A brief survey of Albert Einstein signed historical documents collectors can look for on the market
Albert Einstein is routinely described as the most important scientist since Isaac Newton, and probably the most famous in history. He transformed our understanding of physics and won the Nobel Prize for his work.
Einstein’s correspondence forms the core of collections worldwide. His letters cover a wide range of topics, mostly from the early 1900s through the 1950s. He wrote extensively on science, philosophy, and both religious and international affairs; they were the defining subjects of his life. Letters are found in German and English.
Einstein the Physicist
First and foremost, the world knows Einstein as a physicist. In 1905, Einstein was working as a patent clerk while writing his doctoral thesis. He completed that degree and published a paper that explained his newly developed Special Theory of Relativity. This unlocked many mysteries of the universe, and introduced the world to “e=mc2.” Ten years later, in 1915, Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, which described the universe as a four-dimensional continuum (with time added as the fourth dimension), where gravitational effects are explained by the warping of space-time.
Einstein’s book “The Meaning of Relativity,” also known as Four Lectures of Relativity, is his definitive exposition of his special and general theories of relativity. There were near concurrent publications in Germany, England, and the U.S. in December 1922 and January 1923. Pictured above is the scarce first American edition, signed and dated by Einstein in 1931 while visiting the U.S. This book is a new discovery, offered for sale here for the first time publicly.
These are topics that would continue to engage him throughout his life. Even decades later, his letters to scientific colleagues discuss–and defend–his theories. In an unpublished letter to Professor David Bohm from 1953, Einstein gives a detailed explanation of the importance of connecting a key principle of the somewhat new theory of quantum mechanics (the “Born interpretation”) to physical quantities that can be measured in the real world. To him, it is essential that mathematical theories be connected to measurable quantities. In this remarkable letter, Einstein’s uneasiness with quantum mechanics is apparent, saying that validation of the seemingly random quantum mechanics “…can only be done on the basis of classical mechanics.” Without this validation, quantum theory has essentially “no controllable meaning.”
The following year, Einstein wrote what is the fullest summation we have seen by him comparing relativity to Newtonian concepts of space and time. In this letter, written to California scientist Max Fischler, Einstein states, “In classical mechanics, space and time were completed existences, which had to be presupposed as real [a priori] in order to give meaning to the laws of motion. It was a reality in the same sense as the reality of matter; even governing the latter. In this sense Kant was entirely wrong.”
Letters of Einstein directly relating to relativity are increasingly uncommon, and this is one of the finest such letters we have had.
Einstein’s Views on God and Creation
Albert Einstein met and corresponded with many religious leaders, and he was not shy about sharing his views about God. In his Autobiographical Notes, published in 1949, Einstein wrote of a scientific epiphany at the age of ten. “Through the reading of popular scientific books, I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true.”
We noted echoes of that sentiment in a newly discovered and unpublished letter of Einstein offered and sold by Raab in 2023. Written to a Jewish religious teacher, the letter boldly states that a person of science could not believe in the creation story as narrated in Genesis and confirms his belief that science “replaces and supersedes it.” It is one of the most illuminating letters of his ever written on the subject, comparing science and religion.
Einstein letters with direct references to his religious beliefs, God, or elements of the Torah are very uncommon. In fact, one of the most famous in this category sold for nearly $3 million.
Einstein Battles the Nazis
Albert Einstein was born into a German-Jewish family. He considered himself a pacifist. However, the rise of the Nazis in Germany prompted him to leave the country in December 1932 and never return. He moved to the United States, where he continued his research while contributing to the war effort and speaking out against Nazism.
As early as February 1933, Einstein granted an interview to the War Resisters League at the home of one of its officials, John Dorland. Dorland wanted the interview to be read aloud at the upcoming March 2 meeting of the members in Pasadena, California. He prepared a five-page typescript of the interview and sent it to Einstein to review. Pictured above is the original, signed typescript of the Einstein interview, sent to Einstein by Dorland, complete with Einstein’s handwritten notations.
This is the only such annotated interview of Einstein that we have seen–we acquired it from the family and it has never before been offered for sale. In it, Einstein covers important topics, such as the growing global chaos and the threat to minorities: “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” He further expresses his candid thoughts on racism, human nature, and establishing and enforcing peace.
Only two months later, having learned that the new German government had passed laws barring Jews from holding any official positions, including teaching at universities, Einstein attempted to help his former colleagues escape. In a letter to Swiss/Italian engineer Michele Besso, Einstein discusses a scheme to invite German mathematician Hermann Weyl to Spain, but fears it will not work.
It wasn’t long into 1933 before the intensity of the threat from Nazism convinced Einstein that only force would deter Hitler. He resigned from the War Resisters League.
By 1935, Einstein’s statements were more public–and fearless. In a typed, signed statement he prepared for a United Jewish Appeal fundraiser, Einstein claimed the moral high ground against Nazis. Our research indicates that this important statement is unpublished, as the dinner was postponed and it was never released to the press. This is the original, signed by Einstein.
Einstein wrote, “We can gain consolation in this critical time if we compare the moral standard of our friends and our enemies with each other. The result of such a comparison shows us that our way for world history can be considered the better one.” Einstein prophesized, however, that the road ahead for the Jews will be “arduous and very painful.”
Just as he had before the war, Einstein continued during the war trying to assist the escape of friends and relatives from Germany, necessitating abundant correspondence. In one case, he had offered to help Brigitte Alexander-Katz make her escape to Mexico. The request to authorities dragged on for months. In a letter from 1941, Einstein again addresses Brigitte’s plight. It’s possible Einstein then followed up with the Mexican ambassador because visas were soon secured.
After the war ended and the Nazi regime was defeated, Einstein continued to think and write about religion and peace, in light of the horrors his generation had witnessed. In a signed letter from 1954, written to a Quaker, he critiques German Christianity’s alliance with the Nazis, saying that truly religious people “never made evil compromises and are always guided by their conscience.”
This is an increasingly uncommon letter of Einstein on philosophy, peace, the role of religions and religious individuals, ethics, and the dangers of the atomic age (that he helped usher in). He died a year after he wrote this letter.
Einstein & Music
On a lighter note, Albert Einstein cherished music, and some of the signed letters and documents available to buy reflect this lifelong penchant.
In December 1930, Einstein visited America for the second time. It was originally intended as merely a two-month working visit as a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology, but Einstein’s popularity made the trip headline news. After arriving in New York City, Einstein was taken to various places and events, including a performance of Bizet’s Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera on December 12, where Einstein, an opera buff who revered Mozart, Bach, and other great composers, was cheered by the audience on his arrival.
The gorgeous signed photo of Einstein pictured above was taken at that Met event, then inscribed and presented to Metropolitan Opera press representative William Guard. Raab obtained this photograph directly from the Guard heirs; the provenance is impeccable, and the photo has never before been offered for sale.
As in some of the Einstein letters outlined above, Einstein often took the time to help family, friends, and others if he was able to do so. This was especially true during World War II when many of his Jewish acquaintances were at risk of death. Even in less dire circumstances, Einstein would help an old friend who had already fled Germany to obtain a flute. In a letter to the wife of his physician in Nazi Germany and who personally accompanied the legendary Kindertransporte to England, Einstein demonstrates his loyalty to friends and his belief in the importance of music, saying he would not fail to find a flute and would contribute to the cost if necessary.
Collecting Einstein Signed Documents
Albert Einstein autographs and letters are among the most sought after in the field. To learn more about buying or selling Einstein documents, visit our dedicated Einstein page and read our recent related story about a signed Einstein photograph with a neat backstory: “An Iconic Signed Portrait of Albert Einstein, Symbolic of an Era.”
