Albert Einstein | Relativity: the special & the general theory, first edition in English, presentation copy, dust-jacket

Albert Einstein—Robert W. Lawson (translator)

Relativity: the special & the general theory: a popular exposition. London: Methuen & Co., 1920

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, 8vo, half title, lithographed frontispiece of Einstein, 5 diagrams, blue publisher's "presentation copy" stamp to title-page, 8 pages of publisher's advertisements at rear, publisher's red cloth, title stamped in brown to spine and blind to upper cover, dust-jacket, some light manuscript annotations, lower board bumped at upper margin, spine and boards sunned, dust-jacket worn and discoloured, back of dust jacket detached from spine with old bookseller's price in pencil to upper cover

The first English edition of Einstein's groundbreaking work expounding his "theory of relativity". Copies with the original dust-jacket rarely appear at auction. This influential work suggested that gravity is not, according to the Newtonian school of thought, a force, but the result of a curvature in the space-time continuum. These concepts correctly predicted the behaviour of light during a solar eclipse, proved just 4 years later, and gravitational waves, proved in 2015; continued research into black holes continues to support Einstein's prescient observations.

PROVENANCE

Paul Dessau (1909-1999), British artist celebrated for the paintings he produced during the Second World War whilst serving as a fireman in London: ownership inscription to front free endpaper in pencil, with Dessau's business card