Das Kapital.

'the new religion' (PMM)

The complete set of first editions in four volumes.

Das Kapital was the summation of over twenty-years of research in the reading rooms of the British Museum, and followed on from his earlier work on political economy Zur Kritik der Politisches Oekonomie, printed in 1859.

It is rarely found complete as here, since the last book (published in two parts) first appeared in 1894, more than 25 years after the first book, and 11 years after Marx's death. Indeed, only the first book was published during Marx's lifetime and edited by the author himself; the remaining two books were edited by Marx's friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), with the final book published the year before his death in 1895. The publisher Otto Meissner (1819-1902) remained responsible for the entire publication.

'The history of the twentieth century is Marx's legacy. Stalin, Mao, Che, Castro — the icons and monsters of the modern age have all presented themselves as his heirs. Whether he would recognise them as such is quite another matter... Nevertheless, writing one hundred years after his death half the world's population was ruled by governments that professed Marxism to be their guiding faith. His ideas have transformed the study of economics, history, geography, sociology and literature. Not since Jesus Christ has an obscure pauper inspired such global devotion — or been so calamitously misinterpreted' (Francis Wheen, Introduction to Karl Marx, 1999).

First edition; 3 books in 4 vols; 8vo (20.5 x 14.5 cm); text in German, vol. III part I with wrappers bound-in at rear, occasional pencil notes in German, vols I & III part I with tiny closed tears to title-pages expertly conserved, vol. III part II with old library stamp to title, occasional light spotting; modern half brown morocco, marbled paper boards, gilt spines in 5 compartments, sprinkled edges, very good; xii, 784; xxvii, [1], 526; xxviii, 448; iv, 422pp.

PMM 359.