Sell or Auction Your John von Neumann Signed Letter for up to About $2,500 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
FREE ESTIMATE. To buy, auction, sell or consign your John von Neumann signed letter signed that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
Free Appraisal, Auction or Sell Your John von Neumann Signed Letter

Below is a recent realized price for a signed letter from physicist and mathematician John von Neumann. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions can obtain up to this amount or more for you:
John von Neumann Signed Letter. Sold for About $2,500.
The following are some related items we have sold:
Albert Einstein typed letter signed during World War II, with moving content regarding helping Jewish refugees. Dated 10 June 1939 on his personal embossed letterhead from Princeton, Einstein writes to Dr. Maurice Lenz who worked on ”behalf of the refugees during Dedication Week.” Einstein continues, ”…The power of resistance which has enabled the Jewish people to survive for thousands of years has been based to a large extent on traditions of mutual helpfulness. In these years of affliction our readiness to help one another is being put to an especially severe test. May we stand this test as well as did our fathers before us.
We have no other means of self-defense than our solidarity and our knowledge that the cause for which we are suffering is a momentous and sacred cause.
It must be a source of deep gratification to you to be making so important a contribution toward rescuing our persecuted fellow-Jews from their calamitous peril and leading them toward a better future…[signed] A. Einstein”.
Single page letter measures 8.5” x 11”. Folds and light creasing, otherwise near fine condition. Accompanied by Einstein’s embossed mailing envelope, postmarked Princeton on 12 June 1939. Sold for $134,344.

Very rare photo signed by Albert Einstein, on the occasion of the Nobel Prize winner playfully sticking out his tongue to a group of photographers on his 72nd birthday. Photo was snapped on 14 March 1951 by Arthur Sasse, a UPI photographer whose employers were at first hesitant about publishing the iconoclastic image of Einstein; when they did, Einstein was so amused by it that he ordered several prints to give out to close friends. This image is unlike most which crop the photo to show only Einstein. Here, the photo is shown in its full context with Einstein seated between Dr. Frank Aydelotte, head of the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, and Aydelotte’s wife, after celebrating his birthday at the Princeton Club. Photo is signed along the left margin ”A. Einstein .51”, indicating he signed the image shortly after it was taken. Photo measures 7” x 10”. Very good to near fine condition. Extraordinarily rare photo signed by Einstein, the most famous and beloved image of him. Sold for $125,000.

Nobel Prize Awarded to Physicist Kenneth G. Wilson in 1982 — One of the Kingpins of Quantum Physics
The 1982 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded to theoretical physicist Kenneth G. Wilson for his work in understanding the ”critical point” of phase transitions – the exact point at which matter transitions to another state, such as when a solid become liquid. Wilson’s work was subsequently applied to quantum mechanics, where he is considered a pioneer who laid the theoretical groundwork for today’s quantum physicists. Nobel Prize is made of 18kt gold, plated in 24kt gold, consistent with the 1982 medals. Medal features the relief portrait of Alfred Nobel to front, with his name and the years of his birth and death. Verso features a relief of the Goddess Isis, whose veil is held up by a woman who represents the genius of science. Encircling the medal are the words ”Inventas vitam juvat excoluisse per artes”, translating to ”And they who bettered life on earth by their newly found mastery”. Wilson’s name and 1982 in Roman numerals are engraved on a plaque below the relief of the 2 women, with ”Reg. Acad. Scient. Suec.” also written, an abbreviation for The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Etched upon the medal is the name of Erik Lindberg, designer of the Nobel medal. Housed in the original red leather case with Kenneth G. Wilson’s name gilt stamped. Medal weighs 173 grams or just over 6 oz. and measures 2.5” in diameter. Case measures 5.5” x 5.5” x 1”. Presented in near fine condition. With an LOA from Kenneth Wilson’s widow. Sold for $118,750.


Stephen Hawking Signed Book From 1973 — One of the Scarcest of Signatures
Stephen Hawking book signed from 1973, shortly before Hawking was not able to write his name due to ALS. Hawking signed this book, ”The Archaeology of the Industrial Revolution”, along with several other members of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy at Cambridge University, on the occasion of an employee leaving his job as a computer operator. Hawking signs the half-title page, ”Stephen Hawking”, in stilted, but legible writing, below the signatures of other faculty members and below the gift inscription, ”With gratitude and best wishes from the friends of the IOA computer staff.”
It was at the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy at Cambridge where Hawking, as a research scientist, made some of his earliest scientific breakthroughs regarding black holes and quantum mechanics. Also in 1973, he published his important first book, ”The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time” which is now considered a classic and has been printed many times over. It was also at this time that ALS was overtaking Hawkings physically, and he would be confined to a wheelchair by 1975.
First edition book, published in 1973, measures 9” x 11.25” with dust jacket. Light pulling away from binding at bottom of signature page, but overall in near fine condition. Accompanied by email chain of provenance originating from the recipient of the book. A fantastic item, captured during the brief time that Hawking’s physical condition was deteriorating but his intellectual achievements were rapidly accelerating. Sold for $25,000.

Stephen Hawking ownership signature within ”Astrophysical Quantities”, one of the most referenced books in the discipline of astrophysics. London: The Athlone Press, 1964 second edition by Clabon Allen. Signed by Hawking on the front free endpaper in black ballpoint, ”S.W. Hawking”, with the bookseller’s date in pencil reading ”4-6-70”, revealing when Hawking most likely purchased and signed the book. At this time in 1970, Hawking was doing his most vigorous work on black holes, and theorized what is now accepted as the second law of black hole dynamics. This book, ”Astrophysical Quantities” was probably used repeatedly by the legendary scientist at the time. Book measures 6.875” x 9.75”, bound in publisher’s forest green boards and housed in original dust jacket. Jacket has some sunning to spine and a few nicks, in very good condition. Book itself is near fine. With University Archives COA. Sold for $25,000.


Very scarce Richard P. Feynman signed first edition, first printing of his memoir, ”Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman!”. Feynman signs on the half-title page, ”To Bill – Congratulations on your graduation. / Richard Feynman”. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1985. Book shows full number line on copyright page, also stating ”First Edition” as called for. In original first printing unclipped dust jacket, showing $16.95 price and two reviews on back cover. In this unconventional book by the Nobel Prize winning physicist, Feynman discusses the Manhattan Project, safe cracking, presenting as a young man in front of Albert Einstein, and much more. Book runs 350pp. and measures 5.75” x 8.5”, bound in orange cloth boards. Slight cocking to spine and light shelf wear, overall near fine. Dust jacket is slightly chipped with some sunning to spine, in very good condition. One of the few first printings signed by Feynman. Sold for $12,500.

1910 Marie Curie Autograph Letter Signed “M. Curie” — “…An article concerning the Radium Institute is completely false [and] obviously conceived with malicious intent…”
Interesting Marie Curie autograph letter signed, dated 6 November 1910 from Paris on “Faculté des Sciences de Paris” letterhead, regarding construction of the famous Curie Radium Institute. Following the death of her husband Pierre Curie in 1906, Marie took his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculté des Sciences, the first woman to hold this position. An onslaught of slanderous articles were written about her at this time, particularly as she began an affair with another scientist who was married. Letter, written in French, is addressed to the director of the newspaper “Les Temps” and reads: “An article concerning the Radium Institute which recently appeared in the last issue of the ‘Cri de Paris’ has just been forwarded to me. The information contained in this article is completely false. I have not as yet received either the plans or the estimates for this institute, nor have I made any of the demands mentioned in the article. I am hoping that this article, obviously conceived with malicious intent, will not be accepted by the press in a manner likely to contribute to the propagation of such a myth.” Letter, measuring 5.25″ x 8.5″ on one page, has minor toning, else near fine condition. Sold for $7,866.

”Atomic Energy for Military Purposes”, signed in 1946 during the Manhattan Project by six of the most important individuals who developed this first atomic bomb, including Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1945. Book is the official report of the Manhattan Project, signed on the half-title page by Enrico Fermi, Samuel K. Allison, George B. Kistiakowsky, Kenneth T. Bainbridge, and Robert Oppenheimer. Signatures were acquired by another Manhattan Project scientist, Laurence Cherry, who designed the detonation system for the Fat Man bomb. Hardbound book measures 5.75” x 8”. Some light wear and spotting to boards. Mr. Cherry’s stamp appears on page edges and also on front free endpaper, along with his address and notation that the book was purchased in 1946 at Los Alamos. Very good condition. Sold for $5,000.

FREE ESTIMATE. To buy, auction, sell or consign your John von Neumann signed letter signed that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
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