WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A great thinker like Albert Einstein comes along very rarely and almost as rare is the opportunity to own a handwritten letter penned by the master mind. A collection of six Einstein letters, including two handwritten examples, headline the sale scheduled for June 27 in West Palm Beach, Fla., at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding.
Auction house president Brian Kogan said, “Einstein’s autograph is desirable enough but having two letters written completely in the hand of this genius is incredible.” The collection of letters descended in the family of Dr. Hans Maurice Cassel, an assistant professor of physical chemistry at the Berlin Institute of Technology in the 1920s. Cassel worked with Einstein on a number of scientific theories and formulae.
The letters were found by the granddaughter of Cassel in a file box left to her by her mother. The letters were written between 1936 and 1937, when Einstein was at Princeton University. Cassel’s correspondence with Einstein is documented in the Einstein Archives at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The handwritten letters, written to Cassel in German, discuss theories they were working on.
The auction will feature more than 325 lots from several estates. The inventory includes antiques, carpets and fine art from a prestigious property at St. Andrews in Boca Raton, Florida. Also, the session will include antique furniture, chandeliers, 19th-century giltwood mirrors, antiques and lamps from a Wellington equestrian estate, part III of the continuing Asian Collection sale from a Boca Raton collector featuring jade objects d’art and snuff bottles and fine art from the estate of a Palm Beach gentleman as well as additional consignments from around South Florida and the Palm Beaches.
Items of special note in the sale include a pair of 19th-century French ormolu mounted Old Paris porcelain vases with double-scroll handles ending in female mask terminals, painted with flowers on a green ground, raised on a fluted base with bead and wreath collar; and a spectacular 19th-century Italian carved giltwood mirror within pierced shell, scroll and flower border carved with swans, putti heads, masks and dragons. A magnificent Chinese celadon jade bangle has a solid inner ring and pierced outer ring with foliate and bat designs.
For additional information on any lot in the auction, call 561-805-7115 and ask for Leslie Baker or Brian Kogan.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
