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Lot #183
Albert Einstein Signed Book - Philosopher-Scientist (Ltd. Ed. #176/750)

Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist—a limited first edition of Einstein's 'autobiography'

Estimate: $8000+

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Description

Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist—a limited first edition of Einstein's 'autobiography'

Sought-after signed book: Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, Volume VII of the Influential Library of Living Philosophers book series, edited by Paul Arthur Schlipp. Limited first edition, numbered 176 of 750 subscription copies. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University, 1949. Chocolate-brown leatherette hardcover with gilt-stamped facsimile signature, 6.75 x 9.75, 781 pages. Signed neatly on the colophon in black ink, “Albert Einstein, 49.” Autographic condition: fine. Book condition: VG/None, with the frontispiece portrait neatly detached but present.

The seventh volume in the classic The Library of Living Philosophers series, Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist is a tribute volume with essays by some of the most important scientists of the era reflecting on the importance of Einstein’s work. Contributors include: Wolfgang Pauli, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Arnold Sommerfeld, Georges Lemaitre, Kurt Gödel, and many more. Of special note is the essay by Niels Bohr, ‘Discussion with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics,’ which gives Bohr’s perspective of the famous Einstein-Bohr debates. As Paul Schilpp notes in his Preface, ‘These recollections of conversations with Einstein on the epistemological aspects of physical science would never have come into being, were it not for the peculiar nature of this series.’

Of particular note are the first and last chapters, ‘Autobiographical Notes’ and ‘Remarks to the Essays Appearing in this Collective Volume,’ which serve as important biographical references; per physicist and science historian Abraham Pais, the ‘Autobiographical Notes’ is the ‘closest Einstein ever came to writing an autobiography.’

Provenance: From the library of Dr. Edward C. Clark M.D.

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