Stephen Hawking. 1964-1965

James Daniel Bjorken (b. 1934) and Sidney David Drell (1926-2016)

Relativistic Quantum Mechanics. New York: 1964. [With:] Relativistic Quantum Fields. New York: 1965.

First editions of the two classic textbooks on Quantum Field Theory, Relativistic Quantum Fields initialled by Stephen Hawking in his hand, and Relativistic Quantum Mechanics with Hawking’s ownership inscription in a secretarial hand. Today, Bjorken and Drell’s Mechanics is still considered essential reading on the subject, and while Fields has dated, it is still highly regarded.

2 volumes, octavo (226 x 152mm). Half-titles (both vols internally in fine condition). Publisher’s cloth (tiny nick to spine of Mechanics, otherwise both in near fine condition with only minimal rubbing to extremities); Fields with dustjacket (torn and chipped at tail and head of spine, this latter leading to loss of a few letters of title on upper cover, some light soiling to lower cover). Provenance: Stephen Hawking (autograph initials on front free endpaper of Fields; secretarial ownership inscription on front free endpaper of Mechanics) – the estate of Professor Stephen Hawking.

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