Since I only recently started to use the English edition of Capital, it was
a surprise for me to notice that there is a difference in the sequence of
chapters in vol. 1 of Capital, between de English and French editions, on
the one side, and the German editions on the other, and I wonder if
ope-l'ers are aware of it - which is probably the case. Anyway, here it is:
In reading Fred's post about productive and unproductive labour, I couldn't
find the paragraph he mentioned in chapter 5 of Capital, vol. 1, in the
Brazilian edition I had in hands. Finally I noticed that there is a
difference in the sequence of chapters in International Publisher's
edition: the original single chapter has been divided into three chapters,
differently from the original form since the first edition of Capital in
1867. As a matter of fact, in the German editions of Capital, chapter 4
encompasses 3 sections, which in Int.Publ's edition became chapters 4 to 6.
In the first German edition it appears as a single chapter number 2. In the
second German edition, 1872, it still appears as a single chapter as well,
but already numbered 4, while in the French 1872-75 edition the original
single chapter has been divided into three, chapters 4 to 6, perhaps
because it was to be published in a sequence of smaller parts. It seems
that this division has been maintained, since the present French edition by
Éditions Sociales keeps the division into three chapters. The 1886 English
edition by Engels also shows the present division into three chapters, as
quoted by Fred, while the 1890 German edition maintains the original form
of one single chapter divided into 3 sections. The Latin American editions
that I have seen, both in Spanish and Portuguese, which are based on the
German 1890 edition, also maintain the single chapter 4.
There is also a difference in the section about primitive accumulation,
which in the German editions is one single chapter - number 24, within
*Part VII. The Accumulation of Capital* - in the English and French
editions has been broken up into 7 chapters under a new *Part 8. The
so-called primitive accumulation*, which is the title of the original
chatper 24. In this way, the German edition has 25 chapters, while the
English and French editions have 33.
Claus.
Claus Germer
cmgermer@sociai.ufpr.br
Departamento de Economia
Universidade Federal do Paraná
Rua Dr. Faivre, 405 - 3º andar
80060-140 Curitiba - Paraná
Brasil