Rare Einstein Document Linked To His Theory of Relativity Will Be Auctioned On November 23

Written with engineer Michele Besso in 1913-14, the document includes equations that Einstein would later use in his Theory of General Relativity

Albert Einstein (left) and a page from the Einstein-Besso manuscript | Photo: Getty/Christie’s

New Delhi: On November 23, auction houses Christie’s France and Aguttes will bring under the hammer a rare document belonging to Albert Einstein and his childhood friend, the Swiss-Italian engineer Michele Besso.

The document, known as the Einstein-Besso manuscript, played a crucial role in the development of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

It consists of 54 pages — 26 written by Einstein, 25 by Besso, and two jointly, according to an article on the Christie’s website.

The Manuscript

Einstein and Besso wrote the document between June 1913 and early 1914. Einstein had proposed his Theory of Special Relativity in 1905. At the time he wrote the manuscript with Besso, he was working on General Relativity, which he eventually announced in 1915.

The document includes equations that led Einstein to “paint his radical new picture of the universe”.

The two scientists were studying an anomaly in Mercury’s orbit, and trying to explain it with equations. These were versions of the same equations that Einstein would use to prove his Theory of General Relativity.

Their focus was on Mercury’s perihelion, the point where the planet is closest to the Sun. They sought to confirm that the perihelion changes slowly over time because of the curvature of spacetime. 

However, both scientists made a couple of mistakes in the manuscript. Einstein realised this later, and corrected his findings independently.

Besso kept the document safely in his home until his death in 1955, which accounts for its impeccable condition, Christie’s says. In a separate statement, Aguttes says (in French): “It is thus thanks to him (Besso) that the manuscript has, almost miraculously, come down to us: Einstein probably would not have bothered to keep what seemed to him to be a working document.”

The Auction

According to Aguttes, the Einstein-Besso manuscript is arguably the most valuable Einstein manuscript ever to be auctioned. Its price is estimated between 2 million and 3 million euros.

The auction of the document will be part of ‘The Exceptional Sale’ on November 23. Christie’s is promoting the manuscript to its international network of collectors.

Einstein and Besso appeared to have different styles of writing and presenting information. “What’s interesting is the sense of personality that comes across in these pages. You get the impression that Einstein was perhaps more confident in his calculations since his sheets are much lighter in terms of textual content and reserved almost exclusively for calculations. Besso, by contrast, often added written notes in the margin,” Vincent Belloy, specialist in the Books & Manuscripts department at Christie’s Paris, was quoted as saying on the Christie’s website.