Das Kapital in the British Library, London. At the time of his death (1883), Marx had prepared the manuscript for "Das Kapital, Volume IV", a critical history of theories of surplus value of his time, the nineteenth century. The philosopher Karl Kautsky (1854–1938) published a partial edition of Marx's surplus-value critique and later published a full, three-volume edition as "Theorien über den Mehrwert" ("Theories of Surplus Value", 1905–1910). The first volume was published in English as "A History of Economic Theories" (1952). "Capital, Volume I" (1867) was published in Marx’s lifetime, but he died in 1883 before completing the manuscripts for "Capital,
Capitalist mode of production (Marxist theory) title, "Das Kapital"), as a whole that provides his "definition" of the capitalist mode of production. Nevertheless, it is possible to summarise the essential defining characteristics of the capitalist mode of production as follows: In examining particular manifestations of the capitalist mode of production in particular regions and epochs, it is possible to find exceptions to these main defining criteria, but the exceptions prove the rule in the sense that over time the exceptional circumstances tend to disappear. As mentioned, Marx never explicitly summarised his definition of capitalism, beyond some suggestive comments in manuscripts which he did not publish himself.