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  • Published
    11 Images

    11 science and tech artifacts that are up for grabs

    From one of the earliest Apple computers to letters from Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein, collectors can buy a piece of history on Oct. 22 when Bonhams holds its history of science auction. For an estimated $300,000 to $500,000, you could walk away from the New York auction with an Apple-1 computer built by Steve Wozniak in 1976. Also up for grabs is the extensive archive of pioneering astronomer, photographer, and telescope designer George Willis Ritchey, with an estimated auction value between $450,000 and $550,000. Other hot items include the Charles Darwin letter on Barnacle sex, with an estimated value between $20,000 and $30,000. A 6-inch thick Manhattan Project viewing window, valued at $150,000 to $250,000, will also be auctioned.   The auction house estimates that the 288 items in the sale will raise around $2 million when they go under the hammer. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

  • ManhattanProjectWindow
    Manhattan Project viewing window. Estimated auction value: $150,000 to $200,000.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • Apple1Computer
    Apple 1 Computer, built in 1976.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams.
  • DarwinLetter
    Charles Darwin letter to Charles Spence Bate on the subject of barnacle reproduction, 1857.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • Helmholtz
    Helmholtz Sound Synthesizer c. 1905.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • ArmillarySphere1
    Armillary sphere and terrestrial globe, 1834.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • Kepler
    One of the only known copies of astronomer Johannes Kepler's 'Tabulae Rudolphinae, quibus Astronomicae scientiae, temporum longinquitate collapsae Restauratio continetur,' 1637.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • LargeReflectingTelescope
    Large reflecting telescope, c. 1870.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • MorehouseComet
    Photograph of the Morehouse Comet, 1908.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • MagicLantern
    Magic lantern, c. 1890.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • EinsteinLetter
    Letter from Albert Einstein to his friend and colleague, the philosopher of science Dr. Hans Reichenbach, 1926.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • RitcheyPhoto
    Bonhams is auctioning the extensive archive of pioneering astronomer, photographer, and telescope designer George Willis Ritchey, c. 1895-1935. The archive includes 80 glass plates and 283 vintage photographs of "celestial phenomena," as well as manuscripts and 150 glass slides used by Ritchey in a series of lectures.
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    Image courtesy of Bonhams
  • Published
    11 Images

    11 science and tech artifacts that are up for grabs

    From one of the earliest Apple computers to letters from Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein, collectors can buy a piece of history on Oct. 22 when Bonhams holds its history of science auction. For an estimated $300,000 to $500,000, you could walk away from the New York auction with an Apple-1 computer built by Steve Wozniak in 1976. Also up for grabs is the extensive archive of pioneering astronomer, photographer, and telescope designer George Willis Ritchey, with an estimated auction value between $450,000 and $550,000. Other hot items include the Charles Darwin letter on Barnacle sex, with an estimated value between $20,000 and $30,000. A 6-inch thick Manhattan Project viewing window, valued at $150,000 to $250,000, will also be auctioned.   The auction house estimates that the 288 items in the sale will raise around $2 million when they go under the hammer. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

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  • 11 science and tech artifacts that are up for grabs
  • ManhattanProjectWindow
  • Apple1Computer
  • DarwinLetter
  • Helmholtz
  • ArmillarySphere1
  • Kepler
  • LargeReflectingTelescope
  • MorehouseComet
  • MagicLantern
  • EinsteinLetter
  • RitcheyPhoto