Professor Hawking's archive also contains letters dating from 1944-2008, his assistants’ notebooks, a list of set phrases for his speech synthesiser, as well as film and TV scripts, such as Oscar-winning film The Theory of Everything and the iconic sci-fi series The X-Files.
Script for the first-ever episode of the X Files, signed by show creator Chris Carter
Script for the first-ever episode of the X Files, signed by show creator Chris Carter
Perhaps most fascinating to researchers and scientific historians are artworks and autograph scientific manuscripts from the earliest and arguably most brilliant phase of his career, between 1963 and 1972, after which his physical condition made extended handwriting increasingly difficult.
As part of the AIL agreement, a large collection of photographs with notable figures including Pope Francis and letters to and from former US President Bill Clinton and former presidential candidate Hilary Clinton will also now be housed at Cambridge University Library.
Letter to Stephen Hawkins (sic), by former First Lady Hillary Clinton
Letter to Stephen Hawkins (sic), by former First Lady Hillary Clinton
Some of the most significant manuscript (handwritten) draft papers include Hawking’s Adams Prize-winning essay ‘Singularities and Geometry of Spacetime’ (1966), ‘Gravitational radiation in an expanding universe’ (1968) and ‘The Event Horizon’ – remarkable for both its late date (1972) and sheer length – providing an opportunity to witness one of the most celebrated scientific minds of his age in the white heat of creative thought.
An early draft copy of the multi-million selling popular science book, A Brief History of Time
An early draft copy of the multi-million selling popular science book, A Brief History of Time
The archive also includes a computer print-out of his most famous work A Brief History of Time (then titled From the Big Bang to Black Holes. A Short History of Time) which would go on to sell 25 million copies, as well as other pre-publication proofs.
Some deeply personal items are evident, too - such as a 1948 letter from a young Stephen to his father, which reads: ‘Dear Father, here is a story. Once upon a time some pirates were loading treasure on to a ship. Stephen’.
A letter written by the young Stephen Hawking to his father
A letter written by the young Stephen Hawking to his father
Other correspondence focuses on his illness, use of wheelchairs and other hardware, as well as issues to do with disabled access and rights.
Professor Hawking’s strong and sometimes fiery personality is also well conveyed by a group of draft letters from 1966, after Hawking had mistakenly understood his work to have been plagiarised by the American physicist Robert Geroch (then a student).
An extract from one of The Simpsons scripts, with Professor Hawking's lines highlighted. Credit: 20th Century Fox
An extract from one of The Simpsons scripts, with Professor Hawking's lines highlighted. Credit: 20th Century Fox
