Sell or Auction Your Robert Oppenheimer Autograph Including a Typed Letter Signed for up to Over $5,000 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
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The Manhattan Project was the American research and development of the first atomic bomb during WWII. Many felt Americans needed to study this field after news emerged that German scientists learned how to cleave a uranium atom and grew concerned that Nazi’s would create weapons with this new technology. President Roosevelt agreed to this and in 1941 the Manhattan project was formed. Physicist Robert Oppenheimer led the project and scientists Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Hans Bethe and Ernest O. Lawrence were also involved.
Below is a recent realized price for a Robert Oppenheimer typed letter signed. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions can obtain up to this amount or more for you:
Robert Oppenheimer Typed Letter Signed. Sold for Over $1,000.
Here are some related items we have sold:
”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.
Manhattan Project Signatures of All Five Scientists Who Worked on the Atomic Bomb Including Enrico Fermi & Robert Oppenheimer — Rare Signatures on Official Los Alamos Stationery With Secret P.O. Box Address
Typed letter signed by Manhattan Project Director Norris Bradbury, who encloses the signatures of the “five scientists associated with the Atomic Bomb Project.” On a separate sheet are the promised signatures, written boldly by all: “J.R. Oppenheimer”, “Samuel K. Allison”, “E. Fermi”, “N.E. Bradbury” and “G.B. Kistiakowsky”. Letter dated 2 November 1945 is on official “P.O. Box 1663 / Santa Fe, New Mexico” stationery, the secret P.O. Box address used for the project whose physical location was undisclosed. Also includes original mailing envelope postmarked 7 November 1945. Document, measuring 8.5″ x 11″ has some folding from mailing, else near fine. Sold for $3,800.
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 Albert Einstein autograph on his photo, 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. Albert Einstein autograph photo measures 7” x 10”. Very good to near fine condition. Extraordinarily rare Albert Einstein autograph on his photo, the most famous and beloved image of him. Sold for $125,000.
Albert Einstein autograph letter signed with his hand drawings, elegantly explaining his electrostatic theory of special relativity to a physics teacher struggling to reconcile it with experiments he was conducting. In addition to the letter, which is new to the market, Einstein generously replies to a series of questions the teacher asks him on a questionnaire, providing additional drawings and calculations, initialed ”A.E.” at the conclusion.
Dated 4 September 1953 on Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study letterhead, Einstein writes to Arthur L. Converse, the teacher from Malcolm, Iowa, in part, ”There is no difficulty to explain your present experiment on the basis of the usual electrostatic theory. One has only to assume that there is a difference of potential between the body of the earth and higher layers of the atmosphere, the earth being negative relatively to those higher layers…[Einstein then draws Earth and the atmosphere, referring to it for clarification] The electric potential p rises linearly with the distance h from the surface of the earth…For all your experiments the following question is relevant: How big is the electric charge produced on a conductor which is situated in a certain height h, this body being connected with the earth…”
Einstein then answers Converse’s questions on a two-page questionnaire. In one answer, Einstein seems to disagree with the question, providing both a diagram and mathematical equation and then a ”?” to try to aid understanding. He later writes ”not clear” to one answer along with a question mark and additional diagram with the notation ”charge of elektroscope increased proportional to h”. An extraordinary lot by Einstein showing the generosity of his time, with rare content on his theory of special relativity. Single page letter and two-page questionnaire each measures 8.5” x 11”.
Also included is Einstein’s original mailing envelope from ”Room 115” of the Institute for Advanced Study, postmarked 7 September 1953 from Princeton. Folds and very light toning to letter, otherwise near fine. Questionnaire has folds, light toning and staple mark, otherwise near fine with bold handwriting by Einstein. Dark Albert Einstein autograph. With an LOA from the nephew of Arthur Converse and new to the market.
Sold for $53,504.
Albert Einstein Autograph Letter Signed on God & Unified Field Theory, With Mathematical Equations in His Hand Regarding the Theory — “…It is devilishly difficult to get closer to ‘Him’…”
Albert Einstein autograph letter signed in April 1950, shortly after his article “On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation” appeared in “Scientific American”. Einstein replies to a letter from his closest friend, Michele Besso, with wide-ranging content spanning the spiritual (even referencing God as “Him”) to his Unified Field Theory, with equations from the theory in his hand (“A certain mathematical question has occupied me lately”) that he believes neutralizes his critics. Einstein also takes aim at quantum physicists (“there is no such thing as a ‘particle’ in the strictest meaning of the word”) and even tackles the tricky issue of knowledge itself (“no guarantee that it will ever be possible to know whether the theory is ‘true.'”). At the age of 71, Einstein is seeking to augment his Unified Field Theory, creating an umbrella theory for Special Relativity and Gravity, and seems frustrated that “contemporary physicists” appear content with theoretical abstractions without proving the equations underpinning them. In fact, he predicts that they will eventually see the need for evidence: “they clearly have the right to condemn my method as unproductive. But it will not be like that in the long run. They will see, very slowly, that you cannot get closer in depth to things with the quasi-empirical method.” Sold for $36,628.
Albert Einstein Autograph Letter Signed Regarding His United Field Theory: “…I have been brooding and calculating almost all of my days and half of the nights…’Unified Field Theory’…”
Exceptional autograph letter signed by Albert Einstein on completing his Unified Field Theory, in which he attempts to unify his Special Theory of Relativity with Gravitational Theory into a single theory in an almost spiritual way to explain the laws of physics. In his Nobel Prize speech from 1923, Einstein expounded on his belief of a singular theory that the universe must be operating under, a so-called “Theory of Everything” that has inspired Stephen Hawking and other prominent physicists: “The intellect seeking after an integrated theory cannot rest content with the assumption that there exist two distinct fields totally independent of each other by their nature.” Einstein in fact, became somewhat preoccupied with the impulse to solve the unification puzzle, as evidenced in this letter, written to his closest friend Michele Besso, where he emerges from his solitude and “brooding” after finally completing what he calls his “Unified Field Theory”. He mentions to Besso that he expects colleagues “will initially stick their tongues out as far as possible” because his “equations do not contain Planck’s constant h” (the bedrock of quantum mechanics), which he infers is a “craze” and that he expects the physics community to “remorsefully return to the time-space concept”. Indeed, though Einstein didn’t dismiss quantum mechanics, he wasn’t swept up in the 1920s furor over it, and believed it could be explained in a broader unification theory. Sold for $31,500.
Richard Feynman Handwritten Diary-Style Document, Trying to Understand the Faulty Decision Making at NASA After the Challenger Disaster — “…the ‘fairyland’ feeling I get reading NASA reports…”
Richard Feynman handwritten manuscript, composed while Feynman served on the Rogers Commission to investigate the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman appears to try to understand the faulty decision making at NASA and Morton-Thikol that led to the disaster, writing free association on these two pages in a fascinating diary-style document. Feynman dates the document as “Sunday Mar 29, 1985″, however 29 March doesn’t fall on a Sunday in either 1985 or 1986, so it’s unclear when the document was written, although it seems to be from the time of the Rogers Commission. Two page document on a single sheet measures 8.375″ x 11”. Near fine condition. From the estate of Richard Feynman. Sold for $16,800.
Richard Feynman Handwritten Notes — Sold for $14,700.
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.
Richard Feynman Handwritten Letter Signed to William Rogers, Chairman of the Space Shuttle Challenger Commission — Feynman Signs Off, “Richard Feynman…utter ignoramus about politics”
Richard Feynman autograph letter signed, composed 24 May 1986 to William Rogers, Chairman of the Rogers Commission, established by President Reagan to investigate the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman pens this fascinating draft letter after he and Rogers had reached a compromise regarding exposing what Feynman calls the “very serious and extensive ‘flaws’ in [NASA] management. Not just a crack but a general disintegration.” Feynman here agrees to include his minority report – which criticizes NASA management as essentially inept, as an appendix to the full report (“rather than being lost in the archives”), and closes the letter with a humorous sign-off, “Commissioner Feynman, Nobel Prize, Einstein Award, Oersted Medal and utter ignoramus about politics.” The final Rogers Commission Report was released on 9 June 1986, approximately two weeks after this letter.
Richard Feynman would live fewer than two years after penning this letter, long before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 2003, the investigation into which revealed a continued culture of poor decision making and risk tolerance at NASA. After the Challenger disaster, the space shuttle program was shuttered. Four page letter on two sheets of United Nations Plaza Hotel stationery measures 8.5″ x 11″. Folds, else near fine. From the Richard Feynman estate. Sold for $9,450.
Richard Feynman Thrust Distribution Notes from February 5 1986 — Sold for $9,450.
Richard Feynman Autograph Manuscript Entitled “Conversation with Presskill” — Comprising Three Pages of Notes on Theoretical Physics
Richard Feynman autograph manuscript on theoretical physics, circa 1983-1984. Three page document is entitled “Conversation with Preskill”, referencing physicist John Preskill, who in 1983 joined the Caltech faculty where he is now the Director of the Institute for Quantum Information, and the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics. Composed in black ink on grid-ruled hole-punched paper, Feynman takes detailed notes with dozens of handwritten equations, summarizing the conversation in five main points. Five sheets included, with writing on three separate sheets and with two blank sheets. Each measures 8.5″ x 11″. Spot of discoloration to bottom of one page and light creasing, overall near fine condition. Sold for $5,250.
Lively autograph letter signed by Nobel winning quantum physicist pioneer Max Planck, who writes to fellow physicist Paul Epstein. Dated 19 January 1938, Planck muses on the first law of thermodynamics (before it was recognized as such), responding to Epstein’s mention of the 18th century scientist Albrecht von Haller learning that liquid warms by shaking. On Planck’s personal stationery, letter in German reads in full, ”Dear Doctor! / Your kind letter of the 17th of this month and the attached article on the background of the first fundamental theorem gave me great pleasure, for which I thank you sincerely. Concerning the content of your essay, your mentioning of [Albrecht von] Haller’s finding that ‘water, as well as milk, when moved vigorously, could reach a certain degree of warmth,’ was of particular interest to me. I remember exactly one of the stories told by my teacher in Munich, Philipp [von] Jolly, who was personally acquainted with J. R. [Julius Robert von] Mayer, relating that one day Mayer had burst into his room exclaiming, full of a discoverer’s joy, that water could be warmed by means of vigorous shaking. So someone else had already arrived there first after all. / But your letter made me happy in personal terms as well, since it was the first direct sign of life from you after some time. I am in awe about how much, considering your weakened physical condition, particularly with respect to your vision, you are still able to achieve. Many would envy even your firm handwriting. May this mental acuity remain with you during the new year as well. Very warm regards. / Yours respectfully, / M. Planck”. Two page letter on a single sheet measures 5.875” x 7”. Single fold, staple puncture and light toning. Very good condition. Sold for $2,500.
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