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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."

15 of 177 comments (clear)

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

    Wanna see my authetic Vint Cerf letter from 1974?

  2. 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

  3. Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place.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 Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place.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 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.
    2. Re:Historical Documents Deserve A Prominent Place.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. 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.
  5. 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
  6. 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.

  7. 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

  8. 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...
  9. 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)
  10. 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

  11. 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!

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