Transcription with doubtful readings: 5 of the 77 words of the final text (6.5 %) are marked as uncertain ([?]), and each of them is explained in a note. Two drafts of a reply from Karl Marx to Asher & Co., foreign booksellers and publishers in London, written at the foot of their letter to him dated 12 December 1868; the date of the reply is not given. Manuscript preserved at the IISG (Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels Papers, inv. C 7, image 2), transcribed from the digital facsimile by the Escuela de marxismo, 2026 (double reading and collation with the image). Written in English. Diplomatic transcription: spelling and punctuation of the manuscript; underlinings in italics; deletions as text where legible, otherwise [ilegible]; additions above or below the line inserted in their place, with a note; [?] after an uncertain reading. Nothing has been completed from other editions. Traducción al español
[First draft]1
The only place where some a few2 copies of Herr Vogt are still obtainable, is Berlin. At least, there were some to be had3 a few weeks ago.
[Second draft]4
There are [ilegible] now[?] still[?] copies of to[?]5 I believe, The only place where , where[?]6, ( a few [ilegible] weeks ago,7 some8 copies of „Herr Vogt" are were9 still to be found [ilegible] obtainable,10 is Berlin. I shall write there to a friend of mine, that and11 direct him, if he bought a copy I shall direct him to to settle forward it to to[?]12 11, Unter den Linden. and to[?]13 Sell [ilegible] to exchanges[?] It[?]14 can be got, it will be15
Yours truly obediently faithfully
K. M.
The sheet carries the printed letterhead of Asher & Co. (13, Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London; also at 11, Unter den Linden, Berlin) and their letter of 12 December 1868 to “Dr. Marx”, in another hand: they have an order from Berlin for one copy of Herr Vogt, which they cannot find in London, and ask him to procure them one. Marx's two drafts are at the foot of the right-hand page. This first one, short, is in the upper right corner; above it, on its own and with no call sign, stands the word “fortnight” (perhaps an alternative to “a few weeks”). ↩
“a few” written above the deleted “some”. ↩
“to be had” written above the end of the line, with a stroke leading back to “some”. ↩
Below the first draft and further to the left, heavily corrected; the order of the words is reconstructed from their position on the sheet and from the connecting strokes. ↩
A small word, not struck out, above the end of the cancelled first line: t and o (“to”, or “tr”, or the beginning of another word); there is no call sign. ↩
Added above, to the right, after a pale struck-out word, with a curved stroke down to the bracket before “a few”: w, h, e, r, e with a final loop; “when” is possible. ↩
“weeks ago,” written above a long struck-out word in heavy ink (“deposited”?). ↩
“some” written above “copies”. ↩
“were” written above the deleted “are”. ↩
“obtainable,” written below “still”. Above “still” there are further words struck out in heavy ink, and a small “were” or “was”, not struck out, that cannot be placed with certainty. ↩
“and” written beside the deleted “that”. The stroke through “to a friend” ends at the d, so “of mine,” is left standing. Under “shall write” there is a long word struck out in heavy ink. ↩
A second “to”, in paler ink, before the bracketed address “11, Unter den Linden”: a repetition or an uncancelled correction of the first. ↩
t and o with a lead-in stroke; “if” would be possible only with an f without descender. ↩
A single short word with a cross-stroke before “can”: “It” fits best; “If” (without a following “it”) is possible. A long curved stroke links “it will be” with “forward” above. ↩
The definitive wording intended seems to be: “The only place where, a few weeks ago, some copies of Herr Vogt were still obtainable, is Berlin. I shall write there, and [if a copy] can be got, it will be forward[ed] to 11, Unter den Linden”; but the draft does not say it in so many words. ↩