London, 18 October 1892 

My dear Schorlemmer, 

I have your letters of 31 July and the 9th inst. It was my fault that Pumps 
forgot her Schmollis.” After so long an interval she no longer trusted herself 
to write in German off her own bat, and so I did it for her. Naturally I knew 
nothing of her tippling exploits in Darmstadt and put “Sie”. Her husband’ is 
not to blame, for he knows no German. Pumps is expecting a child any day, 
her fourth. Her second, a boy, unfortunately died, while her youngest, also a 
boy and really a very nice humorous little chap, is very delicate and at this 
moment far from well. 

Because of what you said about Anschiitz *° I delayed writing this 

a F. Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England. -° A little ceremony in which the 
participants drink to the adoption of Du (thou), the intimate mode of address, Sie (you) being the 
formal term./Trans./ - © Percy Rosher 

letter for several days in the hope of hearing from him. But up till now there 
has been nothing. The position is that I must know first of all how exhaustive 
the biography is to be, whether it is intended for a periodical and if so which, 
etc., etc. If the man proposes to deal with our Carl* merely gua chemist, all he 
needs are a few particulars that could serve as a framework. If, however, he 
intends to depict the man as he was, the question arises as to whether he is 
the most suitable candidate and whether one ought, without further inquiry, 
to place at his disposal the letters to and from Carl. Again, a chemist living in 
Germany would necessarily be unfamiliar with the circumstances of a man 
who had lived in England for 30 years and more, and this would involve me 
in work of a much more comprehensive nature. That would not deter me. I 
should gladly devote as much time to it as I could spare, once I had seen the 
back of Volume II I of Capital to which I have now returned. But who will 
provide me with a guarantee that my information is used in the spirit in 
which it was given? When in our presence, and in fact he spent all his 
vacations here in London except when he went to Germany in the summer, 
Carl was first and foremost a Social Democrat and up till now Social 
Democrats have been somewhat thinly represented in the ranks of the 
chemists. It certainly wouldn’t do if, in his biography, the biographer were, 
so to speak, to beg his readers’ pardon because the man whose life he was 
depicting had had the misfortune to be a Social Democrat! 

Anschutz was, if I’m not mistaken, for a time a pupil of Carl’s in 
Manchester. As already mentioned; I shall be glad to be of service—in so far 
as I have the time—but first of all I must know what is required and what 
kind of biography it is to be. 

The executors in Manchester” are right in wanting to wind up whatever 
can be wound up without going into the settlement of the copyright 
questions. That will take time if only because the publishers stand to gain 
from a certain delay and are therefore in no hurry. I have heard nothing from 
Roscoe either; doubtless he won’t make a move until he can put forward and 
accept or reject specific proposals. 

I hope your daughter continues to improve and that she has been able to 
leave her bed in the meantime. 

Why the old man‘ didn’t come to Darmstadt I don’t know. Does his 

* Carl Schorlemmer - ? Philipp Klepsch and Ludwig Siebold -° Wilhelm Liebknecht 

wife* still perhaps have relations there whom he would rather not see too often, 
while feeling reluctant actually to steer clear of them? As to the business of 
Müller’s adultery and whether he committed it or whether he didn’t, not a 
word has so far penetrated to London. Best compliments from Mrs Kautsky. 

Yours, 
F. Engels