Books and Manuscripts: 19th and 20th Century

Books and Manuscripts: 19th and 20th Century

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 52. Albert Einstein | Inscribed photograph with Viscount Haldane, 1921.

Albert Einstein | Inscribed photograph with Viscount Haldane, 1921

Lot Closed

December 14, 02:52 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Albert Einstein


Photograph of Einstein with Viscount Haldane, signed and inscribed on the reverse


Vintage silver print of the two men standing together in conversation at Queen Anne's Gate during a visit to London in June 1921, three-quarter length, 150 x 205mm, signed and inscribed on the reverse ("Für Lady Haldane, zum Beweise, dass Gemütlichkeit neben der Wissenschaft gedeihen kann | Albert Einstein. 15. Juni 1921") with typed translation ("For Lady Haldane, to prove that kindliness and learning can grow together"), mounted framed and glazed (260 x 310 mm), minor creasing to top left corner


AN UNUSUAL INSCRIBED PHOTO OF EINSTEIN IN CONVERSATION outside Haldane's home on Queen Anne's Gate. Einstein made his first visit to Britain in June 1921 on his return to Europe from the USA. He was invited to London by Richard, Viscount Haldane, who had just published The Reign of Relativity, which investigated the implications of Einstein's theory on moral philosophy. Haldane was a remarkable and unusual figure in British public life who combined political high office with serious philosophical study. He had been forced from Cabinet in 1915 in large part by a xenophobic press campaign (suspicion of him rested on his fluent German and admiration for Hegelian philosophy) and had returned to writing. Haldane chaired Einstein's lecture on his Theory of Relativity at King's College, London, on 13 June, and also gave him a dinner at his London home, where Einstein and his wife were staying during their visit.


Einstein presented this photograph to "Lady Haldane", in fact Miss Elizabeth Sanderson Haldane, CH, LLD, JP. She was Viscount Haldane's sister and kept house for him, but was herself a writer and philosopher, as well as being a leading nursing administrator and the first female JP in Scotland.