Letters from Einstein

Several lots derive from the Danish author and journalist Karen Stampe Bendix who became closely related with Albert Einstein and his wife Elsa in the beginning of the 1930's. She wrote a long and very personal article about Einstein ("Albert Einstein in Europe - A close-up") before he had to flee to the USA in October 1933. The letters deal with Einstein's view on the political situation and in the letter written early in 1936 he tells of his new life in New Jersey, where he has bought an old house close to Princeton, where he worked after his flee from Germany. He is occupied with his wife's illness (Elsa Einstein died 20 December 1936). Einstein finds that the USA is marked by a pessimistic resignation and accentuate Denmark as being the best place to live at the moment. Also the letters from Einstein's wife, Elsa, reveal the close relationship between Karen Stampe Bendix and the Einsteins.

Also, a hitherto unrecorded letter by Hans Christian Andersen to Charles Dickens is put up for auction. The letter (4 pages) is dated 19 and 20 June 1857.

H.C. Andersen penned this letter during a five week stay at Charles Dickens' home Gad's Hill. In 1847, Andersen made a triumphant journey to England, who welcomed the celebrated writer of Fairy Tales enthusiastically. A decade later, in June 1857, Charles Dickens invited Andersen, then a close friend, to visit him for a stay of two weeks. Andersen remained at the Dickens' home for five weeks, oblivious to the author's increasingly blatant attempts to persuade him to leave.

Andersen's overstaying his welcome may not have been so irritating for the Dickens' if it had not coincided with a particularly disastrous time in the family's life: Dickens was in the process of divorcing his wife and mother to his ten children and the household was in emotional disarray. Although Andersen's letter boasts of his growing ability in the English language, indeed he knew very little, and was entirely oblivious to the turbulent and upsetting going-on in the Dickens' household. According to Johan de Mylius, director of the Hans Christian Andersen Center at Syddansk University in Odense, Denmark, this letter is classified as having been "lost" from the recorded correspondence.

All items are exhibited in Bredgade during the public preview.

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