A trove of pioneering work by Alan Turing that was found in a loft and almost shredded today sold for nearly half a million pounds.
The so-called Alan Turing Papers are the origins of computer science by the late genius mathematician and were discovered in the attic of a fellow mathematician who was given them by Turing’s mother after her son’s death in 1954.
The work, which was bought at auction for £465,500, was rediscovered by the relatives of Norman Routledge when they were having a clear out.
The collection included the wartime code breaker’s personal signed copy of his 1938 PhD dissertation, ‘Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals’ – it sold for £110,500 at auction today.
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, sold for £208,000.
It has been described as the first programming manual of the computer age.
Turing played a vital role in cracking the German Enigma code which was crucial to the Allied victory in the Second World War.
But he was later persecuted for being a homosexual and took his own life aged 41.
A cache of papers found in a loft and almost shredded sold for £465,500 at auction today after it was realised to be the pioneering work of Alan Turing (pictured: his personal signed copy of his 1938 PhD dissertation, ‘Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals’, that sold for £110,500)
Turing played a vital role in cracking the German Enigma code, a feat that was crucial to the Allied victory in the Second World War . But Turing was gay at a time when homosexual relations were illegal
After Turing’s death, his mother Ethel gave her son’s papers to his loyal friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge. Ethel wrote Mr Routledge a covering letter in which she revealed how she knew her late son ‘was a winner from the age of six’
After his death his mother Ethel gave her son’s papers to his loyal friend Norman, writing him a letter that said she knew her late son ‘was a winner from the age of six.’
She added that she ‘always believed that he had a gift’ as well as doubts that Turing’s death was suicide, stating she was convinced it was accidental poisoning of cyanide.
Jim Spencer, of Rare Books Auctions of Lichfield, Staffs, which sold the papers, said: ‘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.
‘The result of the sale is a reminder that Turing’s life and achievements must continue to be celebrated and studied.
‘The vendor was absolutely over the moon. 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.’
After Mr Routledge’s death, his sister stored the papers in the attic where they lay dormant until she recently moved into a care home.
A paper by Turing titled, ‘The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis’
The unpublished memoirs of Turing’s friend Norman Routledge
More of Turing’s academic papers, found in a plastic bag
Another academic paper found in the trove. It bears the name plate of Norman Routledge, Turing’s close friend
Her daughters came across the papers but they too didn’t realise their importance or significance at first.
Luckily, they took them along to a family reunion event and one relative thought they should seek an expert opinion on them.
They then took them to a Rare Book Auctions valuation day in a carrier bag.
Mr Spencer said: ‘Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I was about to find in that carrier bag. I opened it and thought ‘good lord.’
‘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 the papers, known as ‘offprints’, were produced in very small numbers and distributed among fellow scholars making them incredibly scarce survivors that rarely ever appear on the market.
Mr Spencer added: ‘They are prized by collectors as representing the first separate edition of an important work.
‘The dissertation is really important and the fact it is signed by Turing makes it extra special.
Letters that were written to Routledge from the celebrated novelist E.M Forster
More of Turing’s academic work. Collectively the lots are expected to sell for £150,000
Another of Turing’s papers. The documents came close to being shredded
‘Intensively researching and cataloguing these papers has left me feeling that Alan Turing was superhuman.
‘For me, it’s like studying the language of another planet, something composed by an ultra-intelligent civilisation.
‘At the same time, I keep thinking of the tragic end to Turing’s life, precisely because he was treated as alien – charged as a criminal, barred from GCHQ, banned from the United States, and forced to undergo chemical castration – all this despite the invaluable work he’d done at Bletchley Park during the war, and for nothing more than his sexuality.
‘This injustice, and the fact he didn’t survive to see his enormous influence and impact, makes these papers feel so special.’
The Turing Papers include ‘The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis’ from 1952, 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 Norman from the celebrated novelist E.M Forster in the collection.
One of Norman’s 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.
A paper by Turing titled ‘Equivalence of Left and Right Almost Periodicity’
A telegram sent by Turing to Routledge. It reads: ‘Delighted over your fellowship’. It was sent in March 1951
Another of Turing’s papers, titled ‘The Word Problem in Semi-Groups with Cancellation’
An academic paper featuring Norman Routledge’s surname and initials
‘We finally had an opportunity to see Norman’s papers when the family hosted a ‘Routledge Reunion’ weekend in November 2024.
‘The papers were brought along in a carrier bag. One cousin felt the Turing and Forster papers might be of interest to collectors.’
Before Turing pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of gross indecency for homosexual acts in 1952, he sent Norman a poignant letter known as ‘Yours in distress’.
It was this letter that was read out by Benedict Cumberbatch who played Turing in the 2014 film The Imitation Game.
It read: ‘I’ve now got myself into the kind of trouble that I have always considered to be quite a possibility for me, though I have usually rated it at about 10:1 against.
‘I shall shortly be pleading guilty to a charge of sexual offences with a young man.
‘The story of how it all came to be found out is a long and fascinating one, which I shall have to make into a short story one day, but haven’t the time to tell you now.
‘No doubt I shall emerge from it all a different man, but quite who I’ve not found out.’
The letter is now in the Alan Turing Archive at King’s College Cambridge.
