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Bible Inscribed By Einstein Sold At Auction

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By Tia Ghose
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Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921
Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921 (Image credit: public domain)

A Bible inscribed by Albert Einstein was sold at an auction in New York City for $68,500 on Tuesday (June 25), though the buyer's name was not disclosed.

In 1932, Albert Einstein gave the gift to a woman named Harriet Hamilton, who was a friend of his wife Elsa Einstein. On the front page, the physics genius wrote a German note suggesting that the Bible was a source of great wisdom and consolation and should be read frequently, according to Bonham's, which auctioned the Bible.

Einstein's religious beliefs have fueled intense speculation over the years. Though he was quite devout in childhood, he later disavowed allegiance to any organized religion and subscribed to a pantheist view of a God that is part of everything in Nature, but uninvolved in the everyday affairs of men. After the Holocaust, he wrote to the philosopher Eric Gutkind that the Bible was simply a collection of "primitive legends" that are honorable but ultimately childish.

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Tia Ghose
Tia Ghose
Managing Editor

Tia is the managing editor and was previously a senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.