Lot 398
Nobel Prize Winners. A collection of 29 Typed Letters Signed by seven Nobel prize winners, six German and one Hungarian: H.A. Krebs, A. Butenandt, A.V. Szent-Gyorgyi, Otto Hahn, Rudolf L. Moßbauer, H. Staudinger, and Werner Heisenberg. All of the correspondence is addressed to F.L. Breusch, between 1937 and 1972, most of it while he was at the Chemical Institute of the University in Istanbul; Breusch went on to the University of Massachusetts. Krebs (Nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1953), wrote one letter, January 31, 1949, regarding "the question of the admission of German biochemists to the International Congress…"; Krebs wrote in English, the remainder of the letters being in German. Krebs was Jewish and was forced to emigrate from Germany in 1933. Adolf Betenandt (Nobel prize in chemistry in 1939), wrote 3 letters in 1948, 1952, and 1961, from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and its successor, the Max Planck Institute. A.V. Szent-Gyorgyi (Nobel prize for physiology in 1937) writes 2 letters, one in 1937 inviting Breusch to work for him for 4 months, and another in 1943, that wishes for a speedy end to the war. Ten letters are signed by Otto Hahn (1944 Nobel prize in chemistry), 4 from 1948, 5 from 1951, and 1 from 1954. Hahn refers to "the modern question of nuclear physics which has made all mankind excited and uneasy." He mentions splitting uranium and the geological determination of the age of minerals after the strontium method; also, the energy of atomic nuclei and their utilization. Hahn sends 3 lectures to Breusch and asks if they are too difficult to understand; one pertains to the discovery of nuclear fission and another to harnessing nuclear fission. There is 1 letter from Rudolf L. Moßbauer (1961 Nobel prize in physics), 1968, and 6 letters by Hermann Staudinger (1953 Nobel prize in chemistry), written from 1948-1956. Six letters are by Werner Heisenberg (1932 Nobel prize in physics), 5 from 1950 and 1 from 1972. On April 19, 1950, Heisenberg notes that he is sending a copy of his latest work on the quantum theory of elemental particles, and on April 20, he recommends Herr Tollmien as the finest Germany possesses in the field of theoretical and applied mechanics; a July 11, 1972 letter has interesting scientific content. There is also an unsigned draft of a letter, probably in Breusch's hand. Letters are in overall Fine condition. Heisenberg and Hahn were key scientists in Germany's race to develop an atomic bomb during World War II. Interested parties may request photocopies of letters. (30 lettters, total of 38 pages).
Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000.
|
| |
| Realized $3,910 |
