Poignant TLS signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.5 x 11, embossed personal letterhead, Princeton, February 20, 1939. Letter to Doris Appel, a renowned medical artist and historian. In full: “I fear, that I might on account of the pressure of duties and correspondence forget to thank you, from the bottom of my heart for the reproduction of your lifelike statue of Frau Curie. This statue characterizes this beautiful personality absolutely perfectly and helps me to retain fresh one of the most valuable memories of my life.” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, a block of uniform toning over most of the page, and show-through from mounting and adhesive remnants on the reverse. Accompanied by a list of Appel’s sculptures around the world, as well as a photocopy of the beginning of her 1995 obituary, which quotes a portion of Einstein’s letter.
Einstein and Marie Curie were lifelong friends who participated in countless adventures together, including a hiking trip in Switzerland as the two shared the views as well as scientific ideas. It was Curie who helped Einstein secure a physics professorship at the University of Zurich, and it was Curie’s research with radium that led Einstein to suggest that the radioactive element might be exhibiting E = mc2 in miniature. In time, he was shown to be right. Five years after her death, Einstein joyfully thanks Appel for bringing to mind “one of the most valuable memories of my life” in his friendship with Curie. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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