{[London,] 1 February 1872 

Dear Citizen, 

I have delayed my reply to your letter for 3 reasons. 

Firstly, overwork, since in addition to all the confusion which a 
few vain mediocrities under the control of government agents 
have stirred up in the International—my time is taken up with a 
second German edition of my book on capital,** with a French 
edition,’ for which I have to prepare a plan after the second 
German edition, and, finally, with a Russian edition, for which I 
had to supply a number of alterations to the text.’ 

a See this volume, p. 238.