News Digest

British codebreaker Alan Turing’s rare manuscript to be auctioned for $1m

A hidden manuscript written by British mathematician and code breaker Alan Turing is to go on auction in New York in April. The extraordinary document from 1942, when Turing was working to crack the Nazi’s Enigma Code, is expected to fetch at least US$1 million (£660k), Bonhams auction house said. The sale hopes to capitalize on the interest in Turing’s life and work generated by Hollywood film “The Imitation Game” which has been nominated for eight Academy Awards at next month’s Oscars ceremony. The film coincides with the 60th anniversary of the death of Turing: a computer scientist, philosopher and cryptologist who was well ahead of his time.

Alan Turing was a war hero, who broke the Enigma code helping to bring an end to World War II, the father of modern computing science, and a gay icon who lived in a time of intolerance and tragically committed suicide as a result.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, star of “The Imitation Game”, who describes the prospect of being able to hold one of Turing’s manuscripts as “thrilling”

Bonhams said the 56-page manuscript is “almost certainly the only extensive autograph manuscript by Turing in existence, and has never been seen in public.” The document deals with the foundations of mathematical notation and computer science, and offers “remarkable insight into the thought process of a genius,” it said. The document is contained in a simple notebook bought from a stationers in the English university city of Cambridge, where Turing was a fellow at King’s College.