IN HOTTINGEN-ZURICH 

London, 11 November 1885 

Dear Mr Schliiter, 

Have received clean sheets of Dihring up to 20 incl. ?°°; ending and 
prefaces are still to come. As soon as these arrive you will be sent the 
list of printing errors. 

The introduction to the Schlesische Milliarde*!* is in hand and 
would have been finished long ago but for a series of interruptions of 
all kinds. It has been lying heavily on my conscience, so you may be 
sure that it will not be held up for a moment longer than is absolutely 
necessary. 

You will have received the corrected proofs of the Communist League. * 
You might be good enough to tell Ede that I had already received 
via Kautsky the book by a sparrow calling itself ‘Adler’, and had de- 
liberately not mentioned it because it, too, draws on Stieber‘ as the fi- 
nal authority. The passage about Buttermilch-Born was worded in 
that way precisely because the book left me in no doubt that Born 
had surreptitiously poured out some buttermilk“ for Adler but had 
refused (see preface) to allow his name to appear. Hence he had to 
be given a kick or two in the pants. 

Dietz has written to Kautsky saying he wants to take over publica- 
tion of my Ovigin now and asking whether I would have any objec- 
tion. I have told him I have no objection provided he comes to an 
agreement with you and Schabelitz. So you should act in whatever way 
you think best. All being well, Dietz promises to place the work in the 
bookshops, which would of course be most acceptable to us, but then, 
too, Zurich’ is also entitled to a say now that it has been circulating for 

@ F, Engels, ‘On the History of the Communist League’. - Adler = eagle in Ger- 
man; this refers to G. Adler, Die Geschichte der ersten sozialpolitischen Arbeiterbewegung in 
Deutschiand...; see also this volume, p. 344. - © Wermuth/Stieber, Die Communisten- 
Verschwérungen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. - “ Born’s real name was Butter- 
milch = buttermilk in German, - * The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the 
State -‘ The editorial board and the press of Der Sozialdemokrat were located in Zurich, 
as well as the bookshop (Volksbuchhandlung). 

a year without being banned. On the other hand it was his shilly- 
shallying which caused the printing to drag on for months; it’s all 
very well for him to talk after arriving belatedly on the scene when 
others have already taken the risks. Moreover I’m not acquainted 
with the actual details of what was discussed at the time and hence 
have no alternative but to refer him to you. So please settle the affair 
in any way you think fit. 

I have found another whole mass of printing errors in the Dühring 
——all of which I myself had allowed to stand. I have become so 
accustomed to correcting two proofs— one for the meaning, the other 
for individual errors— that when there isn’t an opportunity of doing 
so I allow utter nonsense to stand. Hence most of them were in the 
first 11 sheets which were, moreover, corrected in difficult circum- 
stances. 

Kindest regards. 

Yours, 
F.E.