EINSTEIN ALBERT: (1879-1955) German-born theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize winner for Physics, 1921. An interesting T.L.S., A. Einstein, one page, 4to, Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey, 6^th January 1941, to Theodor Reik, in German. Einstein thanks his correspondent for having sent him two books, remarking 'I've read the one about masochism with great interest; it seems very convincing to me. What I have read about Freud in the book so far has pleased me immensely. Far more than a biography in the ordinary sense, it is sure to help further an understanding of Freud's wonderful personality'. A letter of wonderful content and excellent association. Some heavy, although largely uniform, age toning (presumably caused by previous framing) and one very small, minor area of paper loss to the upper left corner, G

Theodor Reik (1888-1969) Austrian psychoanalyst who trained as one of Sigmund Freud's first students in Vienna and was a pioneer of lay analysis in the United States.

Reik had published three major works prior to Einstein's letter, The Compulsion to Confess (1925), The Unknown Murderer (1932) and Masochism in Modern Man (1941), the latter evidently the book which Einstein specifically refers to. In the book Reik argues that patients who engage in self-punishing or provocative behaviour do so in order to demonstrate their emotional fortitude, induce guilt in others, and achieve a sense of 'victory through defeat'.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis.