[HARVARD UNIVERSITY] | Aiken, Howard Hathaway, and Grace Murray Hopper. A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator by the Staff of the Computation Laboratory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1946

[HARVARD UNIVERSITY]

Aiken, Howard Hathaway, and Grace Murray Hopper. A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator by the Staff of the Computation Laboratory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1946

8vo. 17 numbered plates, in-text illustrations; small tear along upper margin of half-title, title-page and the first few leaves. Original dark blue cloth; extremities lightly rubbed, corners lightly bumped, front hinges starting.

First edition

The electromechanical IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (the Harvard Mark I), was the product of Howard Aiken, 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. The project was partly funded by the United States Navy, and the remainder came from IBM. After the Mark I was set up at Harvard in 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 present manual consists of descriptions of the Mark I's components, as well as early examples of digital computer programs. 

REFERENCES

The Franklin Institute Library (bookplate; perforated stamp on title-page; library shelf mark on spine) — Christie's London, 23 November 2010, lot 61