Karl Marx: References & Edit History

The most comprehensive biography of Marx is David McLellan, Karl Marx: His Life and Thought (1973, reissued 1987). The classic biography of Marx, somewhat too partisan in his favour, is Franz Mehring, Karl Marx: The Story of His Life (1935, reissued 1981; originally published in German, 1918). Marx’s personal life is discussed in Saul K. Padover, Karl Marx, an Intimate Biography (1978). Jerrold Seigel, Marx’s Fate: The Shape of a Life (1978), is a psychological biography. Yvonne Kapp, Eleanor Marx, 2 vol. (1972–76), contains informative material on Marx’s family life. Two good short biographies are Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx: His Life and Environment, 4th ed. (1978, reprinted with corrections, 1982); and Werner Blumenberg, Portrait of Marx: An Illustrated Biography (1972; originally published in German, 1962).

For introductory analysis and commentaries of Marx’s works, see David McLellan, The Thought of Karl Marx, 2nd ed. (1980); Bruce Mazlish, The Meaning of Karl Marx (1984); W.A. Suchting, Marx, an Introduction (1983), and Marx and Philosophy: Three Studies (1986); and Richard Schmitt, Introduction to Marx and Engels: A Critical Reconstruction (1987). Terrell Carver, A Marx Dictionary (1987), provides brief definitions of Marxian concepts without interpretative deviations from the original. For more detailed studies, see Roman Rosdolsky, The Making of Marx’s ‘Capital’ (1977, reissued 1980; originally published in German, 1968); Derek Sayer, Marx’s Method: Ideology, Science and Critique in Capital, 2nd ed. (1983); Robert Paul Wolff, Understanding Marx: A Reconstruction and Critique of Capital (1984); Hal Draper, Karl Marx’s Theory of Revolution, 3 vol. (1977–86); D. Ross Gandy, Marx and History: From Primitive Society to the Communist Future (1979); Murray Wolfson, Marx: Economist, Philosopher, Jew: Steps in the Development of a Doctrine (1982); Daniel Little, The Scientific Marx (1986); Thomas Sowell, Marxism: Philosophy and Economics (1985); and John Cunningham Wood (ed.), Karl Marx’s Economics: Critical Assessments, 4 vol. (1987). A particularly acute summary of the difficulties in Marx’s work is Jon Elster, Making Sense of Marx (1985). Many monographs explore Marx’s political and ideological development: Carol C. Gould, Marx’s Social Ontology: Individuality and Community in Marx’s Theory of Social Reality (1978, reprinted 1980), a study based on Marx’s Grundrisse; Richard E. Olsen, Karl Marx (1978); S.S. Prawer, Karl Marx and World Literature (1976); Paul Thomas, Karl Marx and the Anarchists (1980); and Allen W. Wood, Karl Marx (1981).

Misère de la philosophie (1847; The Poverty of Philosophy, 1900); Manifest der kommunistischen Partei (1848; Manifesto of the Communists, 1883); Die Klassenkämpfe in Frankreich 1848 bis 1850 (1850; The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850, 1924); Der 18te Brumaire des Louis Napoleon (1852; The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, 1898); Zur Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (1859; A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1904); and Das Kapital (vol. 1, 1867; vol. 2–3 published by Engels in 1885 and 1894; Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production, vol. 1 trans. by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, 1886; vol. 2–3 trans. by Ernest Untermann, 1907 and 1909).

Recommended later translations of these works include Manifesto of the Communist Party, trans. by Samuel Moore (1888, reprinted 1952); The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, with an introduction and explanatory notes by D. Ryazanoff, trans. by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul (1930); and The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, trans. by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul (1926). Selections from Marx’s writings are available in the following: David McLellan (ed.), Selected Writings (1977); Robert C. Tucker (ed.), The Marx-Engels Reader, 2nd ed. (1978); and Jon Elster (ed.), Karl Marx: A Reader (1986).

A major English-language edition, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: Collected Works, trans. by Richard Dixon et al. (1975– ), is in progress. Planned to consist of 50 volumes and to include the correspondence, it is being prepared by an international editorial committee. Forty-one volumes had been published by 1992.