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Marx/Engels Collected Works

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Marx/Engels Collected Works (also known as MECW) is the largest existing collection of English translations of works by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Its 50 volumes contain publications by Marx and Engels released during their lifetimes, many unpublished manuscripts of Marx's economic writings, and extensive personal correspondence. The Collected Works, for the most part compiled by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the CC CPSU, was issued from 1975 to 2004 by Progress Publishers (1931, Moscow) in collaboration with Lawrence and Wishart (1936, London) and International Publishers (1924, New York City).

MECW volumes on a bookshelf

History and overview

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MECW volumes, most of them without their typical white book jackets, in a library.

Although about a third of Marx and Engels' works were originally written in English and partly published in the British or American press,[1] the vast majority of their literary legacy was not collected, translated (where necessary) and made available in an extensive English edition for decades after their death.

In the Soviet Union, comprehensive collections of the works of Marx and Engels were already compiled in the 1920s and 1930s (an aborted complete edition, MEGA1, as well as a first Russian edition in 28 volumes, Sochineniya1). But only following the publication of new editions in Russian and German in the 1950s and 1960s (Sochineniya2 and Marx-Engels-Werke with 39 basic volumes and a few more supplementary ones later on), an English edition begun being prepared by Soviet editors with the help of the publishing houses of the Communist Parties in Great Britain and the USA and translators from these countries.[2]

After general editing principles had been agreed upon by the representatives of all three sides (Institute of Marxism-Leninism and Progress Publishers, Moscow, the Central Committees of the CPs in Great Britain and the US and their publishers Lawrence and Wishart, London, and International Publishers, New York) at a conference in Moscow in December 1969,[3] the first volume of the new edition was published in 1975.

More than forty volumes were published before the fall of the USSR; the few remaining ones were completed and issued by 2004 (V. 50).

Large parts of both authors' early writings, many of their newspaper articles (e.g. from the Neue Rheinische Zeitung 1848-49) and most of their letters as well as many of Marx's economic manuscripts were published in English for the first time in the Collected Works.[4] In total, the 50 volumes comprise 1,968 works and other documents (of which 805 were published in English for the first time) and 3,957 letters (of which 2,283 had never been published in English before).[5]

The Collected Works consists of writings by Marx between 1835 and his death in 1883, and by Engels between 1838 and his death in 1895. Early volumes (V. 1-2) include juvenilia, such as correspondence between Marx and his father, Marx's poetry, and letters from Engels to his sister. The edition also contains several major, well-known works by Marx and Engels, such as The Condition of the Working Class in England (V. 4), The Communist Manifesto (V. 6), The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (V. 11), and Anti-Dühring (V. 25).

The collection is divided into three parts. Volumes 1-27 collect the political, philosophical, historical and journalistic writings of the authors, in chronological order. Volumes 28-37 specifically collect Marx's writings on political economy, including a large amount of draft material and manuscripts which culminated in the three volumes of Capital (V. 35-37). Finally, volumes 38-50 collect the letters and personal correspondence of the authors.[6]

Contents by volume

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Although most of MECW's volumes include material written by Marx and Engels (whether separately or as co-authors), a large minority of volumes are devoted to material written by only one author. Red check marks indicate the author's presence in a volume, while black X marks indicate that the author's work is absent. Although the volumes typically contain large varieties of material, only major selected items are listed below, for illustration.

Volume Marx Engels Period Pub. Date Major Contents
1  Y  N 1835–1843 1975 Early writings of Marx, including doctoral dissertation The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature[7]
2  N  Y 1838–1842 1975 Early writings of Engels[8]
3  Y  Y 1843–1844 1975 Early writings of both, including the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right[9]
4  Y  Y 1844–1845 1975 The Holy Family, The Condition of the Working Class in England[10]
5  Y  Y 1845–1847 1976 The German Ideology, Theses on Feuerbach[11]
6  Y  Y 1845–1848 1976 The Communist Manifesto, The Poverty of Philosophy, Principles of Communism[12]
7  Y  Y 1848 1977 Articles for Neue Rheinische Zeitung[13][14][15]
8  Y  Y 1848–1849 1977
9  Y  Y 1849 1977
10  Y  Y 1849–1851 1978 The Class Struggles in France 1848–1850, The Peasant War in Germany[16]
11  Y  Y 1851–1853 1979 The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany[17]
12  Y  Y 1853–1854 1979 Newspaper articles concerning global politics and other writings, including The Civil War in the United States[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
13  Y  Y 1854–1855 1980
14  Y  Y 1855–1856 1980
15  Y  Y 1856–1858 1986
16  Y  Y 1858–1860 1980
17  Y  Y 1859–1860 1981
18  Y  Y 1857–1862 1982
19  Y  Y 1861–1864 1984
20  Y  Y 1864-1868 1985 Articles and writings concerning the First International, Value, Price and Profit (V. 20)[26][27][28][29]
21  Y  Y 1867–

1870

1985
22  Y  Y 1870–1871 1986
23  Y  Y 1871–1874 1988
24  Y  Y 1874–1883 1989 Critique of the Gotha Program, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific[30]
25  N  Y — 1987 Anti-Dühring, Dialectics of Nature[31]
26  N  Y 1882–1889 1990 Origin of the Family, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy[32]
27  N  Y 1890–1895 1990 Late political writings of Engels[33]
28  Y  N 1857–1861 1986 Grundrisse, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy[34][35]
29  Y  N 1857–

1861

1987
30  Y  N 1861–1863 1988 Economic Manuscripts of 1861–1863, which includes Theories of Surplus Value[36][37][38][39][40]
31  Y  N 1861–1863 1989
32  Y  N 1861–1863 1989
33  Y  N 1861–1863 1991
34  Y  N 1861–1864 1994
35  Y  N — 1996 Capital, Volume I[41]
36  Y  N — 1997 Capital, Volume II[42]
37  Y  N — 1998 Capital, Volume III[43]
38  Y  Y 1844–

1851

1982 Letters[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]
39  Y  Y 1852–1855 1983
40  Y  Y 1856–1859 1983
41  Y  Y 1860–1864 1985
42  Y  Y 1864–1868 1987
43  Y  Y 1868–1870 1988
44  Y  Y 1870–1873 1989
45  Y  Y 1874-1879 1991
46  Y  Y 1880–1883 1992
47  N  Y 1883–1886 1995
48  N  Y 1887–1890 2001
49  N  Y 1890–1892 2001
50  N  Y 1892–1895 2004

Differences with other Marx/Engels collections

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Although the Collected Works is the most comprehensive English translation of Marx and Engels' work, it is not their complete work. An ongoing project to publish the pair's complete works in their original language (Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe) is expected to require 114 volumes.[57] However, as MEGA differs from MECW particularly in content in that it presents numerous excerpts and notes in its fourth section, publishes the letters to Marx and Engels from third persons, and prints various editions of the same works (e.g. Capital), the overwhelming majority of the published writings, manuscripts, and letters of Marx and Engels are in any case included in MECW.[58]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). "General Introduction". Collected Works. Vol. 1. London: Lawrence and Wishart. pp. XVIII–XIX.
  2. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). "General Introduction". Collected Works. Vol. 1. London: Lawrence and Wishart. p. XVIII.
  3. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). "General Introduction". Collected Works. Vol. 1. London: Lawrence and Wishart. p. XXIV.
  4. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). "General Introduction". Collected Works. Vol. 1. London: Lawrence and Wishart. p. XIX.
  5. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (2004). "Preface". Collected Works. Vol. 50. London: Lawrence and Wishart. p. XXVIII.
  6. ^ "Marx & Engels Collected Works". Lawrence and Wishart.
  7. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). Collected Works. Vol. 1. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853152842.
  8. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). Collected Works. Vol. 2. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853152927.
  9. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). Collected Works. Vol. 3. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853152934.
  10. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1975). Collected Works. Vol. 4. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853152941.
  11. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1976). Collected Works. Vol. 5. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153115.
  12. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1976). Collected Works. Vol. 6. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153122.
  13. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1977). Collected Works. Vol. 7. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153528.
  14. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1977). Collected Works. Vol. 8. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153535.
  15. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1977). Collected Works. Vol. 9. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153542.
  16. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1978). Collected Works. Vol. 10. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153559.
  17. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1979). Collected Works. Vol. 11. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153566.
  18. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1979). Collected Works. Vol. 12. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153573.
  19. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1980). Collected Works. Vol. 13. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853153580.
  20. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1980). Collected Works. Vol. 14. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154358.
  21. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1986). Collected Works. Vol. 15. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154365.
  22. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1980). Collected Works. Vol. 16. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154372.
  23. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1981). Collected Works. Vol. 17. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154389.
  24. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1982). Collected Works. Vol. 18. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154396.
  25. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1984). Collected Works. Vol. 19. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154402.
  26. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1985). Collected Works. Vol. 20. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154419.
  27. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1985). Collected Works. Vol. 21. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154426.
  28. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1986). Collected Works. Vol. 22. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154433.
  29. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1988). Collected Works. Vol. 23. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154440.
  30. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1989). Collected Works. Vol. 24. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154457.
  31. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1987). Collected Works. Vol. 25. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154464.
  32. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1990). Collected Works. Vol. 26. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154471.
  33. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1990). Collected Works. Vol. 27. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154488.
  34. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1986). Collected Works. Vol. 28. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154495.
  35. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1987). Collected Works. Vol. 29. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154501.
  36. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1988). Collected Works. Vol. 30. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154518.
  37. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1989). Collected Works. Vol. 31. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154525.
  38. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1989). Collected Works. Vol. 32. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154532.
  39. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1991). Collected Works. Vol. 33. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154549.
  40. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1994). Collected Works. Vol. 34. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154556.
  41. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1996). Collected Works. Vol. 35. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853158523.
  42. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1997). Collected Works. Vol. 36. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154570.
  43. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1998). Collected Works. Vol. 37. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154587.
  44. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1982). Collected Works. Vol. 38. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154594.
  45. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1983). Collected Works. Vol. 39. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154600.
  46. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1983). Collected Works. Vol. 40. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853154617.
  47. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1985). Collected Works. Vol. 41. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156178.
  48. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1987). Collected Works. Vol. 42. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156185.
  49. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1988). Collected Works. Vol. 43. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156192.
  50. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1989). Collected Works. Vol. 44. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156208.
  51. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1991). Collected Works. Vol. 45. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156215.
  52. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1992). Collected Works. Vol. 46. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156222.
  53. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1995). Collected Works. Vol. 47. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156239.
  54. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (2001). Collected Works. Vol. 48. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156246.
  55. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (2001). Collected Works. Vol. 49. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156253.
  56. ^ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (2001). Collected Works. Vol. 50. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 9780853156260.
  57. ^ marxforschung.de: Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (MEGA2) (in German).
  58. ^ Wendling, Amy E. (March 2005). "Comparing Two Editions of Marx-Engels Collected Works". Socialism and Democracy. 19: 181–189. doi:10.1080/0885430042000338499. S2CID 144273105.
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