Books and Manuscripts

Bohr, Niels
The Theory of Spectra and Atomic Constitution
Cambridge: At the University Press, 1922. First edition in English. 8vo. x, 126 pp. Presentation copy, inscribed by Niels Bohr to Dr. Wickliffe Rose: “Dr. Wickliffe Rose / With kind regards / from the author”. Publisher's purple cloth, stamped in blind and in gilt, spine and boards unevenly faded, scattered minor soiling, small patches of bubbling; rare dust-jacket wanting. 

A handsome and rare presentation copy of Niel Bohr's groundbreaking essays on quantum theory and atomic structure. Published shortly after he received the Nobel Prize in physics, Bohr inscribed this to Dr. Wickliffe Rose, director of the International Health Board and International Education Board (IEB) for the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1923, Bohr and the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen were one of the first major recipients of the IEB's institutional grants, receiving $40,000 to expand their workspace and lab equipment. The IEB would continue to be a crucial supporter of the University and Bohr's research, while also supplying grants to the Institute of Physical Chemistry as well as the Department of Physiology.

It is presumed that Bohr presented this to Wickliffe as a thank you sometime during his visit to the United States in 1923.