Draft in Engels's hand, written for Marx (the letter speaks in Marx's name), London, March 1871; undated and unsigned. Manuscript preserved at the IISG (Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels Papers, inv. K 1672), transcribed from the digital facsimile by the Escuela de marxismo, 2026. Diplomatic transcription: spelling, capitals and punctuation as in the manuscript; deletions as text only where they can be read with certainty, otherwise [ilegible]; interlinear additions inserted where marked, with a note; [?] after an uncertain reading; [ilegible] for an illegible word. Traducción al español

To the Editor of the Times

Sir In your impression of the 16th March your Paris1 Correspondent states: „Karl Marx [ilegible] .... has written a letter to one of his principal affiliés [ilegible] in Paris, stating that he is not satisfied with the attitude which the members of that society (the „International"2) have taken up in that city &c." This statement [ilegible] your Correspondent has evidently3 [ilegible] taken from the [ilegible] Paris Journal of the 14th March [ilegible] where also the publication, in full, of the pretended letter is promised. The Paris Journal of the 19th March does indeed contain a letter dated London 28th February 1871 & purporting to be signed by me;4 [ilegible] the contents of which [ilegible] agree with the statement of your Correspondent. I now beg to declare that this letter is, from beginning to end, an impudent forgery,5

  1. «Paris» written above the line. ↩

  2. Above «International» a small sign like an «E» or «&», perhaps a correction of the initial letter; not legible. ↩

  3. «has evidently» written above the line, over two deleted words. ↩

  4. «& purporting to be signed by me;» written above the line, over a deletion that runs over two and a half lines. ↩

  5. The draft ends here, with a comma; the page is otherwise blank. ↩