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Photos: Stephen Hawking’s personal effects fetch $1.8 million at auction
Updated On Nov 10, 2018 10:54 am IST
A copy of Stephen Hawking's doctorate thesis signed in a shaky hand was the highlight of an auction of the British physicist's personal items in London, which raised nearly £1.4 million ($1.8 million, 1.6 million euros). The collection highlighted the brilliance, determination and sense of humour of Hawking, who died in March aged 76 after a lifetime spent trying to unlock the secrets of the universe. The auction funds will go to the family although the money raised from selling his wheelchair will be donated to the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Stephen Hawking Foundation.
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Physicist Stephen Hawking sits on stage during an announcement of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative with investor Yuri Milner in New York April 12, 2016. A copy of Hawking’s doctorate thesis signed in a shaky hand was the highlight of an auction of his personal items in London this week. (Lucas Jackson / REUTERS File)
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One of only five originals of the thesis entitled “Properties of expanding universes”, it smashed pre-sale expectations four times over to sell for £584,750 at the Christie’s sale, which ended on Thursday. When the document was made available online last year by Cambridge University, where Hawking spent his career, it was so popular that it crashed the website. (Jack taylor / Getty Images)
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A red leather wheelchair that Hawking used from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, driving himself using a joystick, sold for £296,750 while an early edition of his bestselling book “A Brief History of Time” marked with a thumbprint, fetched £68,750. (Jack Taylor / Getty Images)
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A gallery assistant poses with a bomber jacket that belonged to the late British theoretical physicist. A script from one of his appearances on the TV series “The Simpsons” was one of the 22 lots under the hammer, selling for £6,250. The collection highlighted the brilliance, determination and sense of humour of Hawking, who died in March aged 76. (Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP File)
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Stephen Hawking’s medals and awards 1975-1999 (estimate £10,000 - £15,000) on display at Christie’s auction house. A collection of his medals and awards, including honours from the Royal Astronomical Society, sold for £296,750, with the entire collection achieving £1,384,625. (Jack Taylor / Getty Images)
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Fine-art handler Tom Richardson poses with a jacket belonging to Stephen Hawking. Hawking published his thesis in 1965, two years after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His first wife Jane typed out the 117 pages but he added two hand-written signatures and the words “This dissertation is my original work” at the front, as well as several mathematical equations inside. (Toby Melville / REUTERS)
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Documents and files by Stephen Hawking. An invitation he sent out to a party held several years previously, a light-hearted experiment to see if any time travellers would turn up, sold for more than 10 times its pre-sale estimate of £100, while a bomber jacket he wore in a 2016 documentary raised £40,000. (Frank Augstein / AP File)
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