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TLS signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 8.5 x 11, blindstamped personal Princeton letterhead, October 28, 1948. Letter to Henry Hill Collins, in full: "Thank you for your letter of October 25th. I believe, however, that your letter to the New York Times is based on too primitive a conception of the problem. Not unilateral disarmament but by the creation of a supranational organization having actual control of all military power can offer security." In very good to fine condition, with file holes to the left edge, creasing to the bottom blank area, and toning along the vertical fold.
Accompanied by a copy of Collins's letter to the New York Times, published October 23, 1948, which suggested that Congress pass a law 'outlawing the use of atomic bombs in any future war, and ordering at once the destruction of our entire stockpile of bombs and forbidding any future manufacture of them.'
Einstein’s views on nuclear weapons were shaped by both moral urgency and political realism. Although he had famously urged President Roosevelt in 1939 to take seriously the possibility of atomic research—helping spur the Manhattan Project—Einstein became an outspoken critic of nuclear arms after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the late 1940s, he rejected calls for simple or unilateral disarmament, arguing instead that atomic weapons posed a fundamentally new danger that could only be addressed through international cooperation. As reflected in this letter, Einstein believed that lasting security required a supranational authority with real power over military forces, anticipating later debates about world government, arms control, and collective security in the atomic age.
From the personal collection of a lifelong collector, teacher, and traveler with a passion for world history. His collecting years ranged from the 1970s to the present day, meaning that several of the premier pieces have not been on the market in decades.
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