London, 3 October 1893 
122 Regent’s Park Road, N. W. 

Dear Sir, 

Not until today, immediately after my return to this country, '*” have I 
been able to reply to your letter of 11 August. *°° 

There are several copies of The Holy Family ' in Berlin, while in 
Switzerland Dr Conrad Schmidt, lecturer at Zurich University, Klus- 
Hegibachstrasse, Hirslanden, might be able to help you get hold of one. 

As regards Bruno Bauer’s career up till 1843, his fortunes and opinions, 
you might find some information in Ruge’s Hallische, subsequently 
Deutsche Jahrbiicher; likewise in Bruno’s own writings. Also, in regard to 
the years 1844-46, in his works and his Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung. After 
1843 both Marx and I completely lost touch with the Bauers who didn’t 
come to London until some time towards the end of the 50s— Edgar for a 
prolonged stay, Bruno for a visit, at which time Marx saw them again. 
However, so far as I know, Bruno never had anything to do with either the 
materialist view of history or scientific socialism, but if he ever had, this 
could only be discovered from Bruno’s later writings, those of the ‘50s and 
“60s. It could hardly be denied that Marx’s views exerted a certain amount of 
influence upon Bruno’s subsequent works on early Christianity, but on the 
whole Bruno’s conception of historical causation remained primarily 
idealistic. 

It is my opinion that no one could successfully write a book about Bruno 
without spending a long time in Berlin where all the material has 
accumulated. 

Very sincerely yours, 
F. Engels 

*“K. Marx and F. Engels, The Holy Family, or Critique of Critical Criticism. Against Bruno 
Bauer and Company.