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TWO PHOTOGRAPH ALBUMS OF SILVER GELATIN PRINTS OF THE HARVARD CRUFT LABORATORY & AIKEN COMPUTING LABORATORY
Estimate
6,000 - 9,000 USD
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Description
- Album of Vintage Photographs of the Harvard Cruft Laboratory and Construction of the Harvard Mark I, circa 1944-1965
Two 11¼ x 15¼ inch black photo albums, containing 164 silver gelatin prints of various sizes (ranging from approximately 4¾ x 6¾ to 7¼ x 10 in.), mounted onto black paper, and 9 loose photographs, of which 3 bear the Harvard University stamp to versos. [WITH] Xerox copy of Howard Hathaway Aiken's "Curriculm [sic] Vitae," 7 pp. Albums rubbed, some chipping to paper, but photos overall in beautiful condition, with occasional toning.
Condition
To request a condition report for this lot, please email science@sothebys.com
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
A PIVOTAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING — THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MARK I, AND THE REALIZATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF BABBAGE'S ANALYTICAL ENGINE This archive of photographs depicts Harvard's Cruft Laboratory, and the construction of the famed IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (the Harvard Mark I), shown in various states of assembly from empty concrete room, to blown out doorways and delivery of components, to installation, testing, and opening ceremonies.
The Mark I was the product of physicist and computing pioneer Howard Aiken — pictured numerous times throughout the archive — who first conceived of building a powerful, large-scale calculating machine in 1935. In 1937, while a professor of applied mathematics at Harvard's Graduate School of Engineering, Aiken proposed his idea to a number of manufacturers, and received several rejections before finally convincing IBM to undertake the project. In his association with IBM, Aiken worked alongside engineers Frank E. Hamilton, Clair D. Lake, and Benjamin M. Durfee, also pictured in the present lot. The project was partly funded by the United States Navy, and the remainder came from IBM.
The assembly of the Mark I was a massive undertaking. It weighed five tons, contained 765,000 electromechanical components, used 500 miles of wire and 3,000,000 wire connections, 3,500 multiple relays with 35,000 contacts, 2,225 counters, and 1,484 ten-pole switches. After the Mark I was installed at Harvard in February, 1944, it was commandeered for war work by the United States Navy, and Aiken—a commander in the United States Naval Reserve—was put in charge of the navy's computation project. The machine was in use throughout the war years and beyond, until it was disassembled in 1959. During that time, it also served generations of students in Aiken's pioneering computer science program at Harvard, many of whom would go on to produce significant work in the field of computing.
The Mark I was the product of physicist and computing pioneer Howard Aiken — pictured numerous times throughout the archive — who first conceived of building a powerful, large-scale calculating machine in 1935. In 1937, while a professor of applied mathematics at Harvard's Graduate School of Engineering, Aiken proposed his idea to a number of manufacturers, and received several rejections before finally convincing IBM to undertake the project. In his association with IBM, Aiken worked alongside engineers Frank E. Hamilton, Clair D. Lake, and Benjamin M. Durfee, also pictured in the present lot. The project was partly funded by the United States Navy, and the remainder came from IBM.
The assembly of the Mark I was a massive undertaking. It weighed five tons, contained 765,000 electromechanical components, used 500 miles of wire and 3,000,000 wire connections, 3,500 multiple relays with 35,000 contacts, 2,225 counters, and 1,484 ten-pole switches. After the Mark I was installed at Harvard in February, 1944, it was commandeered for war work by the United States Navy, and Aiken—a commander in the United States Naval Reserve—was put in charge of the navy's computation project. The machine was in use throughout the war years and beyond, until it was disassembled in 1959. During that time, it also served generations of students in Aiken's pioneering computer science program at Harvard, many of whom would go on to produce significant work in the field of computing.