BOSTON – With 1,000 lots up for bidding, RR Auction‘s December Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction features an extraordinary wealth of scientific material —Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Alfred Nobel, Nikola Tesla, James Watt, Henri Poincare, and Charles Darwin are among the key names. View the fully illustrated catalog on LiveAuctioneers.
Highlights include an Albert Einstein signed letter in which he commented on his instant fame in 1920. Handwritten in German to fellow physicist Ludwig Hopf, he says in part (translated): “At night I dream I am burning in hell and the postman is the devil and is continually screaming at me, hurling a fresh bundle of letters at my head because I still haven’t answered the old ones.”
Sir Arthur Eddington performed the first tests of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity during the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919. His observations of the gravitational deflection of light offered the first experimental proof of Einstein’s groundbreaking theory. Widespread newspaper coverage of these results — which Einstein discussed in the February 2, 1920 letter — led to worldwide fame for Einstein and his theories, and he received the Nobel Prize in 1921. “It’s a remarkable and insightful letter by Einstein on his overnight celebrity and its effects on his life and work,” said Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction. The one-page letter is estimated at $20,000-$30,000.
Another Einstein lot in the sale is a black-and-white portrait photograph of the man, taken by Lotte Jacobi and signed by the scientist “A. Einstein, 1942.” It is estimated at $10,000-$15,000.
Among other featured lots is a two-sheet Charles Darwin signed letter dated January 29, 1860. Darwin handwrote the letter to his former teacher, John Stevens Henslow, discussing the landmark book On the Origin of Species. The letter reads in part: “My Book has been far more successful as yet, than I dreamed of.” The remarkable autograph letter by Darwin alluding to the great success of his most important work carries an estimate of $10,000-$12,000.
The Fine Autographs and Artifacts featuring Science and Technology from RR Auction will conclude on December 8. For more information, go to www.rrauction.com.
[av_button label=’View the full online catalog at LiveAuctioneers’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/226479_rr-auction-fine-autographs-and-artifacts/?keyword=Darwin&page=1′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-8400gwf’ admin_preview_bg=”]
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
