TLS in German, signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.5 x 11, blindstamped Princeton letterhead, February 16, 1955. Letter to Mrs. Norden-Lowe, in part (translated): "Your letter disturbed me, especially first of all since I consider Otto Nathan to be one of my friends. Under these circumstances, it is uncomfortable for me to talk with someone about him or his circumstances without his knowledge. So before I answer you, you must first inform me in writing, what kind of affairs this is all about." In fine condition. Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA.
Like Einstein, economist Otto Nathan fled Nazi Germany and took a position on the faculty at Princeton University, where his friendship with the genius began. Nathan would serve as the sole executor of Einstein's estate after the scientist's death in April 1955, and was designated by Einstein as co-trustee of his literary estate (along with Einstein's secretary Helen Dukas). During the McCarthyist 'Red Scare' of the 1950s, Nathan had trouble obtaining a passport and became a target of the the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1955, he forced the State Department, by court action, to grant him a passport after he swore that he had never been a member of the Communist Party. Based on the date of this letter, one might assume that the inquiry pertained to this politically sensitive matter.
After Einstein's death, Nathan and Dukas spent 25 years organizing his papers and collecting supplementary material from around the world. They planned for all of Einstein's papers—personal and scientific—to eventually be published, and in 1971 Princeton University Press undertook the massive publishing effort.
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