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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."

44 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Hey baby by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wanna see my authetic Vint Cerf letter from 1974?

  2. The sale's not going well by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Funny

    Apparently the entire online catalog is Slashdotted.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  3. Do they have... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The history of the history of recursion?

    1. Re:Do they have... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The history of the history of recursion?

      yes

    2. Re:Do they have... by stephenisu · · Score: 2, Funny

      Stocked in the department of redundancy department.

      See the section labeled department of redundancy department.

      --
      Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
    3. Re:Do they have... by nacturation · · Score: 3, Funny

      Have a post which links to itself and then I'll be impressed!

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  4. Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place.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!"
    1. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by Usquebaugh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yep,

      put them in a museum but how about PDF or PS copies on line. I want to read this stuff but not at the price being asked.

    2. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by mOoZik · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think we need a good computer museum. We have a few, but most of them are just a collection of old, dingy machines for one's drooling-over. We need something that has machines, documents, letters, books, components, video interviews, chip prototypes, interactive sections, and so on and so forth! But these will most likely go to a private collection, though museums often bid in these auctions.

      --
      A blog like any other.
    3. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by Jason+Scott · · Score: 4, Informative

      Haven't been to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, have you? I reccommend seeing what they have and where they're going with it.

    4. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by HyperCash · · Score: 2, Informative

      I second this. Their website really could use some work though. The measuem has all sorts of neat stuff and a great staff that has a lot of knowledge about it.

      --HC

      --
      So I'm jump'n up and down screaming show me the money.
    5. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by syousef · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What use is putting original papers behind glass in a museum? You can't read them like that. The artifacts aren't nearly as important as the ideas, both from a historical perspective and a scientific one. Make sure copies are available for download on the net and that people know where to look for them instead.

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    6. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by dabigpaybackski · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Ahem, gentlemen, I suggested the Smithsonian because it is a prominent and extremely well-funded American museum that might be amenable to sponsering an international exhibit of this kind. I had not intended the suggestion as a slight to other nationalities, but being the bigoted American cunt that I am, it was the first idea that came to mind. But to tell the truth, the guy posting below is basically correct about modern computers being of U.S. and U.K. origin, having been employed with staggering success in the early days to crack the Axis codes. And as for the PC, that is indisputably an American innovation.

      --
      "OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
    7. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place. by sconeu · · Score: 2, Informative

      Konrad Zuse?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  5. Computors by Rares+Marian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow. They really did spell it that way. All the souls I've led astray. No amount of Windows usage can atone for the misgrammaticalous advice I've given.

    I will never RTFA again. Who knows what else I'll find out?

    --
    The message on the other side of this sig is false.
    1. Re:Computors by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Indeed. For penance, do 3 Gentoo stage 2 installs, and learn to send mail with Emacs.

    2. Re:Computors by ornil · · Score: 2, Informative
      You should read old "Doc" Smith's SF novels. I almost died when I read a line like the following:

      A Nevian computer handed his chief a sheet of metal, bearing rows of symbols.

      or

      "Not exactly," the computer still stared. "I was going to set up an integral. I didn't want it, either-I could swear that somebody told me to set it up."

      Yep, those are people that do computations - computers.
  6. I have... by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have Charles Babbage's ego in a box somewhere. Should be worth a bit.

    --
    Evil people are out to get you.
  7. Also featured on Page 3 of the catalog... by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Funny
    A never before published proof of P=NP from Alan Turing's diary.

    Just kidding folks...no need to get your panties all in a bunch.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  8. Worth noting by rackhamh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Isn't it interesting that in an era when digitization and electronic archival are increasingly important, memorabilia such as this is so highly valued?

    1. Re:Worth noting by bwcarty · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's because it's all DRM free.

    2. Re:Worth noting by pxpt · · Score: 3, Interesting
      It seems that the more technologically advanced the civilisation - the harder it is to actually access knowledge in said civilisation. Books might be old fashioned but hey, at least you can attempt to read them when the electricity supply fails (at night time you can use candles!!!).

      The window of opportunity for getting at knowledge on various media is decreasing exponentionally. For example: books can still be accessed (ever since they were invented essentially). However, nowadays it is getting harder to get at stuff on some forms of magnetic tape. And if you think that knowledge on DVD's is safe then what about when Blueray Discs become popular(if at all) - will you still keep those old DVD players going (and would you be able to keep them going).

      It seems that we are forever cursed to keep on copying our knowledge to newer forms of media in ever decreasing timescales - somethings got to give...

  9. Re:As the Alan Turns... by OneIsNotPrime · · Score: 2, Funny

    Alan Turing is spinning in his grave.

    --

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    WARNING:Slashdot karma not redeemable in the afterlife.

  10. What about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What about the Pink Shirt book; the Devil book; the Dragon book; or the Red book, otherwise known as the ugly Red Book that won't fit on a shelf... Will these books also be auctioned off?

    Signed,
    Joey

  11. Re:Bill Gates by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Funny
    If I were Bill Gates I'd shell out some money for that stuff.

    And then what? Dig a hole in your back yard and burn everything in it that challenges your vise-like grip on the IT market? Or file it away, with a very Blofeld-ish, "Quaint, quaint."

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  12. Re:estimated bids are ridiculous by MerlynEmrys67 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Why do you say that...

    Just because you don't have the money doesn't mean quite a few people don't. I would expect historically interesting documents to fetch a decent price. Someone will want them, hopefully for a museum (A tech museum somewhere) - I could see Bill J, Scott M, Bill G, Steve J. putting bids on documents that particularly inspired them.

    --
    I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
  13. 255 lots? by Mononoke · · Score: 3, Funny
    In an auction of the history of cyberspace, shouldn't there really be 256?

    --
    NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
    1. Re:255 lots? by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Funny

      In an auction of the history of cyberspace, shouldn't there really be 256?

      If they slap in another lot, it'll roll round to 0. Damn those legacy systems!

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  14. Intrigued, but annoyed by geekwench · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Wow, I am simply amazed at the collection of Geek History 101 on display. (The copy of R.U.R is enough to make me want to smash the piggy bank.) All of this stuff is, apparently, one person's collected library on the origins of cyberspace. (See here for further information.)

    ...Which brings me to the annoyance factor. This collection is going to be scattered to the four winds. Looking at some of the pre-auction estimates, no one person, and very few institutions, will have the scratch that it would take to keep the collection together. Taken seperately, each of these items has a historical context, but taken together, they chart the idealistic, scientific, and technological foundations of the Internet.

    Auctioning the library off in such a piecemeal fashion just seems wrong, IMNSHO.

    --
    Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
    1. Re:Intrigued, but annoyed by MerlynEmrys67 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Looking at some of the pre-auction estimates, no one person, and very few institutions, will have the scratch that it would take to keep the collection together

      What do you mean - I know people that this would be chump change for (ever go on a drinking spree with someone with more money than sense and get a sip of whiskey out of a multi-thousand dollar bottle ?)

      Bill G easily has this kind of money - heck the brothers google do as well.

      I could see Andy B from Sun, Steve Jobs from Apple, and maybe the Woz kicking out this kind of money if it were important enough to them.

      Now I agree, I would like to see a collection like this kept together - however the owners of the property in question, value its worth much more than the collection as a whole... and frankly selling it off piecemeal like this will probably raise the price (a LOT of people would pay 2000-3000 for their favorite historical book - not many people could pay 1/2M for the whole thing). Frankly they own it and have the right to do what ever they want with it.

      --
      I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
    2. Re:Intrigued, but annoyed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It is probably true that this collection won't be bought by one individual. But many institutions do buy this sort of material in extremely large quantities, or they are bought by individuals to be later donated to such institutions.

      Furthermore, there are Rare Book Libraries all over the place who already have a lot of this kind of material (i happen to work in one of them). That means if the material does get scattered to a certain extent, the material is going to be added to these kind of collections that already exist. This is not the whole history of computing for auctioned at Christies as the title suggests but merely one small piece of it.

  15. No, 255 is correct. by jd · · Score: 4, Funny

    Remember, 0 is NULL.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  16. Re:One man's trash... by Hnice · · Score: 2, Insightful
    yeah, either the estimates or stupid, or

    and i'm going out on a limb here

    christie's employs people with experience in correctly valuing antiques and memorabilia. gee, i wonder who i should trust -- the experts, with years of proven experience in the field, or an anonymous coward?

    yawn.

    --

    god is just pretend.

  17. I wouldn't pay a dime... by HungSoLow · · Score: 2, Interesting
    for "Alan Turning's original proof of universal computability"

    On the other hand, if they had Turing's, I would definitly fork over the cash.

  18. 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

  19. Those papers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...belong in a museum! *cracks Indy whip*

  20. Re:Cerf article by slickwillie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe someone can dig out the specs for the first spellchecker.

  21. Re:I am annoyed as well by RedWizzard · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I agree it's a shame this material will become scattered all around, but the thing that bothers me the most is that much of this stuff will end up in a bunch of different private collections. Stuff like this should be kept together in a safe place after making digital copies and publishing them on the internet to be shared with everybody.
    Why? Most of these lots are just first edition printings of academic papers. There's nothing especially unique about the content of these copies, and in most cases the text is already available on the net. It's not like these are the only copies of the works.
  22. Turing's grave was dug by intolerance. by TapeCutter · · Score: 3, Informative

    The authorities hounded Turing into killing himself because everyone knows a gay geek can't be trusted. Outside of computer nerds not many people have even heard of him, let alone know what he did in WW2 or how he died.

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  23. can I pay... by same_old_story · · Score: 2, Funny

    with stock options?

  24. Re:As the Alan Turns... by Anonymous+Custard · · Score: 2, Funny

    Alan Turing is spinning in his grave.

    Will he ever stop spinning, or will his ghost keep halting me forever???

    --
    $8.95/mo web hosting
  25. buy the catalog by subtropolis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    i have no connection w/ christies whatsoever. But i suggest buying the catalog if this interests you. I had a friend a few years back who lent me his catalog for a very comprehensive auction of Soviet space program stuff. Like full suits. 1:1 models of lunar landers. Some very cool stuff. The catalog was well put together, with lots of large images. Definitely worth the 30 bones.

    why did i ever give it back to him?

    --
    "Our interests are to see if we can't scale it up to something more exciting," he said.
  26. history of computers... by torrents · · Score: 2, Interesting

    wouldn't it make sense to put it on ebay?

    --
    Get your torrents...
  27. Why? by J.+Random+Luser · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Being plain nosey I scratched around various blogs and the owners' site, but I don't see any rational explanation for this sale. If Jeremy has fallen on bad times and needs the cash I can forgive him, but this collection is a significant fraction of the sum total of human knowledge, and thus belongs to all mankind. Dispersing it to the four winds is usually the lot of soul-less deceased estate executors.