{[London,] 21 April 1877
Dear Bracke,

On the sheet enclosed herewith I have again noted down for
your benefit the most glaring of Kurz’s mistakes.'™*

Months ago, when I ceased to correspond with her, I told Miss
Kurz” that, being so short of time, I could at most only undertake
to correct errors of fact such as might be made by any foreigner
insufficiently au fait with French conditions—but not mere
mistakes in translation.

Hence, if she does not proceed more carefully (I shall spare
enough time for one or two more proof-sheets), you will have to
find an expert corrector and deduct what you pay him from the
translator’s fee.

You should devise one footnote in which you say once and for
all that all notes, unless expressly stated otherwise, are Lissagaray’s
own. By so doing you would save the cost of having to put
‘A. d. V.’* several times on every page.

a Short for ‘Anmerkung des Verfassers’—author’s note. -

Your idea of disseminating a portrait of me taken from the
caricature provided by Lachatre” does not appeal to me in the
least.*

It is to be feared that Prussia has concluded a secret treaty with
Russia; without such a treaty Russia could not invade Romania.?”
The workers’ press concerns itself too little with the oriental
question, forgetting that the government’s politics gamble wantonly
with the lives and money of the people.

At all events, public opinion amongst the workers, petty
bourgeoisie, etc., should be duly alerted long enough in advance
to make things difficult for the Prussian government (in its plans
e.g. to get Russia to cede a little bit of Poland or to indemnify
itself at Austria’s expense), should it attempt to involve Germany
in the war on Russia’s behalf or so much as put pressure on Austria
to that end.

With kindest regards,

Yours,
K. M.

ad p. 17, Mandat tacite, the gracious lady translates this as ‘silent
mandate’, which is nonsense; the term ‘unspoken’ agreements is
used in German, to be sure, but never silent ones. But in the same
sentence ‘démarche de Ferriéres’, meaning Jules Favre’s journey to
Ferriéres, where Bismarck was, is translated as ‘Ferriére’s demarche’, thus changing Ferriéres the place into a person!

ad p. 18, she has omitted the place-name from battle ‘of
Chevilly’.

ibid. ‘Trochu ... lui fit une belle Conférence’. This she translates
‘read him a fine lecture’, a literal schoolroom rendering which,
however, makes no sense in the German.

ad p. 20, UV'Hotel de Ville she translates as ‘town house’; what is
meant is the September government which was housed in the
‘Hotel de Ville’.

ibid. a ce lancé, another rendering that smacks strongly of the
schoolroom: ‘at this throw there came a roar from the whole
rabble’. What on earth does the German mean—at this throw
(which?) there came a roar, etc.? Lancé should here be translated
as ‘virulent cry’.

ibid. ‘D’autres tocsins éclatent’ is translated ‘new’ (why not old?)
‘tocsins were pulled (!’—-What is meant is that more distress was
being ventilated. The very word ‘éclatent’,” not to mention the

a See this volume, p. 227. - > break out

whole context, should have shown her what nonsense she was
writing.

p. 25 Miss Kurz changed what the text calls the ‘Cordeliers’*” of
the old French Revolution into the latter’s non-existent ‘Franciscans’. Not content with that she changes ‘le prolétariat de la petite
bourgeoisie’—the proletariat of the petty bourgeoisie—into ‘the
proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie’. Sheer carelessness, this!

ad p. 26, contre-maitres she translates as ‘senior boatswains’,
whereas here it means foremen, while chefs d’ateliers are captains of
industry.

ad. p. 30, ‘Paris capitulait avant le 15 sans Virritation des patriotes’.

Kurz translates this as ‘Paris capitulated before the 15th, without
exacerbation on the patriots’ part’, which would be correct if the
original read:

‘Paris capitulait etc. sans irritation de la part des patriotes’ (instead of
what it actually says: ‘sans l’irritation des patriotes’).

Hence, what is meant is precisely the opposite, namely: ‘Had it
not been for the exacerbation of the patriots, Paris would have
capitulated before the 15th.’

What is patently at fault here—the sentence is a very simple
one—is once again the most unpardonable carelessness.

ad. p. 32, ‘Jules Favre demandait ad Trochu sa démission’.

Kurz translates this as: ‘Jules Favre demanded his dismissal of
Trochu.’ Since a man does not dismiss himself from office, but is
dismissed by his superiors, this sentence could only mean that
Jules Favre wished to be dismissed from office by Trochu. In fact,
however, Jules Favre demanded his (Trochu’s) resignation of
Trochu which ts, indeed, the literal rendering of ‘démission’.