Inventions
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Space Books Incunabula Religious texts Birth of automobile French cars Instrument and equipment Computing Clocks New watches
Chronology : 1430-1459 1680-1699 1923 2020 to now
See also : Space Books Incunabula Religious texts Birth of automobile French cars Instrument and equipment Computing Clocks New watches
Chronology : 1430-1459 1680-1699 1923 2020 to now
1455 Gutenberg Bible
1
1987 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Christie's
The 42-line Bible is the first book printed in Europe with the movable type technique in a printing press, developed by Gutenberg in Mainz from 1450. The first edition is available in 1455. Gutenberg goes bankrupt in 1456 after the justice court decided that the investment should be returned to Fust.
The work is divided into two volumes, respectively covering the Old and New Testaments in the Latin text of the Vulgate, with a total of 1,282 pages 42 x 30 cm in double folio format printed on both sides. Printing is done in black ink in two columns per page. The typography imitates handwriting. The color decoration and rubrication are not printed but a guide could be provided to the purchaser.
The original edition produced under the supervision of Gutenberg is estimated at 150 copies on paper plus 30 copies on vellum. 21 complete copies have survived, plus 13 limited to one of the two volumes and another 15 with several missing leaves.
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. This book is currently kept at a private university in Japan.
The work is divided into two volumes, respectively covering the Old and New Testaments in the Latin text of the Vulgate, with a total of 1,282 pages 42 x 30 cm in double folio format printed on both sides. Printing is done in black ink in two columns per page. The typography imitates handwriting. The color decoration and rubrication are not printed but a guide could be provided to the purchaser.
The original edition produced under the supervision of Gutenberg is estimated at 150 copies on paper plus 30 copies on vellum. 21 complete copies have survived, plus 13 limited to one of the two volumes and another 15 with several missing leaves.
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. This book is currently kept at a private university in Japan.
2
1978 SOLD for $ 2.2M by Christie's
On April 7, 1978, Christie's sold for $ 2.2M a Gutenberg Bible on paper.
This almost perfect copy had been completed : the only missing leaf had been supplied in 1953 by a specialist bookseller.
It is currently kept at the Stuttgart State Library.
This almost perfect copy had been completed : the only missing leaf had been supplied in 1953 by a specialist bookseller.
It is currently kept at the Stuttgart State Library.
1884 La Marquise
2011 SOLD for $ 4.6M by RM Auctions
The meeting between the aristocrat de Dion and the mechanical engineers Bouton and Trépardoux was successful. The steam had proved effective with the locomotives. By developing a propulsion system of small volume that could be mounted on a tricycle or quadricycle, the team actually invented the automobile.
La Marquise, made in 1884, with two pairs of different-size wheels, is the first successful prototype and is still the oldest car capable of running. Its general shape is already not like a boiler, but that of a real car.
In 1887, La Marquise won the first event considered as a car race between Paris and Versailles, without difficulty because it was the only competitor.
Yet the experiments of Benz, begun in 1885, would soon show that the petrol engine was a better choice than steam.
La Marquise was a sensation at Pebble Beach on August 19, 2007, when it was sold $ 3.5M by Gooding from an estimate of $ 1.5 M. It was sold for $ 4.6M on October 7, 2011 by RM Auctions. Please watch the video shared before the sale by RM Auctions :
La Marquise, made in 1884, with two pairs of different-size wheels, is the first successful prototype and is still the oldest car capable of running. Its general shape is already not like a boiler, but that of a real car.
In 1887, La Marquise won the first event considered as a car race between Paris and Versailles, without difficulty because it was the only competitor.
Yet the experiments of Benz, begun in 1885, would soon show that the petrol engine was a better choice than steam.
La Marquise was a sensation at Pebble Beach on August 19, 2007, when it was sold $ 3.5M by Gooding from an estimate of $ 1.5 M. It was sold for $ 4.6M on October 7, 2011 by RM Auctions. Please watch the video shared before the sale by RM Auctions :
1923 Leica Null-Serie
1
2018 SOLD for € 2.4M by WestLicht
In 1911 Oskar Barnack was hired by Leitz. Founded in the mid-19th century, the Optische Werke Ernst Leitz company established in Wetzlar specialized in precision mechanics for optical instruments.
In the development phase of the cinema, setting the exposure time was an issue. To test it Barnack has the idea in 1913 to insert a 35 mm flexible film horizontally in a still camera. He builds two prototypes of this Leca that will later be spelled Leica for Leitz Camera. The horizontal position makes it possible to use 8 perforations per frame instead of 4 for the vertical rolling in a movie camera. The 24 x 36 mm was born.
Until then the usual practice for positive photography is the contact printing. Barnack loves hiking but he is sick and must avoid heavy equipment. He considers reusing his miniature 24 x 36 mm format. The positives will be achieved by enlargement. He makes a third prototype between 1918 and 1920.
Barnack convinces his boss Ernst Leitz II to continue this innovative experience. To evaluate the feasibility of a production and to test the market, Leitz authorizes in 1923 a small series of 31 cameras numbered from 100 to 130, the 0-Series (in German: Null-Serie) of the Leica. It seems that some of these numbers were not finally used.
The 0-Series Leica has some improvements compared to its three precursors, including to allow loading and unloading the film in daylight. The lens cover is now essential for not fogging the film when arming.
In B+ condition the Leica 122 is one of the best preserved of the series. Its lens cover, folding viewfinder and paintwork are original. It was sold for € 2.4M by WestLicht on March 10, 2018, lot 3 here linked to the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
Two years later, the Leica I opened the road of success to these "Leitz cameras".
In the development phase of the cinema, setting the exposure time was an issue. To test it Barnack has the idea in 1913 to insert a 35 mm flexible film horizontally in a still camera. He builds two prototypes of this Leca that will later be spelled Leica for Leitz Camera. The horizontal position makes it possible to use 8 perforations per frame instead of 4 for the vertical rolling in a movie camera. The 24 x 36 mm was born.
Until then the usual practice for positive photography is the contact printing. Barnack loves hiking but he is sick and must avoid heavy equipment. He considers reusing his miniature 24 x 36 mm format. The positives will be achieved by enlargement. He makes a third prototype between 1918 and 1920.
Barnack convinces his boss Ernst Leitz II to continue this innovative experience. To evaluate the feasibility of a production and to test the market, Leitz authorizes in 1923 a small series of 31 cameras numbered from 100 to 130, the 0-Series (in German: Null-Serie) of the Leica. It seems that some of these numbers were not finally used.
The 0-Series Leica has some improvements compared to its three precursors, including to allow loading and unloading the film in daylight. The lens cover is now essential for not fogging the film when arming.
In B+ condition the Leica 122 is one of the best preserved of the series. Its lens cover, folding viewfinder and paintwork are original. It was sold for € 2.4M by WestLicht on March 10, 2018, lot 3 here linked to the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
Two years later, the Leica I opened the road of success to these "Leitz cameras".
2.9 million! The Leica 0-series camera of 1923 sold by Westlicht (@WestLichtVienna) for a record $2,952,670 https://t.co/4T3CGKW40C #antiques #antique #auction #camera #photo #photography #Leica #art #record pic.twitter.com/Sa6piIVrpY
— Maine Antique Digest (@AntiqueDigest) May 31, 2018
2
2012 SOLD for € 2.16M by WestLicht
The Leica 0-Series number 116, graded B-, was sold for € 2.16M on May 12, 2012 by WestLicht.
3
2011 SOLD for € 1.32M by WestLicht
The Leica 107 in B- condition was sold for € 1.32M by WestLicht on May 28, 2011.
1961 Vostok Capsule
2011 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's
Sputnik 1 demonstrated in October 1957 the feasibility of orbital flights. It was only a small sphere of 58 cm in diameter, but the Soviets had other plans ready in their boxes.
Only a month later, Sputnik 2, a large conical capsule of 4 meters high and 2 meters in diameter at the base, established unequivocally that the goal of the Soviets was a successful manned flight.
The death of the dog Laika during the flight of Sputnik 2 showed that this test was premature. The Russians, embarrassed by this event, waited 45 years to confess that her death was due to excessive heat. Anyway, the martyred dog would not have passed the conditions of reentry.
Thereafter the program was held step by step. In August 1960, two dogs, a rabbit, two rats and 42 mice came back alive after a full day in orbit.
The Soviets were now ready to send the first cosmonaut in space. Becoming cautious, they made a last rehearsal on March 25, 1961, with the dog Zvezdochka aboard Sputnik 10. The success of this mission provided the green light for the flight of Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Half a century has passed since that historic flight. On April 12, 2011, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.9M the Vostok 3KA-2 capsule used for the Sputnik 10 mission. This prestigious carcass was emptied for a long time of its equipment.
It is identical to Gagarin's capsule, and unique of its kind on the market. Its price is hard to predict.
Only a month later, Sputnik 2, a large conical capsule of 4 meters high and 2 meters in diameter at the base, established unequivocally that the goal of the Soviets was a successful manned flight.
The death of the dog Laika during the flight of Sputnik 2 showed that this test was premature. The Russians, embarrassed by this event, waited 45 years to confess that her death was due to excessive heat. Anyway, the martyred dog would not have passed the conditions of reentry.
Thereafter the program was held step by step. In August 1960, two dogs, a rabbit, two rats and 42 mice came back alive after a full day in orbit.
The Soviets were now ready to send the first cosmonaut in space. Becoming cautious, they made a last rehearsal on March 25, 1961, with the dog Zvezdochka aboard Sputnik 10. The success of this mission provided the green light for the flight of Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Half a century has passed since that historic flight. On April 12, 2011, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.9M the Vostok 3KA-2 capsule used for the Sputnik 10 mission. This prestigious carcass was emptied for a long time of its equipment.
It is identical to Gagarin's capsule, and unique of its kind on the market. Its price is hard to predict.
1976 Apple Founding Contracts
2011 SOLD for $ 1.6M by Sotheby's
The home computer would be the next technological craze in California. In June 1975 Steve Wozniak tests his first working prototype. He makes a buzz with it in a group of computing hobbyists at Palo Alto.
The concept is viable and some production can be scheduled. Wozniak completes the design of the Apple I on March 1, 1976, having prepared alone the hardware, the circuit boards and the operating system. He is disappointed : Hewlett Packard is not interested. Steve Jobs convinces him to start a business of their own.
The would be entrepreneurs are 25 and 21 years old. The role of the senior partner is played by Ronald Wayne, a 41 years old enthusiast of engineering. The team of three creates the Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976, with 45 % of the shares to both Wozniak and Jobs and the remaining 10 % to Wayne.
The Apple I model is released on April 11. Its first retailer will be the Byte Shop, a specialized chain created a few months earlier by Paul Terrell. After harsh negotiations, Terrell rejects an idea of Jobs to sell modules : he will only accept 50 fully operational computers.
In the mean time Wayne appreciates that the new company can be successful but he is not a businessman and will not take a risk. He withdraws from the Apple company on April 12. The Apple I is available from July 1976 at the Byte Shop for the unit price of $ 666.66 defined by Wozniak.
A set made of three Apple founding documents previously owned by Wayne was sold by Sotheby's on December 13, 2011 for $ 1.6M from a lower estimate of $ 100K, lot 241. It is made of the April 1 contract signed by the three partners, a later amendment and the Registrant's copy of County of Santa Clara Statement of Withdrawal signed by Wayne.
The concept is viable and some production can be scheduled. Wozniak completes the design of the Apple I on March 1, 1976, having prepared alone the hardware, the circuit boards and the operating system. He is disappointed : Hewlett Packard is not interested. Steve Jobs convinces him to start a business of their own.
The would be entrepreneurs are 25 and 21 years old. The role of the senior partner is played by Ronald Wayne, a 41 years old enthusiast of engineering. The team of three creates the Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976, with 45 % of the shares to both Wozniak and Jobs and the remaining 10 % to Wayne.
The Apple I model is released on April 11. Its first retailer will be the Byte Shop, a specialized chain created a few months earlier by Paul Terrell. After harsh negotiations, Terrell rejects an idea of Jobs to sell modules : he will only accept 50 fully operational computers.
In the mean time Wayne appreciates that the new company can be successful but he is not a businessman and will not take a risk. He withdraws from the Apple company on April 12. The Apple I is available from July 1976 at the Byte Shop for the unit price of $ 666.66 defined by Wozniak.
A set made of three Apple founding documents previously owned by Wayne was sold by Sotheby's on December 13, 2011 for $ 1.6M from a lower estimate of $ 100K, lot 241. It is made of the April 1 contract signed by the three partners, a later amendment and the Registrant's copy of County of Santa Clara Statement of Withdrawal signed by Wayne.
1990-1991 and 2021 NFT www Source Code by Berners-Lee
2021 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's
Tim Berners-Lee was born in London to a family of computer scientists. Trained as a physicist and experienced in software, he is hired in 1984 at the CERN, the European research organization in particle physics, based near Geneva, which was a leading user of the Internet in its infancy.
Providing the CERN staff worldwide with an easy access to scientific information would be highly beneficial to their research. In parallel to his professional duties, Berners-Lee conceives in 1989 to join hyper-text to the Internet. He is authorized by his boss to develop this project. His system is complete with all necessary protocols and languages for the texts and their remote access (HTTP, HTML, URL).
It works. This mesh of informations looks like an infinite spider web. Berners-Lee designates in 1990 his HTML browser as the WorldWideWeb. The web software is offered by the CERN to the public domain on April 30, 1993. 'Sir Tim' was knighted in 2004.
Our global computer based civilization was born with Berners-Lee's web. A promising recent development is the NFT, the first protocol able to offer a guarantee of authenticity to a digital file, whatever it is, including artistic and historical.
On June 15, 2021 Sir Tim minted an NFT-supported digital file gathering elements of his invention from the key period 1990-1991. It edits in totality the original 9,555 line source code of the World Wide Web and the user guide in HTML. Sir Tim added a graphic and a video representations of the code and a 2021 letter reflecting about his creation process for that invention.
The Berners-Lee 1/1 file of the www source code was sold for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's on June 30, 2021, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Providing the CERN staff worldwide with an easy access to scientific information would be highly beneficial to their research. In parallel to his professional duties, Berners-Lee conceives in 1989 to join hyper-text to the Internet. He is authorized by his boss to develop this project. His system is complete with all necessary protocols and languages for the texts and their remote access (HTTP, HTML, URL).
It works. This mesh of informations looks like an infinite spider web. Berners-Lee designates in 1990 his HTML browser as the WorldWideWeb. The web software is offered by the CERN to the public domain on April 30, 1993. 'Sir Tim' was knighted in 2004.
Our global computer based civilization was born with Berners-Lee's web. A promising recent development is the NFT, the first protocol able to offer a guarantee of authenticity to a digital file, whatever it is, including artistic and historical.
On June 15, 2021 Sir Tim minted an NFT-supported digital file gathering elements of his invention from the key period 1990-1991. It edits in totality the original 9,555 line source code of the World Wide Web and the user guide in HTML. Sir Tim added a graphic and a video representations of the code and a 2021 letter reflecting about his creation process for that invention.
The Berners-Lee 1/1 file of the www source code was sold for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's on June 30, 2021, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
2018 Urwerk AMC
2019 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Phillips
The advancement of timekeepers includes the complications, of course, but also the search for the best accuracy. In the last century, for George Daniels, Abraham-Louis Breguet remained the absolute reference for mechanical watchmaking. Urwerk, a Swiss brand created in 1997, takes over.
One of Breguet's most avant-garde designs was the Breguet Sympathique, a pocket watch that did not need to be touched for winding, time setting and regulation. When its power reserve approached depletion, it was inserted into a clock to which it was mechanically coupled. The word Sympathique is an evocation of the coupling, by its etymology meaning 'functioning by affinity'.
Obtaining the three settings simultaneously was a mechanical feat that was achieved by his workshop for the duc d'Orléans in 1835, twelve years after Breguet's death. Restarted to working condition by Daniels in the 1970s, the complete system was sold by Sotheby's in 2012.
The Urwerk AMC (Atomic Mechanical Control) system unveiled in 2018 at Baselworld Miami is an adaptation of the Sympathique to the modern technologies. Without a direct application identified, this technical feat paves the way for new developments.
The time reference is provided by a 45 x 30 x 18 cm atomic clock weighing 35 Kg. It uses the quantum energy transitions of the rubidium atom, known by physicists to provide the best stability with a 1 second error for 317 years when it is associated with a garnet of yttrium and iron. It provides the stability of a wristwatch by coupling, without manual winding, without quartz, without battery.
Urwerk announced the production of the system in three units. A price of $ 2.7M was announced in period on the web by a specialized website. The titanium mechanical watch with the serial number 001 associated with its atomic clock was sold for $ 2.9M by Phillips on December 10, 2019, lot 8.
One of Breguet's most avant-garde designs was the Breguet Sympathique, a pocket watch that did not need to be touched for winding, time setting and regulation. When its power reserve approached depletion, it was inserted into a clock to which it was mechanically coupled. The word Sympathique is an evocation of the coupling, by its etymology meaning 'functioning by affinity'.
Obtaining the three settings simultaneously was a mechanical feat that was achieved by his workshop for the duc d'Orléans in 1835, twelve years after Breguet's death. Restarted to working condition by Daniels in the 1970s, the complete system was sold by Sotheby's in 2012.
The Urwerk AMC (Atomic Mechanical Control) system unveiled in 2018 at Baselworld Miami is an adaptation of the Sympathique to the modern technologies. Without a direct application identified, this technical feat paves the way for new developments.
The time reference is provided by a 45 x 30 x 18 cm atomic clock weighing 35 Kg. It uses the quantum energy transitions of the rubidium atom, known by physicists to provide the best stability with a 1 second error for 317 years when it is associated with a garnet of yttrium and iron. It provides the stability of a wristwatch by coupling, without manual winding, without quartz, without battery.
Urwerk announced the production of the system in three units. A price of $ 2.7M was announced in period on the web by a specialized website. The titanium mechanical watch with the serial number 001 associated with its atomic clock was sold for $ 2.9M by Phillips on December 10, 2019, lot 8.
