Albert Einstein’s “God letter” auction sets a world record with a whopping Rs. 20,48,32,387.50

Guwahati: A letter penned by Albert Einstein has created all the more buzz as Einstein in his letter has challenged the very conflicting concept of religion. This letter, named as the “God letter” was recently put in an auction and the amount in which it got sold broke all the records. The “God letter” fetched a whopping amount of Rs. 20,48,32,387.50.

Initially, before being put on auction it was estimated that the letter will fetch an amount between $1 million and $1.5 million, but the final result is even more surprising than anybody could expect. The auction was held at Christie's in New York and it took only four minutes for the letter to be sold to its bidder. The bidding took place between two clients on the phones.

Notably, this “God letter” was being sent by Einstein to religious philosopher Erik Gutkind.

Other printed materials auctioned alongside this Einstein letter were fine printed books and manuscripts which also included Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection." The Darwin book achieved Rs.1,15,07,437.50 and the total amount attained in the auction is a sum of Rs.58,90,48,021.88.

Sven Becker, head of books and manuscripts at Christie's, stated, "Collectors worldwide competed very strongly, in the room, over the phone and online, for this finely curated auction which comprised masterpieces and fresh-to-market property across a wide range of subjects."

The letter was written in German and was written just a year before his death. The letter, written in 1954, comprises of Einstein’s reaction to Gutkind's 1952 book, "Choose Life: the Biblical Call to Revolt."

While Einstein is also seen to have acknowledged that he and Gutkind had many things in common "with regard to the factual attitude to life and to human community," but Einstein also mentioned that he had a personal diatribe against religion.

Einstein wrote, "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

Also read: Albert Einstein’s Letter rejecting God Set to Go on Sale