Berlin, 22 September 1917

Name: Quantum theory and illness
Brand: Berlin, 22 September 1917
Price: 6000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised USD 7,500

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USD 4,000 - USD 6,000

Closed: 6 Dec 2017

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Quantum theory and illness

Berlin, 22 September 1917

Price Realised USD 7,500

Closed: 6 Dec 2017

Price Realised USD 7,500

Closed: 6 Dec 2017

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Autograph correspondence card signed (‘Albert’) to Michele Besso, [Berlin], 22 September [1917].

In German, one page, 141 x 90mm. Address panel bearing Einstein’s autograph return address (‘Abs[ender]. A. Einstein’).

Please note this lot is the property of a private consignor.

Published in Pierre Speziali (ed.) Albert Einstein. Michele Besso. Correspondance 1903-1955. Paris: Hermann, 1972. No. 40

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Lot Essay

Einstein reports an improvement in his health (after his abdominal disorder had flared up during his summer visit to Switzerland): 'I am still very well. I had a single small attack, but it's now passed. It is touching how you both worry about me. The provender is good, and I rest a lot. Today I applied quantum theory to rigid bodies (freely moving)'. He is also touched that Anna Besso is offering to look after Mileva Einstein (who had spent August and September in hospital). His younger son Eduard ('Tete') must return to Zurich from Arosa, where he has been receiving medical treatment, as Einstein no longer has enough money to pay for his stay (his finances a victim of wartime exchange rates): 'I do not believe in the new medical magic with X-rays. I am at the point that only post mortem diagnoses inspire confidence, nothing else'. He urges Besso to come and visit him in his new apartment in Berlin: 'Please accustom yourself slowly to the idea!'.