Nathan Raab scours the world for lost pieces of history — and sells to the highest bidder
One day, Nathan Raab, a prominent dealer in rare historical documents, got a call about two letters up for sale written by Albert Einstein.
The letters, in which the famed scientist discussed his signature theory of relativity while it was yet in its early stages, were written to a German-Jewish scientist named Georg Bredig, who was considered one of the leading experts in the field of physical chemistry. Bredig worked with leading scientists of the day including Max Planck, Einstein, and some other early Nobel Prize recipients.
It was Bredig’s grandson and namesake who made the call to Nathan Raab, president of the Raab Collection, a firm that specializes in the acquisition and sale of significant historical manuscripts. After checking the letters’ authenticity, Raab made a tentative offer, inviting grandson George Bredig to his home in suburban Philadelphia. Only one letter was sold at that meeting, but before he left, George told Mr. Raab, “There’s a lot more at our house. You should come see it.”
A few months later, George called to negotiate sale of the second Einstein letter and repeated his invitation. Since the transaction yielded two very valuable finds, Mr. Raab and his father Steven — founder of the Raab Collection — decided to take him up on the offer, so they traveled to Bredig’s home in rural Tennessee, thinking that there might be a few more documents worth purchasing.
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