Paris court blocks auction of oldest known calculator

The world’s first computer will not go up for auction in France as planned after a Paris court temporarily banned the export of the historic item.

Auction house Christie’s has confirmed it will not proceed with bidding for the La Pascaline machine developed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642.

Valuations suggest the machine could be sold for €2 to €3 million (£1.7 million to £2.6 million). Christie’s called it “the most important scientific instrument ever sold at auction.”

Scientists and researchers have launched legal appeals for heritage protection for the historic instrument, arguing it should be declared a “national treasure”.

Christie’s said Pascal was just 19 when he developed the earliest version of the calculator. Only nine of these machines exist.

“This is the first attempt in history to replace the human mind with a machine,” reads the official collection description.

“Its invention marked a breakthrough, a ‘quantum leap’ whose importance and significance are very special today.”

“La Pascaline” is on display throughout the year at Christie’s venues in New York and Hong Kong.

The machine was on display at Christie’s in the library of the late Catalan collector Léon Parce, which also included the first printed editions of Pascal’s philosophical works “Philosophies” and “Pascal’s Wager”.

On Wednesday, a Paris administrative court temporarily blocked an early export authorization provided by France’s culture minister in May. The ministerial certificate is signed by two experts, one of whom is from the Louvre Museum.

The judge concluded that there were “serious doubts” about the legality of the certificate, A statement from the Paris Court of Justice saidadding that the decision was provisional pending a final judgment.

“Given the temporary nature of this decision and following instructions from its clients, Christie’s will suspend sales of Lapascaline,” a Christie’s spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

The court noted that Lapascaline’s historical and scientific value qualified it as a “national treasure,” thus guaranteeing protection under French heritage law.

The French heritage group Société des Sites et Monuments, named as the applicant in court documents, welcomed the decision.

Additional reporting by global affairs reporter Sebastian Usher