EINSTEIN (ALBERT) Autograph letter signed with flourished initial ('E') to Ludwig Hopf ('Lieber Herr Hopf'), in German, writing in response to Hopf's '...refreshing...' letter, pleased that his proposal makes sense to him ('...I will certainly contribute my part, and I believe in your success...'), but advising against a visit '...under the circumstances...', one page, light dust-staining, creased at folds, 4to (226 x 175mm.), Christ Church, Oxford, [n.d., but c.1933] Footnotes: 'I WILL CERTAINLY CONTRIBUTE MY PART, AND I BELIEVE IN YOUR SUCCESS': EINSTEIN WRITES TO HIS FRIEND AND ASSISTANT, THEORETICAL PHYSICIST LUDWIG HOPF. The recipient of Einstein's friendly letter, Ludwig Hopf (1884-1939), joined Einstein in 1910 as his assistant at the University of Zürich chosen partly, it is said, for his talents on the piano so that he could accompany Einstein on the violin. In 1910 he collaborated with Einstein on two fundamental papers on the statistical aspects of radiation and on the 'Einstein-Hopf' model. Hopf also introduced Einstein to Carl Jung and in 1911 they left for Prague's Karl-Ferdinand University where they met Kafka and Max Brod. Our letter was written during one of Einstein's three sojourns in Oxford in the early 1930's, either 1931, 1932 or 1933 (see lot 33), and may relate to Hopf's precarious position as a Jewish academic under the Nazi regime. By then Hopf was a professor of hydrodynamics and aerodynamics at Aachen University but was put on leave in 1933 and finally lost his position in 1934. He remained in Germany until 1939 when he narrowly missed arrest and imprisonment (his son allowed himself to be taken in his stead), and fled to Cambridge. From there he was invited to teach at Trinity College Dublin as a 'refugee of distinction' but died five months later. The theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger, a fellow refugee, spoke at his funeral. Our letter, and Hopf's related correspondence, is not yet included in The Collected Papers, the latest published volume ending in November 1930. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing