ST Alpha - "heard this on a podcast a while ago. this is the version that didn't get sent to FDR. Szilard wrote two letters, and sent them to Einstein." (Reading a Post)

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In response to "So... if the letter was sent to FDR, how is it that Paul Allen ended up with it? -- nm" by Mop🧹

heard this on a podcast a while ago. this is the version that didn't get sent to FDR. Szilard wrote two letters, and sent them to Einstein.

Posted by mafic Jun 25 '24, 21:57

the one they eventually sent was about double the length of this one, with more detail. Einstein signed them both and returned them to Szilard indicating a preference for the longer one, and Szilard kept this one. Szilard's estate sold it at some point after he died, and Allen bought it in 2002 for ~$2 million from (I believe) a publisher. not sure if the publisher bought it from Szilard's estate, or if there were other owners at some point.

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Here's the 2002 Christie's listing. Szilard -> Szilard's wife -> some other relative -> anonymous owner -> Malcolm Forbes -> Paul Allen -- (link) - mafic Jun 25, 23:21

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heard this on a podcast a while ago. this is the version that didn't get sent to FDR. Szilard wrote two letters, and sent them to Einstein.

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