Albert Einstein 1936 Typed Letter Signed - With 5-Line Handwritten Postscript
Typed letter signed “A. Einstein”, August 6, 1936, sent from “Glenwood, Saranac Lake, N.Y.”, to his young friend, Russian-American conductor, violinist and musicologist Boris Schwarz (1906-1983). In German with translation.
As I learn from a letter from Mrs. Pretzfeld, there are good prospects for establishing an arrangement with you. As regarding Mr. Sarnoff — who incidentally is in Europe until September — there exists for me a certain difficulty. To wit, Mr. Sarnoff acted so peculiarly toward me in a certain affair that I cannot continue to contact him. Under these circumstances, I must be content with allowing you to refer him to me in any form you feel appropriate. In particular, it would be good for you to tell him that I have given you the affidavit. Hopefully, he will then make an inquiry to you. Naturally, I could answer him without hesitation. Perhaps you will discover another person to whom I could still recommend you.
In a holograph postscript, Einstein has added:
In the meantime, I have received your second letter. I can certainly understand your reservations, [about taking a position with the pianist hold] as well as the lady who has also written to me in the meantime. Naturally, only you, yourself, can make the decision in this affair. For myself, I have absolutely no better understanding for any kind of involvement here.
A lifelong self-promoter and communications innovator, David Sarnoff (1891-1971) has been called the "father of American television." An immigrant, Sarnoff worked first as a cable messenger and telegraph operator to support his parents and eventually worked his way up to become a chief executive of RCA. "In his ongoing effort to make RCA the preeminent corporation in the United States, Sarnoff made a series of job offers to Albert Einstein [in 1935 and 1936]. The prestige of having Einstein on the RCA payroll would be incalculable, if only because Sarnoff would be able to say, 'Albert Einstein works for me.' More specifically, it seems that Sarnoff wanted Einstein to contribute to RCA’s television efforts," (The Last Lone Inventor, Schwartz). Although Sarnoff sought Einstein for the cachet the noted scientist would bring to RCA, Einstein was especially suited to the job, given his seven years working for the Swiss Patent Office, reviewing applications for new inventions. Sarnoff "wasn’t asking the professor to leave his position at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, only to act as a part-time ‘scientific consultant,’ perhaps lecturing to the engineers and discussing their inventions, contributing new ideas and approaches of course, making it known to the outside world of his affiliation with RCA," (ibid). However, a series of unfortunate events prevented Einstein and Sarnoff from collaborating as each of them would have liked. At the time, Einstein’s wife was seriously ill and she was being treated by Einstein’s friend, physician and inventor Gustav Bucky. Bucky wanted the post that had been offered Einstein, who appealed to Sarnoff to hire both of them. The negotiations dragged on for almost a year. When, in May 1936, Einstein proposed an association between RCA and two paid assistants of his choosing, Sarnoff rejected the idea. But “Einstein was probably relieved. It seems as if Einstein never really wanted to expend any effort on RCA’s behalf. Those that knew him best often said that he cherished more than anything else his time to think on his own, free of outside obligations,” (ibid.). It was on the heels of this protracted correspondence with Sarnoff that Schwarz, who as a musician thought he might make a career in radio, approached Einstein, requesting a recommendation to Sarnoff. Schwarz, the son of concert pianist Joseph Schwarz, first met Einstein in 1923 when he accompanied his father to make music with the great scientist. Einstein was an enthusiastic violinist and their “musical afternoons became a regular occurrence. Once or twice a month [Joseph and Boris] visited Haberlandsberg, bringing stacks of chamber music, all for two violins and piano, and [they] would make music, with the professor, reading through the material,” (Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives, Holton and Elkana). As their relationship developed Albert and Elsa Einstein became patrons of the young musician. However, their idyllic situation changed when, in early spring 1933, shortly after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Einstein resigned his post at the Prussian Academy of Sciences to settle in Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study and settling in America. In the U.S. Einstein received hundreds of requests for assistance from others wishing to flee the Third Reich. However, it was Elsa Einstein who contacted Schwarz to arrange for his escape from Nazi Germany in 1936. “Soon Einstein’s affidavit was at the Berlin consulate: Boris Schwarz would travel to New York. There he was accommodated by Einstein in a Jewish refugee home and given some fatherly advice on his first steps in this strange country,” (Albert Einstein, Fölsing). The retained carbons of Schwarz’s letters to Einstein, which accompany our letter, also state that Schwarz was considering becoming secretary manager for Ukrainian pianist Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995). After Schwarz’s July arrival, he was so quick to establish himself in the U.S. that he brought his parents over to join him within the year. By 1937 he was head of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and from 1938-1939 performed for the NBC Orchestra under Toscanini’s baton. Despite Einstein’s inability to recommend him to Sarnoff, Schwarz did end up working for RCA as RCA was NBC’s parent company.
Typed letter signed “A. Einstein”, August 6, 1936, sent from “Glenwood, Saranac Lake, N.Y.”, to his young friend, Russian-American conductor, violinist and musicologist Boris Schwarz (1906-1983). In German with translation.
As I learn from a letter from Mrs. Pretzfeld, there are good prospects for establishing an arrangement with you. As regarding Mr. Sarnoff — who incidentally is in Europe until September — there exists for me a certain difficulty. To wit, Mr. Sarnoff acted so peculiarly toward me in a certain affair that I cannot continue to contact him. Under these circumstances, I must be content with allowing you to refer him to me in any form you feel appropriate. In particular, it would be good for you to tell him that I have given you the affidavit. Hopefully, he will then make an inquiry to you. Naturally, I could answer him without hesitation. Perhaps you will discover another person to whom I could still recommend you.
In a holograph postscript, Einstein has added:
In the meantime, I have received your second letter. I can certainly understand your reservations, [about taking a position with the pianist hold] as well as the lady who has also written to me in the meantime. Naturally, only you, yourself, can make the decision in this affair. For myself, I have absolutely no better understanding for any kind of involvement here.
A lifelong self-promoter and communications innovator, David Sarnoff (1891-1971) has been called the "father of American television." An immigrant, Sarnoff worked first as a cable messenger and telegraph operator to support his parents and eventually worked his way up to become a chief executive of RCA. "In his ongoing effort to make RCA the preeminent corporation in the United States, Sarnoff made a series of job offers to Albert Einstein [in 1935 and 1936]. The prestige of having Einstein on the RCA payroll would be incalculable, if only because Sarnoff would be able to say, 'Albert Einstein works for me.' More specifically, it seems that Sarnoff wanted Einstein to contribute to RCA’s television efforts," (The Last Lone Inventor, Schwartz). Although Sarnoff sought Einstein for the cachet the noted scientist would bring to RCA, Einstein was especially suited to the job, given his seven years working for the Swiss Patent Office, reviewing applications for new inventions. Sarnoff "wasn’t asking the professor to leave his position at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, only to act as a part-time ‘scientific consultant,’ perhaps lecturing to the engineers and discussing their inventions, contributing new ideas and approaches of course, making it known to the outside world of his affiliation with RCA," (ibid). However, a series of unfortunate events prevented Einstein and Sarnoff from collaborating as each of them would have liked. At the time, Einstein’s wife was seriously ill and she was being treated by Einstein’s friend, physician and inventor Gustav Bucky. Bucky wanted the post that had been offered Einstein, who appealed to Sarnoff to hire both of them. The negotiations dragged on for almost a year. When, in May 1936, Einstein proposed an association between RCA and two paid assistants of his choosing, Sarnoff rejected the idea. But “Einstein was probably relieved. It seems as if Einstein never really wanted to expend any effort on RCA’s behalf. Those that knew him best often said that he cherished more than anything else his time to think on his own, free of outside obligations,” (ibid.). It was on the heels of this protracted correspondence with Sarnoff that Schwarz, who as a musician thought he might make a career in radio, approached Einstein, requesting a recommendation to Sarnoff. Schwarz, the son of concert pianist Joseph Schwarz, first met Einstein in 1923 when he accompanied his father to make music with the great scientist. Einstein was an enthusiastic violinist and their “musical afternoons became a regular occurrence. Once or twice a month [Joseph and Boris] visited Haberlandsberg, bringing stacks of chamber music, all for two violins and piano, and [they] would make music, with the professor, reading through the material,” (Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives, Holton and Elkana). As their relationship developed Albert and Elsa Einstein became patrons of the young musician. However, their idyllic situation changed when, in early spring 1933, shortly after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Einstein resigned his post at the Prussian Academy of Sciences to settle in Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study and settling in America. In the U.S. Einstein received hundreds of requests for assistance from others wishing to flee the Third Reich. However, it was Elsa Einstein who contacted Schwarz to arrange for his escape from Nazi Germany in 1936. “Soon Einstein’s affidavit was at the Berlin consulate: Boris Schwarz would travel to New York. There he was accommodated by Einstein in a Jewish refugee home and given some fatherly advice on his first steps in this strange country,” (Albert Einstein, Fölsing). The retained carbons of Schwarz’s letters to Einstein, which accompany our letter, also state that Schwarz was considering becoming secretary manager for Ukrainian pianist Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995). After Schwarz’s July arrival, he was so quick to establish himself in the U.S. that he brought his parents over to join him within the year. By 1937 he was head of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and from 1938-1939 performed for the NBC Orchestra under Toscanini’s baton. Despite Einstein’s inability to recommend him to Sarnoff, Schwarz did end up working for RCA as RCA was NBC’s parent company.
Typed letter signed “A. Einstein”, August 6, 1936, sent from “Glenwood, Saranac Lake, N.Y.”, to his young friend, Russian-American conductor, violinist and musicologist Boris Schwarz (1906-1983). In German with translation.
As I learn from a letter from Mrs. Pretzfeld, there are good prospects for establishing an arrangement with you. As regarding Mr. Sarnoff — who incidentally is in Europe until September — there exists for me a certain difficulty. To wit, Mr. Sarnoff acted so peculiarly toward me in a certain affair that I cannot continue to contact him. Under these circumstances, I must be content with allowing you to refer him to me in any form you feel appropriate. In particular, it would be good for you to tell him that I have given you the affidavit. Hopefully, he will then make an inquiry to you. Naturally, I could answer him without hesitation. Perhaps you will discover another person to whom I could still recommend you.
In a holograph postscript, Einstein has added:
In the meantime, I have received your second letter. I can certainly understand your reservations, [about taking a position with the pianist hold] as well as the lady who has also written to me in the meantime. Naturally, only you, yourself, can make the decision in this affair. For myself, I have absolutely no better understanding for any kind of involvement here.
A lifelong self-promoter and communications innovator, David Sarnoff (1891-1971) has been called the "father of American television." An immigrant, Sarnoff worked first as a cable messenger and telegraph operator to support his parents and eventually worked his way up to become a chief executive of RCA. "In his ongoing effort to make RCA the preeminent corporation in the United States, Sarnoff made a series of job offers to Albert Einstein [in 1935 and 1936]. The prestige of having Einstein on the RCA payroll would be incalculable, if only because Sarnoff would be able to say, 'Albert Einstein works for me.' More specifically, it seems that Sarnoff wanted Einstein to contribute to RCA’s television efforts," (The Last Lone Inventor, Schwartz). Although Sarnoff sought Einstein for the cachet the noted scientist would bring to RCA, Einstein was especially suited to the job, given his seven years working for the Swiss Patent Office, reviewing applications for new inventions. Sarnoff "wasn’t asking the professor to leave his position at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, only to act as a part-time ‘scientific consultant,’ perhaps lecturing to the engineers and discussing their inventions, contributing new ideas and approaches of course, making it known to the outside world of his affiliation with RCA," (ibid). However, a series of unfortunate events prevented Einstein and Sarnoff from collaborating as each of them would have liked. At the time, Einstein’s wife was seriously ill and she was being treated by Einstein’s friend, physician and inventor Gustav Bucky. Bucky wanted the post that had been offered Einstein, who appealed to Sarnoff to hire both of them. The negotiations dragged on for almost a year. When, in May 1936, Einstein proposed an association between RCA and two paid assistants of his choosing, Sarnoff rejected the idea. But “Einstein was probably relieved. It seems as if Einstein never really wanted to expend any effort on RCA’s behalf. Those that knew him best often said that he cherished more than anything else his time to think on his own, free of outside obligations,” (ibid.). It was on the heels of this protracted correspondence with Sarnoff that Schwarz, who as a musician thought he might make a career in radio, approached Einstein, requesting a recommendation to Sarnoff. Schwarz, the son of concert pianist Joseph Schwarz, first met Einstein in 1923 when he accompanied his father to make music with the great scientist. Einstein was an enthusiastic violinist and their “musical afternoons became a regular occurrence. Once or twice a month [Joseph and Boris] visited Haberlandsberg, bringing stacks of chamber music, all for two violins and piano, and [they] would make music, with the professor, reading through the material,” (Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives, Holton and Elkana). As their relationship developed Albert and Elsa Einstein became patrons of the young musician. However, their idyllic situation changed when, in early spring 1933, shortly after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Einstein resigned his post at the Prussian Academy of Sciences to settle in Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study and settling in America. In the U.S. Einstein received hundreds of requests for assistance from others wishing to flee the Third Reich. However, it was Elsa Einstein who contacted Schwarz to arrange for his escape from Nazi Germany in 1936. “Soon Einstein’s affidavit was at the Berlin consulate: Boris Schwarz would travel to New York. There he was accommodated by Einstein in a Jewish refugee home and given some fatherly advice on his first steps in this strange country,” (Albert Einstein, Fölsing). The retained carbons of Schwarz’s letters to Einstein, which accompany our letter, also state that Schwarz was considering becoming secretary manager for Ukrainian pianist Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995). After Schwarz’s July arrival, he was so quick to establish himself in the U.S. that he brought his parents over to join him within the year. By 1937 he was head of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and from 1938-1939 performed for the NBC Orchestra under Toscanini’s baton. Despite Einstein’s inability to recommend him to Sarnoff, Schwarz did end up working for RCA as RCA was NBC’s parent company.