Das Kapital "increasing misery" doctrine, which is presumed to mean that the proletariat is absolutely immiserated. "Capital, Volume I" (1867); published in Marx’s lifetime: "Capital, Volume II" (1885); manuscript not completed by Marx before his death in 1883; subsequently edited and published, by friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels, as the work of Marx: "Capital, Volume III" (1894); manuscript not completed by Marx before his death in 1883; subsequently edited and published, by friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels, as the work of Marx: "Capital, Volume IV" (1905–1910); critical history of theories of surplus value; manuscript written by Marx; partial edition edited and published,
Karl Marx value advocated by David Ricardo. The work was enthusiastically received, and the edition sold out quickly. The successful sales of "A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy" stimulated Marx in the early 1860s to finish work on the three large volumes that would compose his major life's work – "Das Kapital" and the "Theories of Surplus Value", which discussed the theoreticians of political economy, particularly Adam Smith and David Ricardo. "Theories of Surplus Value" is often referred to as the fourth volume of "Das Kapital" and constitutes one of the first comprehensive treatises on the history of economic thought.