SIGNED AND DATED BY EINSTEIN IN THE YEAR OF HIS DEATH, SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF OUT OF MY LATER YEARS, 1950
EINSTEIN, Albert. Out of My Later Years. New York: Philosophical Library, (1950). Octavo, original blue cloth gilt, original beige and red dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First edition of Einstein's second collection of social science-related articles, addresses, speeches, letters and papers covering the period before, during and after the Second World War, an exceptionally scarce fine copy signed and dated by him in the year of his death, 1955.
Commenting on the potential conflict of science and politics, Albert Einstein once turned to an assistant and sighed, "Yes, time has to be divided this way between politics and our equations" (DSB). In this continuation of his first collection of essays, The World As I See It (1934), Einstein offers further thoughts crossing that divide, mirroring his political, social, philosophical and scientific concerns. Drawn from articles, speeches, letters and various papers, all written from 1934 to 1950, with many published here for the first time, the book includes selections on science, ethics, public affairs, issues in Jewish history, the dilemma of modern war and tributes to figures such as Marie Curie, Isaac Newton and Mahatma Gandhi.
On April 17, 1955, Einstein suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm and was taken to Princeton Hospital in New Jersey. He refused surgery, saying, "I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly." He died the following morning at the age of 76. This work was issued in a number of different cloths and dust jackets, and there continues to be bibliographic uncertainty about some points. This copy has three points we have identified as indicating a first edition; it is 225 millimeters tall, has a 4-page Table of Contents, and has Essays in Science and Philosophy as the first book listed on the back panel of the dust jacket.
Book fine, dust jacket very nearly so. A lovely, scarce and desirable signed copy.