NEW YORK CITY — A violin crafted for, and belonging to Albert Einstein achieved $516,500 at the Bonhams’ books and manuscripts auction on March 9. After a bidding battle that chased the price to five times its low estimate, the first Einstein violin to ever be offered at auction went to an anonymous bidder on the phone.

The violin was made by Oscar Steger and presented to Einstein upon his arrival at the Princeton Institute for Advance Study, bearing the inscription inside the body, “Made for the Worlds[sic] Greatest Scientist Profesior[sic] Albert Einstein By Oscar H. Steger, Feb 1933 / Harrisburg, PA.” Einstein would later gift the instrument to Lawrence Hibbs, the young son of a Princeton University handyman who was a budding violinist, and it has been kept in the family since that time.

“Life without playing music was inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music…I get most joy in life out of music.” –Albert Einstein