A very fine sammelband of eight German-language pamphlets by leading members of the International Workingmen’s Association (First International), including three rare and important editions of works written in whole or in part by Karl Marx.
The first Marx item is the rare first edition of Wilhelm Eichhoff’s Die Internationale Arbeiterassociation (1868), the first attempt at a history of the International Workingmen’s Association, written with the active collaboration of Karl Marx. Eichhoff had conceived the concept of the piece in the summer of 1868 and ‘informed Marx of his intention and asked him to send the necessary material and help him with the article. As early as 27 June Marx sent to Berlin a great number of documents of the Association, newspaper clippings and his own notes. In his reply of 29 June Eichhoff thanked Marx for the material and informed him that he was going to use his notes word for word and supplement and expand them as advised by Marx. Eichhoff’s work grew into a pamphlet because of the abundance of material. It was written with Marx’s direct assistance. Eichhoffs letters show that as his work progressed, Marx answered his numerous questions, gave advice, made suggestions, and wrote certain parts of the pamphlet. From 12 to 22 July 1868, Marx edited the pamphlet and read the proofs’ (MECW, Vol. 43, p. 576).
The next Marx item is the first German translation of the so-called ‘Alliance Pamphlet’, the searing critique of the anarchist wing of the First International co-written by Marx, Engels and Paul Lafargue, originally published in French in the 1873 under the title L’Alliance de la démocratie socialiste et l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs. The text was written as an investigation commissioned by the 1872 Hague conference of the International Workingmen’s Association into the activities of Mikhail Bakunin’s ‘Alliance of Socialist Democracy’ and its attempts to infiltrate and subvert the First International - the first and among the most consequential of the countless splits punctuating the long history of the International. The report’s final section, which concludes with the recommendation: “…That M. Bakunin and all the present members of the Alliance of Socialist Democracy be expelled from the International Working Men’s Association and be granted re-admission to it only after a public renunciation of all connections with this secret society…” was written by Marx with the assistance of Engels, as recorded in Engels’ letter to Friedrich Sorge of July 25, 1873: “Lafargue and I wrote [the report] together, but the conclusion is by Marx and myself” (MECW, Vol. 44, p. 521). The present German translation, published in the following year, was undertaken by Samuel Kokosky (1838-1899) with the active assistance of Engels.
The final Marx item is the extremely rare first separate edition of Marx’s Achtzehnte Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte (1869), his famous essay on the 1851 French coup d’état, the source of Marx’s legendary opening lines: “Hegel says somewhere that, upon the stage of universal history, all great events and personalities reappear in one fashion or another. He forgot to add that, on the first occasion, they appear as tragedy; on the second, as farce.” Marx’s essay on The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon was originally published in New York in 1852 as the entire first number of Joseph Weydemeyer’s German-language periodical Die Revolution (an edition of the utmost scarcity). The 1869 edition offered here includes a new preface by Marx and stands as the first edition in book-form as well as the first time that the text was published in Germany.
The remaining five pamphlets in the sammelband all written by prominent figures associated with the International Workingmen’s Association, including Johann Most (1846-1906), Adolf Hepner (1846-1923), Bruno Geiser (1846-1898), and Wilhelm Bracke (1842-1880).
The full contents:
1. [MARX (Karl).] & EICHHOFF (Wilhelm). Die Internationale Arbeiterassociation. Ihre Gründung, Organisation, politisch-sociale Thätigleit under Ausbreitung.
First edition. 8vo. 77, [1] pp. Berlin, Albert Eichoff. 1868.
2. GEISER (Bruno). Forderungen des Sozialismus an Zukunft und Gegenwart. Eine Schrift zur Vertheidigung und zum Angriff.
First edition. 8vo. iv, 54, [2] pp. München, Rottmanner & Comp. 1875.
3. BRACKE (Wilhelm). Der Lassale’sche Vorschlag. Ein Wort an den 4. Congress der social-demokratischen Arbeiterpartei.
First edition. 8vo. 78, [2] pp. Braunschweig, W. Bracke.
4. HEPNER (Adolf). Meine 3-1/2 jährige Leipziger Polizeicampagne. Heiteres und Ernstes, Publicistisches under Juristisches .. .
First edition. 8vo. iv, 57, [1, blank], [2] pp. Braunschweig, W. Bracke.
5. [MARX (Karl).], [ENGELS (Friedrich).] & [LAFARGUE (Paul).] Ein Complot gegen die Internationale Arbeiter-Association. Im Auftrage des Haager Congresses verfasster Bericht über das Treiben Bakunins und der Allianz der socialistischen Demokratie.
First edition in German. 8vo. viii, 119, [1, blank] pp. Braunschweig, W. Bracke. 1874.
Die Erstdrucke der Werke von Marx und Engels, p. 37; Rubel, 726n.
6. MARX (Karl). Der Achzehnte Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte.
First separate edition (second overall). 8vo vi, 98 pp. Hamburg, Otto Meissner. 1869.
Die Erstdrucke der Werke von Marx und Engels, p. 22; Rubel, 215n.
7. MOST (Johann). Die Pariser Commune vor den Berliner Gerichten. Eine Studie über Deutsch-preussiche Rechtzustände.
First edition. 8vo. [2], 64 pp. Braunschweig, W. Bracke. 1875.
8. SACK (Eduard). Unsere Schulen Dienste gegen die Freiheit.
First edition. 8vo. [2], x, 84 pp. Braunschweig, W. Bracke. 1874.
