21-05-2025
Alan Turing's papers nearly shredded after being found in a loft
A cache of papers found in a loft and almost shredded is expected to fetch £150,000 after it was identified as the pioneering work of Alan Turing.
The papers, described as the foundations of computer science, include the wartime codebreaker's signed copy of his 1938 PhD dissertation, Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals. It is valued between £40,000 and £60,000.
Also included is his paper On Computable Numbers, also known as Turing's Proof, which introduced the world to the idea of a universal computing machine in 1936.
It is has been described as the first programming manual of the computer age, and also has a guide price of £40,000 to £60,000.
Turing played a vital role in cracking the German Enigma code, crucial to the Allied victory in the Second World War. But he was later persecuted for being a homosexual and took his own life in 1954 at the age of 41.
After his death his mother, Ethel Sara Turing, gave her son's papers to Norman Routledge, a loyal friend of Turing and fellow mathematician.
She wrote Routledge a covering letter in which she said her late son 'always believed that he had a gift'. She also expressed her doubts his death was suicide, stating she was convinced it was accidental poisoning by cyanide.
Before he pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of gross indecency for homosexual acts in 1952, Turing sent Routledge a poignant letter known as 'Yours in distress'. Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Turing in the 2014 film The Imitation Game, has been recorded reading out the letter.
Routledge kept the papers for the rest of his life, storing them in the loft of his home in Bermondsey, south London. After his death in 2013, his sister stored them in her attic.
When she moved into a care home, her daughters were on the verge of putting them in a shredder with her other documents, but a relative advised seeking an expert opinion.
Jim Spencer, of Rare Book Auctions of Lichfield, was stunned when he opened the carrier bag full of documents at a valuation day.
He said: 'These seemingly plain papers – perfectly preserved in the muted colours of their unadorned, academic wrappers – represent the foundations of computer science and modern digital computing.'
He explained that the papers, known as offprints, were produced in very small numbers and distributed among fellow scholars, making them incredibly scarce survivors. The sale takes place on June 17.
The 13 lots of the Turing Papers also include The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis, from 1952.
This, it is said, is Turing's lesser known masterpiece of mathematical biology, and his last major published work. It has since become a basic model in theoretical biology.
There are also letters written to Routledge from EM Forster, the novelist.
One of his nieces said: 'Norman was an amazing man who showed genuine interest in everyone he came into contact with. His family were very important to him. He kept in regular contact and was interested in what each one was doing.'
