Description:

Albert Einstein
Governor's Island, NY, March 3, 1944
Manhattan Project Period Security Check Signed by Einstein as a Reference, with James Byrnes Signed Copy of Famous Einstein Letter to Roosevelt
DS

A typed document sent to Dr. Albert Einstein regarding a personnel security check that was conducted by the War Department in order to screen subjects for National Defense work. 2pp, measuring 8" x 10.5", Governor's Island, New York, dated March 3, 1944. Signed on the second page "Albert Einstein." With an LOA from JSA. The two pages have flattened mail folds and some additional creasing. Small holes at the top corners where staples were removed. Repairs have been made on verso at the corners with archival tape. Boldly signed.

The inquiry was made into Rudi Welt Mandl by Agent McCandless of the Army Service Forces and seeks information on the subject's affiliations, character, and employment history to assess their suitability for involvement in the war effort. Consists of 13 questions, of which Einstein seemingly answers only two: identifying himself as a U.S. citizen and listing his occupation as "Professor of Theoretical Physics and a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey." A note in pencil on the back of the second page, in an unknown hand, notes that Mandl was being evaluated to work on the Manhattan Project. While we cannot fully verify this claim, and know that there is still yet to be declassified information surrounding the Project, we know that Mandl had registered for the Draft in 1942 and was being investigated for employment in National Defense in some capacity.

The document is accompanied by a commemorative copy of Einstein's famous letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed by Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. 2pp, measuring 8.5" x 11", postmarked Princeton, dated March 14, 1966. Signed "James F. Byrnes" and with a printed signature by Einstein on the second page. With an 8-cent Einstein stamp adhered at the top of the first page. The commemorative letter is a copy of Einstein's August 2, 1939 letter to Roosevelt, in which he warns the president that Germany was developing atomic bombs. Known as the Einstein-Szilard letter, it urged Roosevelt to begin the United States' own nuclear program. The letter helped lead to the Manhattan Project and the development of the first atomic bombs. With a printed signature. Light toning at the edges.

Rudi W. Mandl was an amateur Czech scientist working as a restaurant dishwasher when he first met Einstein. In the spring of 1936, he was looking for someone to help him publish his proposal concerning a "test for the relativity theory based on observations during eclipses of the stars." Nowadays known as "gravitational lensing", the concept was presented to Einstein when Mandl visited him at Princeton on April 17, 1936. Mandl's role in gravitational lensing was widely reported later in 1937. From that time on, Mandl apparently pursued a career as an inventor, seeking patents for a puzzle game, a picture frame and an improved drill design. Living in New York, he got a job in an apartment building tending the furnace, which covered his rent. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1946, but little else can be found about his life.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 10.5"
  • Medium: DS

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April 23, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
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