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Einstein, Albert

Albert Einstein, Princeton, New Jersey. 1947. American Physicist & mathematician...

© Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos
Albert Einstein, Princeton, New Jersey. 1947. American Physicist & mathematician - Historical Photograph Collection: Einstein Portrait (AC067_BMP3_Image164)
© Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) first arrived at Princeton in May 1921 to deliver five Stafford Little Lectures on the theory of relativity. The lectures were held in McCosh Hall from May 9th to May 13th, delivered in German, and were followed by a 20 minute resume in English. Einstein also accepted an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Princeton in 1921.

He returned again in 1933 as a life member of the newly founded Institute for Advanced Study and lived in Princeton for the remaining 22 years of his life. While an important member of the larger intellectual community of Princeton, Einstein was not a member of the Princeton University faculty, although he did have an office on campus from 1933 until the construction of the Institute's Fuld Hall in 1939. 

 

  • The Manuscripts Division houses the Albert Einstein Duplicate Archives (C0701) which consists of a photocopied and microfilmed duplicate archive of the original Albert Einstein Archive at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  Portions of this archive are available online.  Also housed in the Manuscripts Division is the Hanna Fantova Collection of Albert Einstein (C0701). In 2004, librarians at Princeton University discovered a diary written by Fantova, who recorded the scientist's day-to-day thoughts and activities in the last year and a half of his life, during their telephone conversations. 

  • Collection received from the estate of Hanna Fantova in 1981. Off-prints, pamphlets, and books included in this collection are detailed in a typescript listing prepared by Alexander Wainwright. (See Vertical File for manuscript collection C0703). These printed items are in main catalogue.

Research Tools for Printed Material (Books, Maps, Prints, etc.)

Notable Holdings

  • Albert Einstein Duplicate Archive

    The collection consists of a photocopied and microfilmed duplicate archive of the original Albert Einstein Archive at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, divided into scientific and non-scientific sections, including published and unpublished manuscripts, articles, lectures, notebooks, notes, travel

  • Albert Einstein Collection

    The collection consists of miscellaneous material by or about Einstein:
    correspondence, manuscripts and typescripts, photographs, drawings, articles and
    offprints, ephemera, and newspaper clippings. The material is chiefly in

  • Hanna Fantova Collection of Albert Einstein

    The collection consists of Fantova's collection of Albert Einstein material, as well as some of her own personal papers.

  • Einstein in Japan Collection

    The collection consists of memorabilia from Einstein's 1922 trip to Japan. Included in the collection are a lacquer box for writing tools, an album of drawings by school children presented as tributes to Einstein, three photographs, and miscellaneous invitations (in Japanese).