Einstein's violin fetches $516,500 at New York auction

       A violin owned and played by Albert Einstein achieved $516,500 at Bonhams New York auction yesterday. Like so many other major items of Einstein memorabilia that have gone to auction in recent times, a bidding war broke out that raised the price – in this case to five times its estimate.
       The instrument was made in Pennsylvania by Oscar Steger of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, who dedicated the instrument to "the Worlds [sic] Greatest Scientist Profesior [sic]" on an inscription in the violin's body.

       Steger presented the violin to Einstein in 1933 when he moved to the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Einstein subsequently gifted the instrument to Lawrence Hibbs, the young son of a Princeton University handyman who was a budding violinist, and it has been kept in the family since that time.

       Einstein is also quoted as saying: "Life without playing music was inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music...I get most joy in life out of music."
The violin now becomes the most valuable Einstein memorabilia (other than documents), surpassing his telescope (which fetched $432,500 at auction), his pocket watch which fetched $352,054, his childhood building blocks which fetched $82,564 and his billiard briar pipe which fetched $67,665.       The Levi Strauss Leather Jacket worn Einstein on the cover of Timemagazine, was expected to sell for between $55,000 and $80,000 and fetched $145,974. The jacket was purchased by Levi Strauss and the 1930s design was reissued as a limited edition of 500 only at $1200 per jacket. The inside story of the jacket being purchased makes excellent reading on the Levi Strauss blog.

       In 2010, X-rays of Einstein's skull sold at a Julien's auction for $38,750, a signed impression of Albert's handprints sold for $85,000 and a print of the image at right (with his tongue poking out) from his 72nd birthday party sold at auction for $56,250 in January, 2015.
       Much more on the history of Einstein memorabilia, both scientific and personal, can be found in this extensive story we wrote when Albert's leather jacket was going to auction.

Source: NewAtlas