Written: Written at the end of August–beginning of September 1916
Published:
Published in full in 1964 in Collected Works, Fifth (Russian) Ed., Vol. 49.
First published in part in 1932 in Bolshevik No. 22.
Sent from Flums to Hertenstein.
Printed from the original.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
[1977],
Moscow,
Volume 43,
pages 570b-571a.
Translated: Martin Parker and Bernard Isaacs
Transcription\Markup:
R. Cymbala
Public Domain:
Lenin Internet Archive
(2005).
You may freely copy, distribute,
display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
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1) I am sending George’s leaflet-article. In my opinion it’s very poor. I don’t think it’s even worth rewriting.... Vulgar, unreasoned, stilted, and “folksy”. An example of how not to write popular things....
Perhaps you will talk to him when meeting?
2) About disarmament, I am not quite sure. If we put the Swede+Norwegian in the collection, then we must include an article on disarmament. It won’t take me long to write, a few alterations to my article.[1] But will there be space for it?
We must decide. Answer.
Let us figure out again how much our collection will bulge—it’s bulging enough as it is.
3) Reply to Bukharin. Must decide this too. If you do not wish to say
that the main thing is differences on points of principle, then I
agree to change it, giving two reasons (for non-publication):
(α) technical and financial
(β) on points of principle.
Send me such a variant (don’t forget to connect both parts of the letter in good literary style) and let us decide the matter quickly. Of course, bear in mind that our reply to Bukharin is of great significance: it has to be well considered, and a copy must be kept.
4) We must decide about the Paris collection: make-up and size?
If 2,000 5–sheet copies (=10,000 sheets) cost 500 frs., then 1,500 copies (it’s all we need) could be issued in 6 2/3 sheets
x50,000
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
330 thous. ems.
Probably less than 330 thous., round about 300 thous.?
Is that right?
N.B. ||
We must also find out whether they take illegal stuff too in Paris? That
is, do they print secretly?
This is most important! Yet there is no full reply from Grisha!!!
When this is all cleared up, let us draw up a list of copy for Paris.
(I don’t think we need count Yuri’s article and the reply to him, since 1) the reply has not yet been written; 2) we don’t know whether His Merchant Majesty will give his consent to the printing.)
5) I shall sit down to Radek’s theses[2] (look through them): I haven’t read them yet in the proofs.
6) I am returning Strannik’s additions[3] What are we going to do about him??
Best regards,
Lenin
[1] By the article on disarmament Lenin meant “The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution”, which he had written in German and slightly revised for Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata, where it was published in No. 2 under the heading “The ‘Disarmament’ Slogan”.
[2] A reference to “Theses on Imperialism and National Oppression” published in the journal Vorbote over the signature Gazeta Robotnicza and reprinted in the first issue of Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata.
[3] This probably refers to the article by Strannik (V. Y. Fridolin), “What Is Happening Among the Troops”, which was listed among the copy received by the editors for No. 3 of Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata.
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