gone very far … ’ Letter from KM to Colonel Engels, 3 March 1849; see also letter from FE to Karl Kautsky, 2 December 1885.

  146. ‘Wonder was expressed … ’ From ‘Marx and the Neue Rheinische Zeitung’, by Frederick Engels, published in Der Sozialdemokrat, 13 March 1884.

  147. ‘that the much-vaunted bravery under fire is quite the most ordinary quality … ’ Letter from FE to Jenny Marx, 25 July 1849.

  147. ‘For all that, never has a colossal eruption … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 7 June 1849.

  147. ‘If my wife were not in an état par trop intéressant … ’ Letter from KM to FE, late July 1849.

  148. ‘I need hardly say that I shall not consent to this veiled attempt on my life … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 23 August 1849.

  148. ‘all Aliens who are now on board my said ship … ’ HO 3/53, Public Record Office, London.

  148. ‘You must leave for London at once … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 23 August 1849.

  6 The Megalosaurus

  149. ‘Implacable November weather … ’ Bleak House by Charles Dickens (Chapman & Hall, London, 1853), p. 1.

  150. ‘Sur, May we beg and beseech … ’ The Times, 5 July 1849.

  151. ‘I am now in a really difficult situation … ’ Letter from KM to Ferdinand Freiligrath, 5 September 1849.

  153. ‘in view of the inimical relations … ’ Letter from KM to Louis Bauer, 30 November 1849.

  153. ‘all in all, things are going quite well here … ’ Letter from FE to Jakob Lukas Schabelitz, 22 December 1849.

  153. ‘Herr Heinzen, so far from serving as a shining light … ’ Northern Star, 1 December 1849.

  154. ‘I did not know what a private parlour was … ’ From Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs by Wilhelm Liebknecht, translated by E. Untermann (London, 1901).

  156. ‘The Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Politisch-ökonomische Revue … ’ Westdeutsche Zeitung, 8 January 1850.

  156. ‘I have little doubt that by the time … ’ Letter from KM to Joseph Weydemeyer, 19 December 1849.

  156. ‘What succumbed in these defeats was not the revolution … ’ From ‘The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850’, translated in MECW, Vol. 10, pp. 47–145.

  157. ‘the whole was tactfully seasoned with pungent attacks … ’ From Karl Marx: A Study in Fanaticism by E. H. Carr (J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1934).

  157. ‘I beg you to send us as soon as possible any money … ’ Letter from Jenny Marx to Joseph Weydemeyer, 20 May 1850.

  157. ‘Pray do not be offended by my wife’s agitated letters … ’ Letter from KM to Joseph Weydemeyer, 27 June 1850.

  158. ‘Let me describe for you, as it really was, just one day in our lives … ’ Letter from Jenny Marx to Joseph Weydemeyer, 20 May 1850.

  160. ‘My husband and all the rest of us have missed you sorely … ’ Letter from Jenny Marx to FE, 2 December 1850.

  161. ‘I am writing today just to tell you … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 25 November 1850.

  161. ‘With such a salary, all should be well … ’ Letter from FE to KM, c. 6July 1851.

  161. ‘last year, thank God, I gobbled up half of my old man’s profits … ’ FE to KM, 10 March 1853.

  161. ‘Really, Sir, we should never have thought … ’ Spectator, 15 June 1850.

  163. ‘The murder of Princes is formally taught and discussed … ’ FO 64/317, Public Record Office, London.

  163. ‘this report is oddly convincing … ’ Marx by Robert Payne (W. H. Allen, London, 1968).

  166. ‘A complete office has now been set up in our house … ’ Letter from Jenny Marx to Adolf Cluss, 30 October 1852.

  167. ‘A few minutes before, he was laughing and joking … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 19 November 1850.

  167. ‘For two whole days … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 23 November 1850.

  168. ‘For the letter you wrote yesterday … ’ Letter from KM to Eduard von Müller-Tellering, 12 March 1850.

  170. ‘He leads the existence of a real bohemian intellectual … ’ Report of anonymous German police spy, in KMIR, pp. 34–6.

  171. ‘I know from General [Engels] himself that Freddy Demuth is Marx’s son … ’ Original in International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam; first published in Karl Marx by Werner Blumenberg (Rowohlt, 1962; English edition published by Verso, London, 1972).

  173. ‘there can be no reasonable doubt that he [Freddy] was Marx’s son … ’ From Eleanor Marx: Volume One, Family Life 1855–1883 by Yvonne Kapp (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1972).

  173. ‘possibly by Nazi agents … ’ Friedrich Engels: His Life and Thought by Terrell Carver (Macmillan, London and Basingstoke, 1989).

  174. ‘Research into the life of Frederick Demuth and of his relations … ’ Letter from Terrell Carver, Sunday Times, London, 27 June 1982.

  176. ‘I, of course, would make a joke of the whole dirty business … ’ Letter from KM to
Joseph Weydemeyer, 2 August 1851.

  177. ‘If only there were some means … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 20 April 1852.

  7 The Hungry Wolves

  181. ‘Byron and Leibniz rolled into one … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 22 April 1854.

  181. ‘I can’t conceive what you still need him for … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 1 June 1853.

  181. ‘he kept his rendezvous with the old cow … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 13 February 1856.

  181. ‘her entire person green … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 10 April 1856.

  182. ‘I am, hélas, once again saddled with Pieper … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 27 July 1854.

  182. ‘It transpired that his “indispensability” was merely a figment … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 23 April 1857.

  182. ‘The combination of dilettantism and sententiousness … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 7 January 1858.

  183. ‘I find myself in a fix … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 21 June 1854.

  184. ‘The sea is doing my wife a lot of good … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 13 August 1858.

  184. ‘I for my part wouldn’t care a damn about living in Whitechapel … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 15 July 1858.

  184. ‘It is true my house is beyond my means … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 31 July 1865.

  185. ‘Though I’ve racked my brains … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 16 July 1858.

  185. ‘I wish some of our lads in London … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 11 January 1853.

  186. ‘I would long ago have been obliged … ’ Letter from KM to Ludwig Kugelmann, 25 October 1866.

  186. ‘Engels really has too much work … ’ Letter from KM to Adolf Cluss, 18 October 1853.

  187. ‘The Parliamentary debates of the week offer but little of interest … ’ New York Daily Tribune, 15 March 1853.

  187. ‘Days of general election … ’ New York Daily Tribune, 4 September 1852.

  187. ‘There is something in human history like retribution … ’ New York Daily Tribune, 16 September 1857.

  187. ‘What he aims at is not the substance … ’ New York Daily Tribune, 19 October 1853.

  188. ‘so far advanced that I will have finished … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 2 April 1851.

  188. ‘Marx lives a very retired life … ’ Letter from Wilhelm Pieper to FE, 27 January 1851.

  188. ‘The material I am working on is so damnably involved … ’ Letter from KM to Joseph Weydemeyer, 27 June 1851.

  189. ‘Well, our friend Dakyns is a sort of Felix Holt … ’ Letter from KM to Jenny Marx (daughter), 10 June 1869.

  189. ‘The process of curing these stockfish … ’ Letter from KM to Jenny Marx, 11 June 1852.

  190. ‘I await your answer by return of post … ’ Letter from KM to J. G. Kinkel, 22 July 1852.

  190. ‘If you believe that you can … provide proof … ’ Letter from J. G. Kinkel to KM, 24 July 1852.

  191. ‘Your letter – and this is precisely why it was provoked … ’ Letter from KM to J. G. Kinkel, 24 July 1852.

  191. ‘The cream of the jest … ’ Letter from KM to Adolf Cluss, 30 July 1852.

  192. ‘used to enjoy flirting with this old he-goat … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 22 May 1852.

  192. ‘and should my explanation not suffice … ’ Letter from KM to Baron A. von Brüningk, 18 October 1852.

  192. ‘Should this letter cause you offence … ’ Letter from KM to Karl Eduard Vehse, end of November 1852.

  193. ‘I am engaged in a fight to the death with the sham liberals.’ Letter from KM to Karl Eduard Vehse, end of November 1852.

  193. ‘The democratic simpletons … ’ Letter from KM to Joseph Weydemeyer, 27 June 1851.

  194. ‘No running around, no advertisement … ’ From The Great Men of the Exile by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in The Cologne Communist Trial (Lawrence & Wishart, London, 1971), p. 167.

  196. ‘Your prediction that we will get the Charter … ’ Letter from George Julian Harney to FE, 30 March 1846.

  196. ‘in for a surprise when once the Chartists make a start … ’ Letter from FE to Emil Blank, 15 April 1848.

  198. ‘impressionable, that is, to famous names … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 23 February 1851.

  198. ‘I am fatigué of this public incense … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 11 February 1851.

  198. ‘I find this inanity and want of tact … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 13 February 1851.

  199. ‘who should arrive but our Dear … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 24 February 1851.

  200. ‘more of a Frenchman than an Englishman … ’ See letter from George Julian Harney to FE, 30 March 1846.

  200. ‘After the experiments which undermined universal suffrage … ’ From Neue Oder-Zeitung, 8 June 1855.

  201. ‘There is one great fact … ’ Speech delivered by KM on 14 April 1856, published in the People’s Paper, 19 April 1856.

  202. ‘Provided nothing untoward happens … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 30 July 1851.

  202. ‘the very pleasing prospect of a trade crisis … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 31 July 1851.

  202. ‘In six months’ time the circumnavigation of the world … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 23 September 1851.

  202. ‘The iron trade is totally paralysed … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 15 October 1851.

  203. ‘From what Engels tells me … ’ Letter from KM to Ferdinand Freiligrath, 27 December 1851.

  203. ‘In England our movement can progress only under the Tories … ’ Letter from KM to Lassalle, 23 February 1852.

  203. ‘One is almost tempted to forecast … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 20 April 1852.

  204. ‘The state of the winter crops … [etc.]’ See Letters from KM to FE, 29 January 1853, 10 March 1853, 28 September 1853.

  204. ‘We were spectators from beginning to end … ’ Neue Oder-Zeitung, 28 June 1855.

  204. ‘At once the constabulary rushed from ambush … ’ Neue Oder-Zeitung, 5 July 1855.

  205. ‘a new, splendid proof of the indestructible thoroughness … ’ Die Presse (Vienna), 2 February 1862.

  205. ‘The Englishman first needs a revolutionary education … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 27 July 1866.

  206. ‘the preoccupation with gardening … ’ From Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500–1800 by Keith Thomas (Allen Lane, London, 1983), p. 240.

  206. ‘the English proletariat is actually becoming more and more bourgeois … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 7 October 1858.

  207. ‘Drat the British!’ Letter from KM to Eleanor Marx, 9 January 1883.

  207. ‘To most of his adherents … ’ From David Urquhart: Some Chapters in the Life of a Victorian Knight Errant of Justice and Liberty by Gertrude Robinson (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1920).

  208. ‘This chap went to Greece … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 10 March 1853.

  209. ‘In the Advertiser four letters by D. Urquhart … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 18 August 1853.

  210. ‘He is an utter maniac … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 9 February 1854.

  211. ‘I do not wish to be numbered … ’ Letter from KM to Ferdinand Lassalle.

  211. ‘The Urquhartites are being damned importunate … ’ Letter from KM to Jenny Marx, 8 August 1856.

  212. ‘The institute of Marxism – Leninism in Moscow omitted them … ’ The offending texts were left out of both the German and Russian collected works, but did finally appear in and English edition – though only as recently as 1986, and after many years of tenacious argument between the British editors and the authorities in Moscow.

  212. ‘Did you overlook, in one of the Guardians you sent me … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 5 March 1858.

  212. ‘an Eastern palace, with a Turkish bath … ’ In the Days of the Dandies, by Lord Lamington (London, 1890).

  8 The Hero on Horseback

  215. ‘Unfortunately of the “sex” par excellence … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 17 January 1855.

  216. ‘a friend who was more dear to me … ’ Letter from KM to Amalie Daniels, 6 Sep
tember 1855.

  216. ‘Though my heart is bleeding … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 30 March 1855.

  217. ‘I’ve already had my share of bad luck … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 12 April 1855.

  217. ‘the region round Soho Square … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 13 February 1863.

  217. ‘Bacon says that really important people … ’ Letter from KM to Ferdinand Lassalle, 28 July 1855.

  218. ‘I have been compelled by force supérieure to evacuate … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 11 September 1855.

  220. ‘It is indeed a princely dwelling … ’ Letter from Jenny Marx to Louise Weydemeyer, 11 March 1861.

  220. ‘Moor was admittedly a splendid horse … ’ From ‘Karl Marx: A Few Stray Notes’ by Eleanor Marx, in RME, pp. 250–1.

  222. ‘The clouds gathering over the money-market … ’ Letter from FE to KM, after 27 September 1856.

  222. ‘So here I am, without any prospects … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 20 January 1857.

  222. ‘I had believed that everything was going splendidly … ’ Letter from FE to KM, c. 22 January 1857.

  223. ‘Our attractive little house … ’ From ‘Short Sketch of an Eventful Life’ by Jenny Marx, translated in RME, pp. 229–30.

  224. ‘They are in effect cutting me down … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 24 March 1857.

  224. ‘What am I to tell him?’ Letter from KM to FE, 29 June 1857.

  224. ‘As to the Delhi affair … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 15 August 1857.

  225. ‘The general appearance of the [Cotton] Exchange here was truly delightful … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 15 November 1857.

  225. ‘Another fortnight, and the dance will really be in full swing … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 7 December 1857.

  225. ‘It’s a case of do or die … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 15 November 1857.

  226. ‘After all, we want to show the Prussian cavalry a thing or two … ’ Letter from FE to KM, 11 February 1858.

  226. ‘I try to avoid mentioning the matter to you … ’ Letter from KM to FE, 5 January 1858.