The scientific working document was initially estimated at between 2 and 3 million euros.
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A record sum. A manuscript by the famous physicist Albert Einstein, in which he prepared his theory of general relativity, was auctioned for 11.6 million euros (with fees) on Tuesday, November 23 in Paris, AFP found. Previous records for an Einstein manuscript were $ 2.8 million (2.4 million euros) in 2018 for a letter on God, and $ 1.56 million (1.39 million euros) in 2017 in Jerusalem for a letter on the secret of happiness.
The document sold on Tuesday was estimated between 2 and 3 million euros. Unlike those which had been the subject of the two previous records, it is a scientific working document. It is an autograph manuscript of 54 pages written in 1913 and 1914, in Zurich (Switzerland), by the German-born physicist and his collaborator and confidant, Michele Besso. “Einstein’s scientific autograph documents from this period, and more generally from before 1919, are extremely rare”, underlined Christie’s before the sale, at which the auction for the house Aguttes took place.
These started at 1.5 million and flew in a few minutes, ending with a battle between two buyers over the phone in increments of 200,000 euros. The nationality of the purchaser was not known in the early evening. A hundred curious and collectors were present in the room, none of them being a bidder.