TLS in German, signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.25 x 11, blind-stamped personal letterhead, September 5, 1947. Letter to Mrs. Landau of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency regarding correspondence with Edward Arthur Milne (famous scientist, with alternative cosmology to Einstein’s) and General Smuts (author of noted work on Holism). In full (translated): “First of all, I beg of you to give to your husband my regards, as well as my heartfelt best wishes for his health. I shall be writing to Mr. Milne this very day. However, I shall not be sending another cable to General Smuts, because something like that should never be done more often than once.”Intersecting folds, toning to edges, and a few creases, otherwise fine condition.
Accompanied by two associated letters to Mrs. Landau regarding this correspondence exchange, sent by Helen Dukas, Einstein's secretary. The first letter, dated August 31, 1947, reads, in part: “Do you think Professor Einstein should write an acknowledging letter to Mr. Milne?” The second letter, dated September 17, 1947, reads, in part: “Professor Einstein wants me to give you his very best thanks for your willingness to intervene with Mrs. Brandes in behalf of Miss Wallach. The housing shortage what it is such matters can become really ones of life and death—especially if one cannot pay the current black market prices.” Provenance: Sotheby’s: New York, 2012.
In this correspondence with the JTA, Einstein addresses two men involved in important aspects of his life in 1947, both previously known to him through their published scientific works. First, he announces that he “shall be writing to Mr. Milne this very day,” in acknowledgment of the recent argument by Edward Arthur Milne again attacking his Theory of Relativity. Since publishing ‘Relativity, Gravitation, and World-Structure’ in 1935, Milne had been a major opponent of Einstein’s theory.
The second figure mentioned, Jan Christian Smuts, holds a place in Einstein’s involvements in the Zionist cause. With millions of Jews displaced by World War II and British forces denying their relocation in Palestine, Einstein became a vocal proponent for the creation of a Jewish state. Aware of South African Prime Minister and UN delegate Smuts’s Zionist leanings, Einstein most likely contacted him in an attempt to gain his nation’s support for the upcoming UN Assembly on the topic. (Decades prior, the two had exchanged kind words in regard to their scientific work; Einstein regarded Smuts one of only a handful of people who truly understood his Theory of Relativity, and believed that Smuts’ Theory of the Whole was equally important.) Never failing to keep many balls in the air, this letter shows Einstein juggling two important pieces of his life in 1947. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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