Das Kapital and preparatory work (especially regarding the theory of surplus value), the first volume appeared in 1867 as "The Production Process of Capital". After Marx's death in 1883, from manuscripts and the first volume Engels introduced Volume II: "The Circulation Process of Capital" in 1885; and Volume III: "The Overall Process of Capitalist Production" in 1894. These three volumes are collectively known as "Das Kapital". "Capital, Volume I" (1867) is a critical analysis of political economy, meant to reveal the contradictions of the capitalist mode of production, how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production and of the
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.