SOURCE: “Engels and Das Kapital,” in his The Life of Friedrich Engels, Vol. II, Frank Cass, 1976, pp. 391-413.

In the following essay, Henderson examines Engels' contribution to Marx's Das Kapital, demonstrating that Engels was involved throughout all stages of the book's production and that he provided input on economics and helped to publicize the work.

In whatever literary projects they were engaged Marx and Engels were accustomed to work in close co-operation. Engels gave his friend every possible assistance when he was writing his major work on the capitalist system.¹ Marx often consulted Engels on theoretical and practical problems. Engels had studied economics and had written an essay on “Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy” in the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher in 1844.² His wide reading and practical knowledge of business enabled him to offer valuable comments upon Marx's criticisms of the classical economists as well as upon...