Unusual vintage matte-finish 4.75 x 6.5 photo of a young Einstein, affixed to a 5.25 x 9 mount, signed and inscribed in black ink on the mount in German to his friend Katzenstein, and signed “Albert Einstein, Berlin, November 1920.” In very good condition, with scattered silvering, creasing and surface marks to image, and some light creasing, damp staining and toning to mount.
Although Einstein had revolutionized science with this theory that light “bends”—proven during an eclipse a year earlier and skyrocketing him to world acclaim—the physicist’s lectures were soon being disrupted by anti-Semitic demonstrators. Despite his newfound stature, which resulted in images such as this one being published, Einstein admitted that during his time in Berlin he had few close friends. Moritz Katzenstein, the recipient of this portrait, was one of his few close friends. A surgeon who described new methods for repairing torn ligaments of the elbow and ankle joint, Katzenstein and Einstein spent many summers together exchanging ideas and confiding their ambitions. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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