Einstein Papers Project
Professional services
UnclaimedAn international scholarly project that edits, translates, annotates, and publishes the writings and correspondence of Albert Einstein.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
The Einstein Papers Project (EPP) is an academic editorial initiative devoted to establishing and publishing a historical edition of Albert Einstein’s writings, correspondence, and related documentary material. Rather than functioning as a conventional commercial brand, it operates as a long-running research and publishing project whose principal output is The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (CPAE). The project gathers materials from Einstein’s literary estate, the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and numerous other repositories holding documents connected with Einstein’s scientific, personal, political, and public life. Its work combines archival research with textual scholarship. Project staff and collaborators locate documents, establish reliable transcriptions, identify dates and correspondents, translate material principally from German into English, supply historical and scientific annotations, and explain relationships among documents. The resulting editions cover a wide range of sources: published and unpublished scientific papers, lecture and research notebooks, travel diaries, book reviews, appeals, speeches, interviews, records of lectures, and professional, personal, and political correspondence. The documentary editions generally preserve the original-language texts while providing English editorial apparatus and companion translation volumes. The EPP was established in 1977 by Princeton University Press at the Institute for Advanced Study. Physicist and historian of science John Stachel served as its founding editor. In 1984, the project moved to Boston University, where it continued under the leadership of scholars including Martin J. Klein. In 2000, Diana Kormos-Buchwald became general editor and director and relocated the project’s offices to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech remains the project’s institutional base. The CPAE began publication in 1987 with the volume covering Einstein’s early life and work from 1879 to 1902. The series is organized into chronological branches covering the early years, the Swiss years, and the Berlin years, with separate or combined volumes for writings and correspondence. Volume 11 serves as an index, bibliography, chronology, correspondence list, and correction volume for the first ten books. By the mid-2020s, the published sequence had reached Volume 17, covering material through November 1930, while the complete editorial program is intended to extend substantially further into Einstein’s life. The project also maintains a close relationship with the Albert Einstein Archives, which holds the literary estate and personal papers Einstein left to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The EPP and the archives share and update a large archival database containing more than 90,000 records. Financial and institutional support has included Princeton University Press, university endowments, individual donors, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Caltech, the Harold W. McGraw Jr. endowment, and the Arcadia Fund. From late 2014, the project and Princeton University Press made a substantial portion of the edition available through the free Digital Einstein Papers website. The digital service reproduced and linked the contents of the published volumes, enabling full-text searching and navigation between original-language documents, translations, notes, and references. In 2025, the project announced that access to the free site would end on August 15, 2025. A planned successor, variously described as the Einstein Portal or Einstein database, is being developed with Paradigm Publishing Services using De Gruyter Brill database technology. The replacement is expected to use an institutional paid-access model and to incorporate improved search tools. The project remains an ongoing scholarly enterprise rather than a completed archive, with further volumes and documentary work expected to continue for decades.
History
The Einstein Papers Project was created in 1977 by Princeton University Press at the Institute for Advanced Study. John Stachel became its founding editor and established the project’s central purpose: to produce a critical historical edition of Einstein’s documentary legacy rather than merely reprint his most famous scientific articles. This required the systematic collection of materials from Einstein’s estate and from archives around the world, followed by transcription, translation, annotation, dating, and cross-referencing. In 1984, the project moved from Princeton to Boston University, Stachel’s academic institution. The first volume of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein appeared in 1987, covering the period from Einstein’s birth in 1879 through 1902. Martin J. Klein became senior editor in 1988. During the Boston period, the project completed Volumes 1 through 6 and Volume 8. These books established the series’ documentary and editorial conventions and broadened the historical record beyond Einstein’s published physics to include notebooks, correspondence, lectures, professional relationships, and political and personal writings. Diana Kormos-Buchwald became general editor and director in 2000 and moved the project to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Under its Caltech administration, the EPP continued publication of the chronological series and expanded its international editorial network. Volumes 7 and 9 through 16 were completed after the move. Volume 11, published as a cumulative reference volume, provides an index, bibliography, chronology, correspondence list, and errata for the first ten volumes. Volume 17, covering June 1929 through November 1930, followed in 2024. The edition is divided into chronological and documentary groupings. The Early Years volume covers 1879–1902. The Swiss Years series addresses 1900–1914, including Einstein’s early publications, the 1905 papers, academic development, and extensive correspondence. The Berlin Years begin in 1914 and include scientific writings, correspondence, political engagements, public statements, and other records from the period in which Einstein became an internationally prominent figure. The volumes are designed to be read as a connected documentary record: letters, drafts, notebooks, published papers, and third-party references are placed into historical context through editorial notes and cross-references. The EPP’s institutional relationship with the Albert Einstein Archives is central to its work. Einstein left his literary estate and personal papers to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The project and the archives collaborate on an extensive shared database containing more than 90,000 records. This arrangement enables the editors to integrate material held in Jerusalem with documents preserved in university, governmental, personal, and other archival collections. In the digital phase of the project, the EPP and Princeton University Press launched the Digital Einstein Papers in late 2014. The site offered free online access to the contents of the first sixteen volumes, with searchable PDFs and links connecting documentary editions to English translations and editorial notes. New volumes were intended to be added after their print publication. The digital publication brought the project’s scholarship to a wider audience and received coverage in major international newspapers. The free digital service was scheduled to close on August 15, 2025. The planned replacement, referred to as the Einstein Portal or Einstein database, is being developed with Paradigm Publishing Services on De Gruyter Brill database technology. It is expected to offer improved LaTeX-aware searching and institutional paid access rather than open access. The successor is initially expected to contain the same sixteen volumes formerly available online, while the overall editorial program remains planned for roughly thirty volumes. Completing the full record through the end of Einstein’s life is expected to require many additional years.
- 2026
Einstein Portal planned
[1]A replacement database is expected to launch around the end of 2026, subject to development and access arrangements.
- 2025
Free digital service scheduled for closure
[1]The project announced that the Digital Einstein site would cease free access on August 15, 2025.
- 2024
Volume 17 published
[1]Volume 17 extended the Berlin Years sequence through November 1930.
- 2021
Volume 16 published
[1]Volume 16 covered Einstein’s writings and correspondence from June 1927 through May 1929.
- 2014
Digital Einstein Papers launched
[1]A free searchable online version of the collected papers became available through collaboration with Princeton University Press.
- 2000
Project moved to Caltech
[1]Diana Kormos-Buchwald became director and general editor and established project offices at Caltech.
- 1988
Martin J. Klein appointed senior editor
[1]Historian of science Martin J. Klein assumed the project’s senior editorial role.
- 1987
First Collected Papers volume published
[1]Princeton University Press published Volume 1, covering Einstein’s early years from 1879 to 1902.
- 1984
Project moved to Boston University
[1]The project relocated from Princeton to Boston University, Stachel’s home institution.
- 1977
Einstein Papers Project established
[1]Princeton University Press established the project at the Institute for Advanced Study, with John Stachel as founding editor.
Products and positioning
Authoritative academic editorial project for the documentary study of Albert Einstein
Scholarly historical edition · 1987
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein
The project’s principal print publication is a critical documentary edition of Einstein’s writings and correspondence. It includes scientific and nonscientific articles, notebooks, lecture material, diaries, reviews, speeches, interviews, political statements, and letters. Documentary volumes generally preserve texts in their original language, especially German, while supplying English introductions, annotations, references, and companion translation volumes. The series is arranged chronologically across Einstein’s early, Swiss, and Berlin years and is intended to extend across approximately thirty volumes.
Digital scholarly archive · 2014
Digital Einstein Papers
The Digital Einstein Papers was a free online presentation of the collected papers developed by the Einstein Papers Project and Princeton University Press. It offered searchable reproductions of published volumes and connected original-language documentary texts with English translations, editorial notes, and references. The service made the project’s research accessible beyond specialist libraries, but free access was scheduled to end on August 15, 2025.
Subscription research database · 2026
Einstein Portal
The Einstein Portal, also described as the Einstein database, is the planned successor to the free Digital Einstein service. It is being developed with Paradigm Publishing Services using De Gruyter Brill database technology. Planned features include improved search capabilities and access for subscribing organizations. The initial database is expected to reproduce the first sixteen volumes, with later expansion contemplated.
Brand decisions
2025
Transition from free digital access to a planned paid portalStrategyBackground
The project announced that the free Digital Einstein website would end while a technically upgraded replacement was being developed.
Action taken
The project planned the Einstein Portal as an institutional subscription database, with organizations invited to seek customized pricing.
Aftermath
The change represents a shift from open online distribution toward managed, institution-funded access; the long-term availability and pricing structure remain subject to the portal’s launch.
2014
Launch of Digital Einstein PapersProduct launchBackground
The print edition contained a large body of important material that could be made more discoverable through digital search and linked editorial apparatus.
Action taken
The project and Princeton University Press released a free online presentation of the first sixteen volumes, with searchable documents, translations, notes, and cross-references.
Aftermath
The service broadened access to the project’s scholarship and attracted substantial press attention.
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