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 and to an extensive Archival Database,
constituting the material record of one of the most influential intellects
in the modern era.
DIGITIZED MANUSCRIPTS
The site allows viewing and browsing of approx. 3,000 high-quality digitized
images of Einstein’s writings, available for viewing in two
sizes: a standard resolution image, as well as a high-resolution
image for closer inspection. This digitization of more than 900 documents
written by Einstein was produced by the Jewish
National & University Library’s Digitization Project and
was made possible by generous grants of David and Fela Shapell.
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 enables access to the Archival
Database and to the Digitized Manuscripts
ARCHIVAL DATABASE
The Archival Database allows
direct access to approx. 43,000 records of Einstein and Einstein
related documents. 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 the original
collection of Einstein’s personal papers.
The Archival Database also presents records for
all items that have been published since 1986 in the Collected
Papers of Albert Einstein - scientific and non-scientific writings,
notebooks, and correspondence – including an additional 534 items
that were not part of the original Einstein Archive. 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.
PUBLISHED VERSIONS
The website provides access to the published versions
(in PDF format) of 39 among the 934 digitized manuscripts,
as they appear in the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein in
the original language edition with annotations. Provided are also
22 English language translations, taken from the English translation
volumes. Publication information on all volumes of the Collected
Papers of Albert Einstein edited by the Einstein Papers Project
is also accessible through their 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 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.
For the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of the database
records, see our Disclaimer.
