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The History of Computing Auctioned at Christie's

Posted by timothy on from the considerable-subset-anyhow dept.

Larry Groebe writes "The most amazing unified collection of books, papers, and similar material on the history of computing is about to go on sale at Christie's auction house. Want a signed copy of 'Rossum's Universal Robots?' Original papers on the Eniac? Alan Turning's original proof of universal computability? Letters from Charles Babbage himself? It's in there, to anyone with (a whole lot of) money. Check out the estimated price on the 1974 journal article by Vinton Cerf describing IP addressing. It's increased in value in the past 30 years...just a bit."

2 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by dabigpaybackski · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hope they put these items in a museum where everyone can see them. Considering the ever-growing importance of the computer in the last half-century, I think papers like these should be part of an exhibit making the rounds across the globe. Smithsonian, perhaps?

    --
    "OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
  2. How about a benefactor? by xbytor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why doesn't Paul Allen or Bill Gates cough up some $$$ to buy the entire collection and donate it to the Smithsonian? Somebody in the biz with the bucks needs to step up to the plate here..

    ciao,
    -X