At auctions one will see all sorts of things for sale, typical rare items that are usually exotic and expensive. Auctions are one of the best ways for collectors of various things to hopefully find that exact piece that they are looking for. Additionally auctions are great way for sellers to make a lot of money as their item hopefully catches the interest of multiple people who are likely to drive the price up. Auction houses have been around for some time, and a few of them have founded their own business where they oversee auctions in auction houses all across the globe.
Bonhams is an auction house that is known throughout the world for auctioning off extremely valuable and rare goods. The company can trace its roots back to 1793 in London when it went by the name Bonhams & Brooks. In 2001 Bonham & Brooks merged with Phillips Son & Neale, another auction house that was founded in the late 1790’s. In their long history of being a company, Bonhams has auctioned off all sorts of items of high value. Today they have auction houses all over the world and one auction house in New York is having a very interesting auction coming up on October 22nd.
The “History of Science Sale” at Bonhams New York is a sale where various scientific items and related goods from the 16th to 20th century will be auctioned off. The items include a variety of books, notes, photographs, scientific equipment, and various pieces of technology from history. A large part of the items include various notes, documents, and books from 19th century astronomer George Willis Ritchey that is valued to be worth somewhere between $450,000 – $550,000 dollars for the complete collection. A first edition copy of Darwin’s The Origin of Species is also expected to fetch somewhere between $25,000 – $35,000. The auction also has a few personal letters that were sent between Darwin and Einstein as well. There are a variety of other items including an electronic keyboard from 1905 (one of the first) and some first edition publications from various scientists.
Additionally one of the hottest items as the auction is the first computer that was ever made by Apple. The Apple 1 was one of the earliest personal computer when it debuted in 1976. The computer was designed and built by Steve Wozniak, one of the original founders of the company. These computers are super rare and only around 60 are known to exists, and of those somewhere between 10-15 are still working. The computer being auctioned off at Bonhams is completely original except for a computer chip being replaced. The computer is expected to sell somewhere between $300,000 – $500,000.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
