Beschreibung:

EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Two autograph letters signed ("Albert" and "Albert Einstein") to Mileva Einstein-Maric, and one autograph manuscript unsigned, n.p. [Berlin], n.d. [second half of July 1914]. Together 5¼ pages, 8vo, one letter with integral blank, one letter on lined stationery, the manuscript with mathematical equations, diagrams and a few cartoon sketches . "YOU WILL RENOUNCE ALL PERSONAL RELATIONS WITH ME" In April 1914 the Einstein family moved to Berlin when Einstein took up an appointment at the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Mileva did not want to go: they had moved too many times since their marriage in 1903; she disliked Berlin, where she had no friends; she had never been accepted by Einstein's mother, who then lived in the city; and she was already suspicious of Einstein's relationship with his cousin Elsa Löwenthal. The last fear was justified. As early as 30 April 1912, after a visit to Berlin during which he had seen Elsa, Einstein had written her that he loved her: "I have to have someone to love, otherwise life is miserable. And this someone is you." He denied being hen-pecked but admitted "that the sum total of what I do out of pity for her [Mileva] and for...myself in her presence creates such an impression" ( Collected Papers , vol. 5, no. 389). A year later he was writing (23 March 1913): "What I wouldn't give to be able to spend a few days with you, but without...my cross" ( ibid ., no. 434). After his appointment to Berlin was announced in 1913, he wrote frequently to Elsa, looking forward to the time when they could be together and complaining that Mileva "is an unfriendly, humourless creature who does not get anything out of life and who, by her mere presence, extinguishes other people's joy of living" ( ibid ., no. 498). He told Elsa that he had no grounds for getting a divorce, but added: "I treat my wife as an employee whom I cannot fire. I have my own bedroom and avoid being alone with her. In this form I can endure the 'living together' quite well" ( ibid ., 488). Some of the causes of the marital breakdown may be surmised: Mileva is said to have been a strong-tempered and moody person, and the loss of Lieserl appears to have depressed her from the early years of the marriage. With the birth of Hans Albert and then of Eduard she must have been overwhelmed with the cares of motherhood and housekeeping in a situation where there was little money available. She had lost the chance to have a career of her own when she failed to take her degree, and Einstein had turned to male colleagues for intellectual companionship and the discussion of scientific issues. Mileva had earlier shown signs of jealousy at Einstein's contact with other women and may have felt herself less and less able to hold his affection and attention. Hans Albert first noticed tension between his parents during the spring of 1912, when he himself was eight, the time when Einstein was renewing his contact with Elsa. When Mileva arrived in Berlin, Einstein evidently presented her with a list of the conditions under which he would agree to continue their life together. The manuscript draft enumerating his terms gives a series of baldly stated requirements organized into four major divisions and a number of subdivisions: "A. You will see to it (1) that my clothes and linen are kept in order, (2) that I am served three regular meals a day in my room , (3) that my bedroom and study are always kept in good order and that my desk is not touched by anyone other than me . B. You will renounce all personal relations with me, except when these are required to keep up social appearances. In particular you will not request (1) that I sit with you at home, (2) that I go out with you or travel with you. C. You will promise explicitly to observe the following points in any contact with me: (1) you will expect no affection from me and you will not reproach me for this, (2) you must answer me at once when I speak to you, (3) you must leave my bedroo