The 30 Minute Rule begins September 24 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By September 24 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
ALS signed “Stephen,” one page, 5.25 x 7, blindstamped "6, Little St. Mary's Lane, Cambridge" letterhead, July 1969. Handwritten letter to Alan Deyermond, the distinguished scholar of medieval Spanish literature and recently appointed professor at Westfield College, London. In full: "Congratulations on your appointment. I have always felt that to be a professor is next to being God. As you gaze down from your Olympian heights have pity on us poor mortals." In fine condition, with a light paperclip impression to the top edge.
Autograph letters by Stephen Hawking are of the utmost rarity, with only a tiny handful known at auction; this example is especially significant as one of the last letters he may have written by hand. Diagnosed with early-onset motor neurone disease in 1963, Hawking had by the late 1960s lost much of his physical ability to write or type, increasingly relying on dictation to close associates who could understand his deteriorating speech. At the time of this witty letter, Hawking was engaged in his groundbreaking work with Roger Penrose, yet his own academic future remained uncertain: his research fellowship was nearing its end, and his physical condition prevented him from pursuing a conventional university teaching post. He would not receive his own chair in gravitational physics until 1977, followed by his appointment as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge in 1979.
The recipient, Alan Deyermond, was the tutor and later Ph.D. supervisor of Hawking’s first wife, Jane. In her memoir, Music to Move the Stars, Jane recalls Stephen’s first meeting with Deyermond, during which Hawking provocatively dismissed medieval literature as “as useful an occupation as studying pebbles on the beach”; Deyermond, also an Oxford graduate, “willingly picked up the gauntlet,” and the two parted on “remarkably amiable terms.” Hawking’s playful congratulations here—casting Deyermond’s professorship in mock-Olympian terms—reflects both his biting humor and genuine regard for a fellow academic.
Accompanied by an ALS by Jane Hawking, signed “Jane,” dated July 5, 1969, beginning: “Stephen joins me in sending you our congratulations on the Professorship. We are truly delighted for you, especially as we know how well deserved the title is.” Also includes Deyermond's hardcover first edition of Jane Hawking’s memoir, Music to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen, signed and inscribed on the title page in black ballpoint, “Dear Ann & Alan, with much love & gratitude, Jane.”
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
(inquire for price)
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
Third-party authentication service applies only to signatures and handwriting, and does not cover the addition of sketches, artwork, musical quotations, etc.
