HAWKING (STEPHEN)


The Universe in a Nutshell, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, WITH HIS THUMB-PRINT on the title-page, and inscribed in the hand of Peter Breadman "To Matthew, With best wishes, Stephen" and at foot of page "Right thumbprint of Prof S.W. Hawking. Witnessed by P Breadman on 11.12.11", colour illustrations throughout, publisher's black cloth, dust-jacket, 4to, Bantam Press, 2001; together with a colour photograph of Stephen Hawking with Nelson Mandela and Peter Breadman
|PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SEQUEL TO 'A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME', INSCRIBED WITH HAWKING'S THUMB-PRINT SIGNATURE. The recipient of this presentation copy, Matthew, was the brother of Peter Breadman, one of Hawking's carers over many years, who added the inscription on Hawking's behalf and witnessed the signature below. The occasion was the birth of Matthew Breadman's daughter, who he recounts "was born on the 7th October 2011 and was 9 weeks early and only weighed 2 pounds. She spent the first six weeks in hospital and Stephen sent the gift a few weeks after we got home".Peter Breadman accompanied Hawking during many of his notable meetings and trips, and included in the lot is a photograph of the well-known occasion in 2008 when Hawking met Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg to discuss the Next Einstein initiative, whose aim was to discover and encourage maths and science talent throughout Africa.