London, 12 March 1886 

Dear Citizen, 

Please excuse the belated reply. 
{ have received your kind letter of 8 February and the manuscript, * 
which | shall deal with as soon as possible. But at the moment I am 

* of the Italian translation of Marx’s Wage Labour and Capital 

obliged before anything else to check through the English translation 
of Capital, Volume I, which is most pressing and must be printed 
without delay °°; it is no easy task. When I have a free moment I shall 
devote it to your work. 

I have also received, and I thank you for them, the 6 copies of 
the Origin etc, °°? 

I am sorry that my error ‘Paolo’ caused you inconvenience. °°? 
I shall not repeat it. 

I must get hold of the calendar in order to restore the passage that 
was stuck and illegible °°*; I hope to find it here in London at a 
friend’s house; this is another cause of delay. 

I am sorry I cannot do better and more quickly than this, but the 
English Capital must take precedence; in any case [ am committed 
by a deadline to the publisher. * 

With respect I remain 

F. Engels 

I hope to spare some time in April on Wage Labour and Capital.