Beschreibung:

MARX, Karl (1818-1883). Cabinet photograph inscribed and signed on verso ("Karl Marx"), by Mayall's Photographic Studio, 224 Regent Street, London (imprint at bottom of mount and on verso), n.d. [ca. 1878], inscribed in 1883. 6½ x 4¼ in., including mount, light foxing to mount.
MARX, Karl (1818-1883). Cabinet photograph inscribed and signed on verso ("Karl Marx"), by Mayall's Photographic Studio, 224 Regent Street, London (imprint at bottom of mount and on verso), n.d. [ca. 1878], inscribed in 1883. 6½ x 4¼ in., including mount, light foxing to mount. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE INSCRIBED PORTRAIT OF THE GERMAN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHER, author of the Communist Manifesto (1848) and, with Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) of Das Kapital (1867-1894). Driven from most European nations in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1848, he took up an impoverished permanent exile in London. Here, seated in an ornate Victorian armchair, the gray-haired Marx places one hand in the lapel of his jacket; the other rests in his lap. INSCRIBED IN INK ON VERSO in a shaky hand: "Madame James M Williamson with the wishes for a happy new year Karl Marx Ventnor, 11 January 1883." The recipient was the wife of Dr. Williamson (1848-1901), a physician at the seaside resort on the Isle of Wight who was treating the elderly Marx for persistent pulmonary problems. It was inscribed only two months before Marx's death. The photo had been forwarded to Marx by his daughter Eleanor, at his request: "If you could find them you might send me two photogramms. One of them I have promised to forward to Madame Williamson." According to the British Library, Marx returned to London on January 13, two days after this photo was inscribed, and it is evidently among the very last letters and documents of Marx's life. Provenance : Mrs. Betty Williamson (sale, Christie's, London, 23 February 1983, lot 63) - Wesley M. Marans (sale, Christie's, New York, 17 April 1996, lot 51).