3 0 0 D O C U M E N T 1 8 7 O C T O B E R 1 9 2 0
believe me that neither my husband nor I have ever seen that paper nor know about
the advertisement.
My husband gave the book to the publisher; he has never concerned himself with
marketing. When Else informed me about the advertisement, I immediately ar-
ranged that she personally discuss it with the publisher, since she knew the exact
wording.
She will confirm what I tell you; she could also hear from him about the impos-
sibility of withdrawing the work.
In the meantime, you have probably learned that the title has been changed,
hence that your personal collaboration is completely eliminated; you likewise now
know that much more that could have in any way exposed you to attack has been
removed from the
book.[3]
And now I must point out that anything my husband ever wrote about you was
never
“publicity.”[4]
In the Book of 1000
Wonders[5]
he placed you in as elevated a
place as befits you and which your enemies are jealous of. The work has now had
a printing of
40m,
has thus been read widely, and never was it mentioned when your
enemies brought forward evidence of “publicity.”
Max Born opens E[instein]’s theory of relativity with a portrait of
Einstein.[6]
Freundlich, the foundations of E.’s theory of gravitation
With a foreword by Einstein.
—You know, it is 10 lines.—
So strictly scientific thinkers would have had to make do without publicity for
their book. You, however, surely know very well how much more valuable your
book is with the aid of a portrait and foreword. You believe in the most absolute
disinterestedness of these friends and you surely have reasons to do so.
But more loyal friends than we are to you, you cannot have, and your hard words
could not have hit anyone as heavily as they hit us.
The dreadful advertisement appeared once in the Buchhändlerblatt; after my
husband learned of it he, like your wife, extracted from the publisher the promise
that nothing appear, even there, that he had not seen and authorized.
My husband is incapable of writing at the moment; that is why I have taken it on.
We have only one wish; that you gain the firm belief that my husband neglected
nothing in complying with your wish, but failed before the impossible, and that
when you know all the accompanying facts you will take back your hard words.
Yours,
Bertha Moszkowski