Alan Turing papers sell for thousands
A remarkable cache of scientific papers by Alan Turing, discovered in a plastic carrier bag and nearly shredded, has achieved a record-breaking total price of £465,400 at auction in Lichfield – saved just in time thanks to the curiosity of a family and the sharp eye of Charles Hanson at Hansons Auctioneers.
Charles Hanson, manager of Hansons, was astonished when the documents surfaced during a valuation event in Nottinghamshire.
Reflecting on the find, he said: “Knowing Turing’s legacy – his life, his brilliance, and his contribution to modern computing – I was completely taken aback. How does one even begin to place a value on such a legacy? That’s why, through Hansons’ Rare Book Auctions, led by the brilliant Jim Spencer, we were able to piece together the significance of these documents. The result was an outpouring of global interest, and a reminder that Turing’s life and achievements must continue to be celebrated and studied.”
“The vendor was absolutely over the moon,” he added. “To think these precious papers could’ve been lost to the shredder – and now they will go on to educate and inspire generations. Turing was a man ahead of his time, and through these pages, he lives on.”
The collection, which had been stashed away in a loft for decades, was consigned for sale by the family of Norman Routledge – a mathematician and long-time friend of Turing. Astonishingly, the documents had been gifted to Routledge by Turing’s mother, Ethel, and included some of the most significant and rare academic offprints of the 20th century.
The centrepieces included Turing’s PhD dissertation, Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals (1938–39), and On Computable Numbers (1936–37) – both hailed as foundational works in the field of theoretical computer science. Each carried an auction estimate of £40,000–£60,000, but competitive bidding online, in the room and on five open phonelines pushed prices well beyond estimates, with: Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals, which sold for a premium-inclusive £110,500, and On Computable Numbers, selling for a premium-inclusive £208,000.
The auction culminated in a total sale result of £465,400 – a new record for such Turing material.
Jim Spencer, director of Rare Book Auctions, said: “Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I found in that carrier bag. These plain, academic papers were absolutely electrifying – they are the very bedrock of modern computing. Handling them was both humbling and haunting. Knowing the tragic arc of Turing’s life only adds to the emotional weight. He was treated appallingly despite all he had done – and yet here, his ideas remain alive, relevant, and revolutionary.”
The auction also featured The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis (1952), Turing’s final major work and a cornerstone of mathematical biology, which sold for £19,500. His first published paper from 1935, Equivalence of Left and Right Almost Periodicity, achieved £7,800.
Other results included Computability and λ-Definability, selling at £26,000, and The Word Problem in Semi-Groups with Cancellation, which fetched £28,600.
In addition to the academic works, the sale featured deeply personal items – including a handwritten letter from Ethel Turing explaining the gift of her son’s papers to Routledge, and letters from novelist E. M. Forster, also a friend of Routledge. Norman’s unpublished memoirs were also offered, shedding light on his life, relationships, and enduring respect for Turing.
Jim Spencer concluded: “This was the most important archive I’ve ever handled. The papers came within inches of being destroyed, and instead they’ve captured the world’s imagination. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime discovery – not just for collectors, but for the sake of preserving the story of one of the greatest minds in history.”
In the end, this extraordinary discovery is more than just a triumph for collectors or auction history – it’s a powerful reminder of the enduring value of knowledge, legacy, and human brilliance. Alan Turing changed the world through his ideas, and thanks to a twist of fate – and a plastic carrier bag – his voice continues to resonate, informing the present and shaping the future.