Details
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955). Autograph letter signed ('Papa') to his younger son, Eduard ('Tetel'), n.p., 5 June 1929, 2 pages, 8vo, pencil numbering '128' to verso, erased pencil markings to text. Provenance: Eduard's Einstein's older brother, Hans Albert; and by descent.
'AS FREE AS CAUSALITY ALLOWS'. Even if Einstein writes infrequently to Eduard, he thinks fondly of him; his current troubles will soon be past, and he will be 'as free a little fellow as causality allows, which mind you is a strong limitation [Du wirst ein so freies Männlein sein, als es die Kausalität erlaubt, was allerdings eine mächtige Einschränkung ist]'. He hopes they can meet up soon -- his 'delightful sailing boat' will soon be ready, Einstein himself is feeling much better than of late ('Mir geht es recht ordentlich, viel besser als noch vor ein paar Monaten'), and his country house is soon to be built in Kaputh ('nomen est omen', he jokes): this is terribly expensive, and the city handled things so badly that he refused their present ('die Stadt hat es so hässlich gemacht, dass ich ihr Geschenk refusiert habe'); he has a strong inclination to retreat altogether to Kaputh, as maintaining two houses would be too expensive. A letter from Mileva about expected money from New York has not arrived. In a postscript, Einstein rejoices at the way the marriage of his elder son, Hans Albert, has worked out, in spite of his fears: 'bei Adu hat es mir sehr gefallen, und ich habe den Eindruck, dass die beiden recht vergnügt leben. Die Sache hat sich doch viel weniger schlimm gemacht, als ich damals befürchtete'.
'AS FREE AS CAUSALITY ALLOWS'. Even if Einstein writes infrequently to Eduard, he thinks fondly of him; his current troubles will soon be past, and he will be 'as free a little fellow as causality allows, which mind you is a strong limitation [Du wirst ein so freies Männlein sein, als es die Kausalität erlaubt, was allerdings eine mächtige Einschränkung ist]'. He hopes they can meet up soon -- his 'delightful sailing boat' will soon be ready, Einstein himself is feeling much better than of late ('Mir geht es recht ordentlich, viel besser als noch vor ein paar Monaten'), and his country house is soon to be built in Kaputh ('nomen est omen', he jokes): this is terribly expensive, and the city handled things so badly that he refused their present ('die Stadt hat es so hässlich gemacht, dass ich ihr Geschenk refusiert habe'); he has a strong inclination to retreat altogether to Kaputh, as maintaining two houses would be too expensive. A letter from Mileva about expected money from New York has not arrived. In a postscript, Einstein rejoices at the way the marriage of his elder son, Hans Albert, has worked out, in spite of his fears: 'bei Adu hat es mir sehr gefallen, und ich habe den Eindruck, dass die beiden recht vergnügt leben. Die Sache hat sich doch viel weniger schlimm gemacht, als ich damals befürchtete'.
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