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Three original vintage glossy press photos of Albert Einstein:
- an 8.5 x 6.5 photo of Einstein in a pensive, close-up pose, with a typed caption affixed on the reverse: "Conscious of the disaster which would inevitably follow if Nazi Germany should be the first to succeed in releasing atomic energy, Dr. Albert Einstein, in this scene from the March of Time film, 'Atomic Power!' is shown as he decided to write his historic personal letter of President Franklin D, Roosevelt, urging that the U S. step up its program of atomic research."
- an 8.5 x 6.5 photo of Einstein with fellow physicist Leo Szilard during a re-enactment of their meeting for the film Atomic Power (1946), during which Einstein signed Szilard's letter to FDR encouraging him to pursue a nuclear program.
- a 9 x 7 United Press International photo of Einstein during his 1950 appearance on the NBC program 'Today with Mrs. Roosevelt,' speaking out against the development of the hydrogen bomb. Reverse bears a UPI credit stamp, affixed "Rotocopy, Inc." label, and is annotated in ink: "Albert Einstein warns against arms race, 2/15/50."
In overall very good to fine condition.
The Einstein–Szilard letter, written in 1939 by physicist Leó Szilard and signed by Albert Einstein, was sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to warn about the potential development of nuclear weapons by Nazi Germany. The letter urged the United States to accelerate research into uranium chain reactions, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Manhattan Project. This pivotal correspondence marked the beginning of large-scale efforts to harness nuclear energy for military purposes.
In hindsight, Einstein regretted signing the letter and famously became an outspoken opponent of nuclear weapons. On February 12, 1950, Einstein appeared on Eleanor Roosevelt’s television program, Today with Mrs. Roosevelt, to make plain the inherent dangers of a nuclear arms race. His speech, in part: 'The idea of achieving security through national armament is, at the present state of military technique, a disastrous illusion. On the part of the U.S.A. this illusion has been particularly fostered by the fact that this country succeeded first in producing an atomic bomb…The maxim which we have been following during these last five years has been, in short: security through superior military power, whatever the cost…The armament race between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R., originally supposed to be a preventive measure, assumes hysterical character. On both sides, the means to mass destruction are perfected with feverish haste—behind the respective walls of secrecy. The hydrogen bomb appears on the public horizon as a probably attainable goal. Its accelerated development has been solemnly proclaimed by the President. If it is successful, radioactive poisoning of the atmosphere and hence annihilation of any life on earth has been brought within the range of technical possibilities.'
From the estate of Margaret Sanders Adams, the daughter of KFC founder Col. Harland Sanders; notably, she received several photographs from Einstein's executor Otto Nathan to use as reference material for her creation of a bust of Einstein.
Sanders documents her longstanding interest in Albert Einstein, her creation of Einstein's bust, her friendship with Otto Nathan, and his delivery of her 'open letter' to Einstein in her memoir, The Colonel's Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter (pp. 186-239), published in 1996.
