Letter to Aristide Fanton, February 1, 1873

Author(s)	Karl Marx
Written	1 February 1873

First published in Cahiers de l'Institut de science économique appliquée. Series S: Études de Marxologie, No. 7, Paris, 1963
Printed according to the magazine
Translated from the French
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44

MARX TO ARISTIDE FANTON

IN [ ... ]

London, 1 February 1873
1 Maitland Park Road, Haverstock Hill, N. W.

My dear Fanton,

I have decided to write to you about a matter concerning our friend Dupont. Since you left, he has been working steadily and conscientiously. He was lucky enough to find an honest and skilful German workman who has the necessary set of tools worth nearly £500 St., thereby enabling Dupont to set up a small workshop with him where they not only make instruments based on Dupont's invention, but also manufacture improved versions of old instruments. I have seen them at work.

Unfortunately they have come to the end of their resources. Yesterday I obtained a loan of £8 St. for Dupont, but cannot be of greater help to him, since my disbursements for the French refugees^[1] (more than £150 St.) have left me flat broke. This is a critical moment for their enterprise.

I hope you won't abandon our friend. If you come to his assistance, I shall see to it that funds are made available to him only as and when they are needed for the work, which would go ahead under my supervision.

With warm regards from all the family,

Yours ever,

Karl Marx

↑ members of the Paris Commune