TLS in German, signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.5 x 11, The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton letterhead, February 11, 1949. Einstein writes to Blanch H. Schlick, widow of Moritz Schlick. In full (translated): “I thank you for sending the most interesting lectures of your esteemed husband, who has made a lasting contribution to the philosophy of science in our time and whose influence continues unabated into the present. I repeatedly and carefully studied this lecture shortly after a severe operation, and had much pleasure in the clarity and sharpness of the arguments and no less in the masterful style. I would think that engaging with his literary estate is a beautiful life-work for you, which compensates you somewhat for the bitter and tragic loss, which you share with philosophically interested contemporaries.” In fine to very fine condition, with unobtrusive intersecting folds and a censorship stamp to left blank area.
When the up-and-coming German philosopher Moritz Schlick published his Space and Time in Contemporary Physics in 1917—which he described as an ‘elucidation of the thesis that space and time have now forfeited all objectivity in physics’—he found an instant fan in Einstein. Touting the work as ‘masterly,’ Einstein recognized him as one of the first commentators to see that space and time have no existence or reality prior to the metric field, and the two began a correspondence that would last a lifetime. Securing the prestigious position as chair of Naturphilosophie at the University of Vienna in 1922 (with a recommendation from Einstein), Schlick surrounded himself with luminaries in philosophy, physics, and mathematics, heading the legendary Vienna Circle of thinkers, lecturing internationally, and publishing numerous influential essays. When he was assassinated by a former student on the steps of the University in 1936, the shaken intellectual world mourned the loss of one of the greatest minds of their time. Ensuring that her husband’s literary legacy would persevere, Blanche Hardy Schlick undertook the organization of his estate, editing and publishing past works, letters, and lectures, and sharing with the figures who helped shape his work. Thanking Schlick’s widow for her work and praising her husband’s “clarity and sharpness of the arguments” and “masterful style,” this is a remarkable letter connecting two legendary minds. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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