Karl Marx: A biography by David McLellan

THE 'ECONOMICS' 3'174

light, stood a small, plain desk (three foot by two) and a wooden

armchair; between the armchair and the bookcase, opposite the window,

was a leather sofa on which Marx used to lie down for a rest from time

to time. On the mantelpiece were more books, cigars, matches, tobacco

boxes, paperweights and photographs of Marx's daughters and wife,

Wilhelm Wolff and Frederick Engels.^217

The books were arranged according to their contents, not their size,
and were full of pages with corners turned down, marginal comments and
underlinings. 'They are my slaves', Marx would say, 'and they must serve
me as I will.'^218 Two features of the study that were added later were gifts
from his friend and admirer, Dr Kugelmann. One was a bust of Zeus of
()tricoli which had arrived - to the great consternation of the household
while the Christmas pudding was being prepared at the end of 1867 ;
the other was a piece of tapestry that Leibniz (for whom Marx had a
great admiration) had had in his study.
The money spent on furnishings (together with the repayment of
debts) amounted to £500, its rent and rates were almost double those
of Grafton Terrace, and, in general, it was a house whose inhabitants
would be expected to have an income of around £50 0 p.a. - which is, in
fact, about the sum of money that Marx did get through annually.^219 In
addition Marx and the girls took three weeks' holiday at Ramsgate and
Jenny had a fortnight by herself at Brighton. In October, the girls - who
before had had to decline invitations as they had no money to return the
hospitality - gave a ball for fifty of their friends. The financial situation
was not helped by the arrival, in May 1865 , of Edgar von Westphalen.
1 le had just returned from America where - paradoxically - he had fought
lor the South in the Civil War. Despite his hypochondriac tendencies, he
had an enormous appetite and even the amused tolerance of Marx, who
described him as 'an egoist, but a kind natured one',^220 grew more and
more strained during the six months of Edgar's stay.
A few months after the move, and in spite of his having made £40 0
by speculating in American funds,^221 Marx was obliged to write to Engels
yet another begging letter:

It is duly crushing, to remain dependent for half one's life. The one

thought that sustains me here is that we two are executing a combined

task in which I give my time to the theoretical and party political side

of the business. Of course I live too expensively for my circumstances

and moreover we have lived better this year than ever. But that is the

one means by which the children, apart from all that they have suffered

and for which they have been recompensed at least for a short time,

can make connections and relationships that can assure them a future.

I believe that you yourself will be of the opinion that, even looked at