London, 15 April 1895 
41 Regent’s Park Road, N. W. 

Dear Fischer, 

The 400 marks received with thanks. I shall change them tomorrow and 
distribute them to the heirs. * 

So the position as regards the essays in the old Rheinische Zeitung is as 1 
feared." The copyright has lapsed and only by acting swiftly can we restore 
our title to it. It will therefore be perfectly in order if you at once announce 
that the articles will be published by you and edited and annotated by me. 
Possibly under the title: 

Karl Marx’s Early Writings. Three Essays from the (First) ‘Rheinische 
Zeitung’ of 1842. I. The Rhine Province Assembly on Freedom of the Press. IT . 
The Same on the Law relating to Thefis of Wood. II I. The Condition of the 
Wine-Growers on the Mosel. Edited and with an Introduction by F. Engels.°” 

“See this volume, pp. 490-91 

I am not quite happy about the title and should like you if possible to 
refrain from giving it a definite title until we have found one that is more 
suitable. As to the Mosel article, °*** I am sure of the facts in as much as Marx 
always used to tell me that it was precisely his preoccupation with the law on 
thefts of wood and the condition of the Mosel wine-growers that led him 
from politics pure and simple to economic conditions and thus to socialism. 
And during our conversations we always treated the Mosel article as having 
emanated from him. I didn’t read it, as I was already in England at the time. 
It is so long ago since we spoke of the matter that I cannot entirely rule out 
the eventuality of a misunderstanding. Once I have the article in front of me, 
I cannot possibly go wrong. 

Now as to your great scheme, ° I think you would do best to shelve it 
until the fate of the Subversion Bill “ has been decided. A library which re- 
issues historical documents and writings from earlier periods cannot tolerate 
any kind of censorship—quite literally or not at all. Still less could I consent 
to Marx’s and my own early works being subjected to a process of 
emasculation, however wild, in order to conform to the conditions 
temporarily obtaining in the press. But in view of the fact that we used to 
write in a very unrestrained way and were forever justifying things which, in 
the territories of the German Empire, are regarded either as a crime or an 
offence, a re-issue in Berlin after the passing of that exemplary Bill would be 
quite impossible without numerous deletions. 

Secondly, however, I have a scheme for again presenting Marx’s and my 
lesser writings to the public in a complete edition—not, that is to say, by 
instalments but all at one go, in whole volumes. I have already been in 
correspondence with August’ on the subject and we are still discussing it. So 
you might have a word with him when he gets back. I am by no means 
certain that an enterprise like this is really your cup of tea, nor do I know 
whether you, i.e. the publishing side of the Vorwdrts, are the best people for 
the job—quite aside from the harassment of the press which has already 
inclined me to believe that we may be forced to have recourse to a publisher 
outside the German Empire. 

Marx would never have consented to the issue of a work by instalments. In 
the case of the 2" Ed. of Capital I he once allowed Meissner to bring out 
seven big instalments, each of some seven sheets, but that was as much as he 
could stomach. **° To chop up books such as The Holy Family, Herr 

“Bebel 

Vogt, etc., into instalments of two sheets or so would certainly not do. In 
such cases people derive absolutely nothing from their reading and to read a 
work in this way, piecemeal, is conducive only to incomprehension. 

The Tribune articles exist only in English. °”’ 

We survived the holiday without too many mishaps and the weather was 
really beautiful. Otherwise no news. As soon as you have a copy of one of 
the three articles from the Rheinische Zeitung, please send it to me straight 
away so that I can set to work. By registered book post or, if not, in some 
other manner with adequate regard for safety precautions. 

Many regards to everyone. 

Yours 
F.E.