Paris court blocks auction of earliest-known calculator

One of the world’s first calculating machines will not go up for auction as planned after a Paris court temporarily blocked the export of the historical artifact, France said.

Auction house Christie’s has confirmed that it will not be bidding on the La Pascaline machine, developed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642.

Valuations have suggested the machine could fetch between €2 million and €3 million (£1.77 million to £2.65 million). Christie’s called it “the most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction.”

Scientists and researchers have filed a legal application for heritage protection, arguing that the historic instrument should be classified as a “national treasure”.

Pascal was just 19 years old when he developed the first version of the calculator, Christie’s said. There are still only nine of these machines.

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

“The discovery marks a breakthrough, a ‘quantum leap’ whose importance and significance takes on a very special meaning today.”

La Pascaline was exhibited throughout the year at Christie’s venues in New York and Hong Kong.

The machine was included in Christie’s auction at the library of the late Catalonian collector Léon Parcé, which also included Pascal’s philosophical work Pensées and the first printed version of “Pascal’s Wager.”

On Wednesday, a Paris administrative court temporarily blocked an earlier export permit granted by France’s culture minister in May. Two experts, one from the Louvre Museum, had signed the minister’s certificate.

The judge concluded that there were “serious doubts” about the legality of the certificate. In the statement made by the Paris court, it was said:He added that the decision was temporary until a final decision was made.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, a spokesman for Christie’s said: “Given the provisional nature of this decision and in line with the instructions of its client, Christie’s is suspending the sale of La Pascaline.”

The court noted that La Pascaline’s historical and scientific value could qualify it as a “national treasure” warranting protection under France’s inheritance law.

French heritage group Association Sites & Monuments, listed as an applicant, welcomed the decision.

With additional reporting from Global Affairs correspondent Sebastian Usher