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"The letter is being sold as part of an auction of artefacts belonging to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018 at the age 65." I wasn't aware the

"The letter is being sold as part of an auction of artefacts belonging to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018 at the age 65." I wasn't aware the Szilard/Einstein letter was in the hands of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. How did this famous letter get out of the hands of Roosevelt/Government files in the first instance? Seems very strange that an original letter of such national historical importance would ever be released, it should have been remained with the Roosevelt archives or with the LOC/Library of Congress, or the National Archives. I reckon many will be very annoyed if this letter goes walkabout. Imagine if some Russian oligarch buys it.

belter 2y ago
Ok, it seems it's not the original, but instead a copy Szilard kept for himself. The original is still at the museum in Hyde Park. Maybe Billionaires and Russian Oligarchs don't read HN, and they will blow a few million thinking it's the original. https://archive.is/NosM5 https://archive.is/NosM5 "...Today, Einstein’s original letter to Roosevelt is held at the president’s namesake library and museum in Hyde Park, N.Y. But the physicist also wrote and signed a second, slightly shorter version that Szilard held on to for safekeeping, and this version is now up for sale..." "...Szilard kept his version of Einstein’s letter for the rest of his life; his heirs later sold it off. In 2002, publisher and collector Malcolm S. Forbes caused a stir when he auctioned off the letter for $2.1 million—a sum that reset the record at the time for anything connected to Einstein or Roosevelt and the first 20th-century historical document to top $1 million. The letter’s winning bidder was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, whose estate is reselling the document now..."
- hilbert42 2y ago
  Thanks, that seems to have solved it. Pretty bad reporting for the BBC though.

belter 2y ago

Ok, it seems it's not the original, but instead a copy Szilard kept for himself. The original is still at the museum in Hyde Park. Maybe Billionaires and Russian Oligarchs don't read HN, and they will blow a few million thinking it's the original. https://archive.is/NosM5 https://archive.is/NosM5 "...Today, Einstein’s original letter to Roosevelt is held at the president’s namesake library and museum in Hyde Park, N.Y. But the physicist also wrote and signed a second, slightly shorter version that Szilard held on to for safekeeping, and this version is now up for sale..." "...Szilard kept his version of Einstein’s letter for the rest of his life; his heirs later sold it off. In 2002, publisher and collector Malcolm S. Forbes caused a stir when he auctioned off the letter for $2.1 million—a sum that reset the record at the time for anything connected to Einstein or Roosevelt and the first 20th-century historical document to top $1 million. The letter’s winning bidder was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, whose estate is reselling the document now..."

hilbert42 2y ago
Thanks, that seems to have solved it. Pretty bad reporting for the BBC though.