Now the vast collection of Albert Einstein‘s writing archive is accessible due to the “Einstein Archives Online” Project. What you will find on the site? More than 740 non-scientific essays, also scientific writings and travel diaries.

You can enjoy these writings in original, shown as JPEG images scanned directly from the paper original. This immense work is a joint project of the Albert Einstein Archive, David and Fela Shapell Digitalization Project, Jewish National Library, University of Jerusalem and the Einstein Papers Project.

The Einstein Archives Online Website provides the first online access to Albert Einstein’s scientific and non-scientific manuscripts held by the  Albert Einstein Archives at the  Hebrew University of Jerusalem and to an extensive Archival Database, constituting the material record of one of the most influential intellects in the modern era.The site allows viewing and browsing of approx.  3,000 high-quality  digitized images of Einstein’s writings, available for viewing in two sizes: a standard resolution image, as well as a high-resolution image for closer inspection. This digitization of more than  900 documents written by Einstein was produced by the  Jewish National & University Library’s Digitization Project and was made possible by generous grants of David and Fela Shapell.The  Archival Database allows direct access to approx. 43,000 records of Einstein and Einstein related documents. The records published in this online version pertain to Albert Einstein’s scientific and non-scientific writings, his professional and personal correspondence, notebooks, travel diaries, personal documents, and third-party items contained in the original collection of Einstein’s personal papers.

The Archival Database also presents records for all items that have been published since 1986 in the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein – scientific and non-scientific writings, notebooks, and correspondence – including an additional 534 items that were not part of the original Einstein Archive. Supplementary archival holdings and databases pertaining to Einstein documents have been established at both the Einstein Papers Project and the Albert Einstein Archives for scholarly research.

The website provides access to the published versions (in PDF format) of 39 among the 934 digitized manuscripts, as they appear in the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein in the original language edition with annotations. Provided are also 22 English language translations, taken from the English translation volumes. Publication information on all volumes of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein edited by the Einstein Papers Project is also accessible through their publisher, Princeton University Press.

The core collection of Einstein’s papers was accumulated during Einstein’s lifetime and was expanded over several decades after Einstein’s death by Helen Dukas, Einstein’s secretary in Princeton, NJ, in collaboration with Otto Nathan, the Executor of Einstein’s Estate. These materials were organized in the 1960s by Helen Dukas, in consultation with Gerald Holton.

The database was initially established in the late 1970s by John Stachel, the founding editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, as an electronic control index for the original “Dukas” collection. We are especially grateful to Alice Calaprice, who first entered the archival information into a computerized database from 1978 to 1980. Our apologies go to many others who cannot be mentioned here, but have since worked on the electronic data, which was adapted over the years to changing computer technology. In its present form and content, the database is the result of occasional additions and revisions and of a recent unification of separate databases. These had been independently maintained at the Einstein Papers Project and the Albert Einstein Archives for their respective purposes. Systematic revisions have only recently been initiated.

Don’t wait too much. Visit Einstein online archive.