Saving Turing’s Papers

Save Turing's Papers - Donate Now!

Alan Turing is a name synonymous with modern computing.  A pioneer, war hero, and all-round great guy, he was snatched from us before his time due to prejudices surrounding his sexuality.

Bletchley Park, the home of Station X where Turing worked to break German ciphers during the Second World War, does its part to keep him in our memories – but it needs our help.

Auction house Christie’s is to auction off an impressive quantity of Turing’s offprints, including his first published paper.  It’s thought to be the largest collection in the world, put together by Turing’s friend Professor Maxwell Newman to whom Turing presented the offprints.  They belong in a dedicated museum, but Bletchley Park can’t afford the £300,000-£500,000 guide price.

As a result, I’m asking for volunteers to dig deep and see to it that these papers not only stay in this country, but stay where the public can see them and benefit from them.  Let’s save them from being locked away in the vaults of a private collector.

It’s a big ask, looking for half a million pounds, I know – but if you work for a high-tech company, use a ‘universal computer,’ or are in any way connected with modern computing, you owe Turing a debt of gratitude – and this could be a way to help repay that debt.

Please, consider donating.  Every little helps, as a certain supermarket chain would say.

If you’d like to donate, please do so as soon as possible – the auction is on the 23rd of November, so we haven’t got long if we want to save this historic treasure for future generations to enjoy!

More information is available on the donation page.

5 thoughts on “Saving Turing’s Papers

  1. This is a very worthwhile request. Alan Turing is undoubtedly the man who invented the computers in this country. During WW11 the German submarines were sinking our ships at an unsustainable rate.With Alan Turings invention of the’ bombe’ the codes were cracked at a much faster rate and therefore it helped to bring this dreadful war to an end quicker than it would otherwise have been. Also should be mentioned is Tommy Flowers who because he truly believed in the potential of this ‘super computer’ invested in this invention out of his own pocket but never really even got his stake back. These men were true heros ….and remember this ……everything about Bletchley Park & Enigma & the bombe had to be kept secret until the mid 70’s as all who worked there has signed the official secrets act. Please donate to keep the papers in England.Hopefully at Bletchley Park, such an incredible place. I am impressed by Alan Turing & so should we all be! Susan Northedge

  2. Re the Turing papers. Looks like there is a second chance to buy them.
    My daughter’s school just had a mufti day for children in need. Each child paid a pound to go to school without uniform.
    Could this idea be used to raise money for the Turing papers? Email every science/engineering/computer IT company and ask them to have a dressing up day.
    Maybe ask schools which specialise in ICT too? Not sure of the ethics of asking children to help buy the papers but my feeling is that it is not unreasonable to ask children to donate a small sum to save a piece of history. Perhaps the headmasters/mistresses themselves could make that decision?

    Just a thought.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.