Albert Einstein’s final draft of his time capsule message from the 1939 World’s Fair, in German, signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.5 x 11, dated August 10, 1938. Einstein writes from Nassau Point on Long Island, in full, “Our time is rich in inventive minds, the inventions of which could facilitate our lives considerably. We are crossing the seas by power and utilize power also in order to relieve humanity from all tiring work. We have learned to fly and we are able to send messages without any difficulty over the entire world through electric waves. However, the production and distribution of commodities is entirely unorganized so that everybody must live in fear of being eliminated from the economic cycle, in this way suffering for the want of everything. Furthermore people living in different countries kill each other at irregular time intervals, so that also for this reason anyone who thinks about the future must live in fear and terror. This is due to the fact that the intelligence and character of the masses are incomparably lower than the intelligence and character of the few who produce something valuable for the community. I trust that posterity will read these statements with a feeling of proud and justified superiority.” Neatly signed at the conclusion in blue ink, “A. Einstein.” Accompanied by the original cover letter, also in German, signed “A. Einstein,” also dated August 10, 1938, and reads, in full, “Enclosed I am sending you the desired message for your plan.” Cover letter is addressed to G. Edward Pendray at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Both the message and the letter are accompanied by complete and the original English translations, both done two days later on August 12, 1938, and done by Lawyer’s and Merchants’ Translation Bureau in New York. In fine condition, with a brush to initials in cover letter signature, light mailing folds and a trivial staple hole to top edge of message, some areas of soiling, and the text of both pieces a shade light. Before the time capsule was sealed, Einstein’s message was printed on special paper to preserve it for the future, and it was that copy, rather than these original letters, that were buried fifty feel below the Westinghouse pavilion, to be opened 5,000 years later. The “fear and terror” Einstein refers to in this manuscript would have undoubtedly been at the forefront of public consciousness in 1938. He, along with many other Jewish intellectuals, had fled Germany with the Nazi rise to power in 1933. In addition to the inclusion of his manuscript in the time capsule, Einstein delivered an address at the opening of the Palestine pavilion, further underscoring his status as a Jewish leader. For the rest of his life, Einstein was an outspoken Zionist and pacifist, advocating nuclear disarmament and world government. The Papers of Albert Einstein at the California Institute of Technology states that Einstein’s working draft of this manuscript is in his papers at Hebrew University (never to be on the open market), but they have no record of the location of his final draft mailed to the Westinghouse Company. This historic message recently surfaced, and has never been on the market before. COA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
