V. I. LENIN — TO A. M. GORKY
TO O. CAPRI (ITALY).
[Early October 1912, Kraków.]¹
Dear Alexey Maksimovich! How is your health? The last time you wrote, you reported rather poor news—your temperature had risen and so on.

LETTERS FROM THE SECOND PERIOD OF EMIGRATION

It seems to be rising again, and so forth. Have you fully recovered? Please drop me a line or two—I would be very grateful.
In Pravda, they keep saying “no, no, no” about you. That’s a pity. You really ought to give the paper a boost.
We’re now up to our necks in elections. Absenteeism is devilishly high—not just among workers, but across the board. Still, social democrats have been elected everywhere.
The outcome of these elections will determine much in terms of building the party.²
Have you heard about the Liquidator Conference?³
Which journal will you be publishing in? What’s become of Znanie?
I send you a hearty handshake and wish you a speedy and full recovery.
Best regards to Maria Fedorovna,
Your Lenin
P.S. My address is not Paris—but Kraków.
Ulica Lubomirskiego, 47. Kraków.
P.S. Have you seen Luch?⁴ Have you heard what kind of enterprise “Den’” is?⁵ There are rumors that it’s an organ of Witte…
1 Justification for the date: Luch began publication on September 29, 1912;
the first work by M. Gorky to appear in Pravda was “The Tale,” dated October 13, published in No. 131 on September 30, 1912.
2 We are speaking here of the elections to the Fourth State Duma. The electoral campaign demanded extraordinary exertion, especially in light of the resolution adopted at the Prague Conference of the RSDLP, which called for the RSDLP to field its own independent candidates and to reject any agreements with other parties or factions—namely, the Liquidators. The elections concluded on November 7, 1912.
3 We are referring to the Vienna conference held in August 1912, organized with the active participation of L. Trotsky (see Collected Works, vol. XVI, note 36, p. 708).
4 Luch was a daily, legal newspaper published by the Liquidators, appearing in Petrograd from September 16 (29), 1912, until July 5 (18), 1913 (see Collected Works, vol. XVI, note 87, p. 718).
5 Den’ was a radical newspaper that featured contributions from left-wing cadets, Liquidators, and, to some extent, “Forwardists.” It was published in Petrograd from October 1912 until 1918.