A uncommon Apple II manual inscribed and signed by Apple founder Steve Jobs has sold at auction for a staggering $7,87,484 (approx. Rs 5.85 crore).
The purchaser, Jim Irsay, owns the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL. RR Auction based in auction sold the Apple II Reference Manual from 1980 last week. Jobs inscribed and signed the 196-web page manual opposite the ‘Table of Contents’ web page in blue ink. Former Apple angel investor and the company’s second CEO Mike Markkula’s signature also features on the web page. The manual has technical particulars with regards to the operation and architecture of Apple II.
The manual belonged to Julian Brewer. His father Michael had negotiated the company’s exclusive UK distribution rights in 1979. “Julian, your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980,” Jobs had written. Jobs and Markkula had signed the manual when they have been in the UK to market Apple.
RR Auction, in a web-site note, mentioned: “Jobs’ inscription, penned in the year of Apple’s stock market flotation, powerfully conveys his grand ambition and vision for the future of Apple Computer, Inc. and personal computing as a whole”.
The note mentioned the manual’s situation was fine, with only a handful of smaller stains on its front cover.
Apple II was the initially mass-marketplace personal computer and turned the struggling company’s fortunes about. Jobs died in 2011 soon after suffering for years from cancer.
RR Auction also sold some other Jobs-associated products, like a signed letter exactly where he had written: “I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs” for $4,79,939 (approx. Rs 3.56 crore).
Isray mentioned in a statement to the auction residence following his acquire of the Apple II manual that he deemed Jobs amongst the most revolutionary minds to live in the previous two centuries.