Image: RR Auction
There are two pieces of handwritten memorabilia from Steve Jobs that are expected to fetch a combined total of $70,000 at auction. The first piece is a rare signed copy of the first edition of IDG’s Macworld magazine. That piece is expected to bring in at least $10,000, while a second auction for a handwritten note containing the specifications for the Apple I computer is expected to sell for $60,000.
RR Auction is handling the auction for the autographed edition of Macworld magazine, which was issued on February 1984. The magazine comes with a handwritten note that says “To Matt” and it was signed by Jobs. Jobs appeared on the cover posing along with three Apple desktops at the time.
“Not only is our February 1984 issue one of the better-known artifacts of Apple history, but Jobs’ autograph on this issue is particularly remarkable as he wasn’t fond of giving them out,” Macworld associate editor Leif Johnson wrote.
Even more remarkable about this autographed piece is that there is photographic and video evidence of Jobs signing the cover at the opening of Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York on May 19, 2006. “In the video, he at first jokingly refuses to sign for a man in a wheelchair, before acquiescing to the request and asking his name (‘Matt’ is heard off camera),” RR Auction stated in the auction’s description. “Jobs then reluctantly signs the magazine, adding the quick inscription to ‘Matt.’”
Previously, a 1988 signed copy of Newsweek where Steve Jobs was depicted on the cover sold for $50,587 at auction. That amount was triple estimates given prior to the start of the auction. In other auctions, a rare working Apple I computer in excellent condition, meanwhile, had previously fetched in excess of $300,000, while Apple’s founding contract brought in $1.6 million at auction.
The second auction is for a handwritten Apple I specifications sheet, which will be auctioned in New York City as part of Bonham’s History of Science and Technology auction in New York. “The page itself is said to have been given to a cosigner during a visit to Jobs’ garage, as a description of what he was offered,” AppleInsider wrote. “The sheet itself mentions the board uses either the 6800, 6501, or 6502 microprocessor, with the latter two recommended ‘because we have basic,’ with Jobs also touting the ‘full crt terminal’ and ’58 ic’s which includes 16 for 8K ram!!’”
Additional Jobs memorabilia may also be hitting auctions soon, the publication reported, noting that the city of Woodside, California, may be selling some items that were collected from Jobs’ Jackling mansion prior to its demolition in 2011.
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