Bonhams Alan Turing Papers Bring £381,400 in Books & Manuscripts Sale
The Facts
A collection of Alan Turing's autograph material—including over 40 pages of working notes on the wartime Delilah encryption project—sold for £381,400 as the top lot in Bonhams' Fine Books and Manuscripts sale, which totaled £1,488,000 across 118 lots on 14 November. The archive, assembled with collaborator Donald Bayley, contained mathematical theorems and calculations newly discovered and unpublished. Other highlights included Robert Boyle's 'The Sceptical Chymist' first edition at £279,800 and four rediscovered David Hume letters to Horace Walpole at £127,400.
The Signal
The sale offers an exceptionally rare glimpse into Turing's classified wartime work and the foundations of modern computing, with the Delilah papers forming a de facto textbook on advanced mathematics for circuit engineers. The strength of bidding—particularly for scientific and literary manuscripts—reflects sustained institutional and collector appetite for primary source material tied to transformative figures. The discovery element further amplifies the premium, as these papers had never before reached the open market.
- People: Alan T（ring, Donald Bayley, Matthew Haley
- Auction Houses: Bonhams
- Locations: London
- Prices: £381,400, £1,488,000, £279,800, £127,400, £57,550, £43,520
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