The manuscript of the Manifesto has not survived.The only extant materials written in Marx's hand are a draft plan for Section III, showing his efforts to improve the structure of the Manifesto, and a page of a rough copy.
The Manifesto came off the press at the end of February 1848. On February 29, the Educational Society decided to cover all the printing expenses. The first edition of the Manifesto was a 23-page pamphlet in a dark green cover. In April-May 1848 another edition was put out. The text took up 30 pages, some misprints of the first edition were corrected, and the punctuation improved. Subsequently this text was used by Marx and Engels as a basis for later authorized editions. Between March and July 1848 the Manifesto was printed in the Deutsche Londoner Zeitung, ademocratic newspaper of the German emigrants.Already that same year numerous efforts were made to publish the Manifesto in other European languages.