The importance of the English language for the early Engels–a comparison between Engels’ and Marx’s research on English political economic literature before their collaboration

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current research on Engels’ and Marx’s early economic studies often neglects the language and geographical differences between Engels and Marx which directly lead to the disparity between them in political economy. This study, based on MEGA2 , finds that before the collaboration with Marx, Engels, with his proficiency in English, studied plenty of first-hand English literature on political economy while having in-person experience and doing field investigation in Britain which most German intellectuals of the same period such as Marx lacked. With access to the newly published English literature, Engels transformed his literature advantage into a theoretical edge and formulated his original ideas. Yet Marx in German states and Austrian Empire mainly studied French translations of limited English literature on political economy, although presenting critical insights. Engels’ advantage is that he proposed many ideas that would become the basis of Marxian political economy, some of which had not yet been explored by Marx but were later affirmed by Marx.