A collection of Alan Turing's scientific papers, nearly lost to history, fetched over £300,000 at auction in Lichfield, Staffordshire. The sale included Turing's personal copy of his 1939 doctoral thesis, "Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals," and his 1937 paper, "On Computable Numbers." These works are foundational to theoretical computer science.
The auction saw bids soar far beyond the initial estimates. "On Computable Numbers" sold for £208,000, while "Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals" reached £110,500. The auction was conducted by Rare Book Auctions in Lichfield.
The collection also featured personal items, including a handwritten letter from Ethel Turing explaining the papers' gifting to Turing's friend, Norman Routledge. The high prices reflect the immense historical and scientific significance of Turing's work and the rarity of these surviving documents.