The first edition of *Capital* was no instant bestseller

The first volume of Karl Marx’s *Capital* appeared in German in 1867. Its first edition had a print run of about one thousand copies, which sold over years rather than generating an immediate sensation. Reviews were not uniformly negative: some contemporary notices praised its historical analysis. Marx himself acknowledged in the preface that the beginning would be difficult for readers. A slow start and challenging text are therefore better descriptions than claiming that the book was universally dismissed as incomprehensible.