Alan Turing notebook to go on show in Hong Kong before auction
The 56-page book, which has never been publicly displayed before now, shows a genius at work
Notes by the legendary British second world war code cracker and computer pioneer Alan Turing, whose life story inspired box office hit The Imitation Game, go on display at auction house Bonhams in Hong Kong this month.
The 56-page wartime notebook, which is the only extensive autographed manuscript of Turing's known to exist, is expected to fetch more than US$1 million when it is auctioned in New York on April 13.
The hitherto hidden manuscript, in which Turing worked on the foundations of mathematical notation and computer science, will be available to view between March 19 and 22 at Bonhams in Admiralty.
“This manuscript dates from the time when Turing was engaged in the crucial task of breaking the Enigma code... This is quite simply one of the most extraordinary pieces I have ever had the privilege to handle.” said Cassandra Hatton, senior specialist in fine books and manuscripts and director, history of science, at Bonhams.
The simple notebook, bought in Cambridge and dating from 1942, when the academic was working at Bletchley Park north of London to break the German code, has never before been shown in public. Scholars say it provides remarkable insight into how a genius thinks.
