The Einstein Archives Online Website
provides the first online access to Albert Einstein’s scientific and
non-scientific manuscripts held by the Albert Einstein Archives
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
constituting the material record
of one of the most influential intellects in the modern era. It also
enables access to the Einstein Archive Database, a comprehensive source
of information on all items in the Albert Einstein Archives.
DIGITIZED MANUSCRIPTS
From 2003 to 2011, the site
included
approximately 3,000 high-quality
digitized images
of Einstein’s writings. This digitization of more than 900
documents
written by Einstein was made possible by generous
grants from the David and Fela Shapell family of Los Angeles. As of
2012, the
site will enable free viewing and browsing of approximatelly 7,000
high-quality digitized images of Einstein’s writings. The digitization
of close to 2,000 documents
written by Einstein was produced by the Albert Einstein Archives
Digitization Project and was made possible by the generous contribution
of
the Polonsky foundation. The
digitization project will continue throughout 2012.
.
FINDING AID
The site enables access to the online
version of the Albert Einstein Archives
Finding Aid, a
comprehensive description of the entire repository of Albert Einstein’s
personal papers held at the Hebrew University. The Finding Aid,
presented in Encoded Archival Description (EAD) format, provides the
following information on the Einstein Archives: its identity, context,
content, structure, conditions of access and use. It also contains a
list of the folders in the Archives which will enable access to the
Archival Database and to the Digitized Manuscripts.
ARCHIVAL DATABASE
From 2003 to 2011, the Archival Database included approximately 43,000
records of Einstein and
Einstein- related documents. Supplementary archival holdings and
databases pertaining to Einstein
documents have been established at both the Einstein Papers Project
and the Albert Einstein
Archives for scholarly research. As of 2012 the
Archival
Database allows direct access to all 80,000 records of Einstein
and Einstein-related documents in the original and the supplementary
archive. The
records published in this online version pertain to Albert Einstein’s
scientific and non-scientific writings, his professional and personal
correspondence, notebooks, travel diaries, personal documents, and
third-party items contained in both the original collection of
Einstein’s
personal papers and in the supplementary archive.
PUBLISHED VERSIONS
The
Einstein Archives Online provides access to the published versions (in
PDF format) of 2,000 digitized manuscripts, as they
appear in the Collected
Papers of Albert Einstein. This edition presents the documents in
their original languages with
annotations as well as English language
translations. Publication
information on all volumes of the Collected
Papers of Albert Einstein, edited by the Einstein Papers
Project is also accessible via the publisher Princeton University Press.
HISTORY
The core collection of Einstein's papers
was accumulated during Einstein's lifetime and was expanded over
several decades after Einstein's death by Helen Dukas, Einstein’s
secretary in Princeton, NJ, in collaboration with Otto Nathan, the
Executor of Einstein’s Estate. These materials were organized in the
1960s by Helen Dukas, in consultation with Gerald Holton.
The archival database was initially
established in
the late 1970s by John Stachel, the founding editor of The
Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, as an electronic control index
for the original “Dukas” collection. We are especially grateful to
Alice Calaprice, who first entered the archival information into a
computerized database from 1978 to 1980. Our apologies go to many
others who cannot be mentioned here, but have since worked on the
electronic data, which was adapted over the years to changing computer
technology. In its present form and content, the database is the result
of occasional additions and revisions and of a recent unification of
separate databases. These had been independently maintained at the
Einstein Papers Project and the Albert Einstein Archives for their
respective purposes. Systematic revisions have only recently been
initiated.
Disclaimer
Although the collaborators
always strive for accuracy and completeness, the Archival Database information
displayed on this website constitutes the best current state of knowledge.
The current database is the
result of the recent unification of separate databases at the Albert Einstein
Archives and the Einstein Papers Project. Further work need to be carried out
to standardize the database records, including the standardization of names,
places, archival depositories, etc.
In addition, the Database
records are constantly being revised and periodically updated as additional
research is carried out at both the Albert Einstein Archives and the Einstein
Papers Project.
