London, 18 December 1890 

Dear Liebknecht, 

You guessed the names aright. 
I fail to see what point there would be in publishing this muddled 
correspondence, the Hegelian language of which would today be in- 

* simpletons - ° paid in cash - © Best regards to Paul. 

comprehensible.!°> Either you intend to publish everything bearing 
Marx’s name or—might this be the beginning of the Collected 
Works in pamphlet and/or serial form planned by you and Paul 
Ernst? 

Against this I would protest here and now as, indeed, I shall con- 
tinue to do. 

I would gladly agree to the publication in pamphlet form of such 
individual pieces by Marx as are comprehensible today without notes 
or a commentary, but to their publication only, without notes or a com- 
mentary of any description. Should the plan you propose here be put into 
effect, however, I shall intervene forthwith. 

I cannot write a preface. The most I could say about the corres- 
pondence is that Marx told me more than once that his part of it 
had been tinkered with by Ruge who had inserted all manner of 
nonsense. 

If only you people would leave off pestering me so that I had time 
to finish the 3rd volume,* I could myself do something worthwhile 
along those lines. I have already told you that the time is past when 
I can do work to order for you. I shall take on absolutely nothing 
further, even though it may amount to no more than 3 lines, until 
I have dealt with the mountain of stuff I have already undertaken 
to do. 

When a chap can only write by daylight and, what’s more, at most 
3, and quite often only 2, hours a day and with constant interruptions 
into the bargain, you will understand that every superfluous letter 
robs him of his most precious time. Besides which, there has been 
virtually no daylight for the past 12 days. 

So will you at long last be kind enough to let me work in peace? 

Despite a lengthy search I cannot immediately put my finger on 
the passage in Sybel. It is so cunningly concealed that leafing 
through the book is no good. However, it would do you no harm, in 
view of your preoccupation with Bismarck, to go through this import- 
ant source yourself, in which case you would yourself find the passage 
in the 4th or 5th volume. 

 of Capital - ° H. von Sybel, Die Begründung des Deutschen Reiches durch Wilhelm I, vols 
I-V. 

Kindest regards from my household to yours, and a happy holiday 
to you. 

Your 
F.E. 

Today I have had another reminder from Dietz about the new edi- 
tion of the Origin." How can I possibly manage if I don’t get a mo- 
ment’s peace?