If you have a couple of hundred thousand dollars to spare, you currently have the opportunity to purchase the only known photographs of the world’s first computer programming visionary, Ada Lovelace. Discover her legacy in this edition of Pioneers in Tech.
Three daguerreotypes of Lovelace are up for auction at Bonhams in London. She was born in 1815 as the only legitimate child of Annabella Milbanke and the poet Lord Byron. They are part of the auction house’s fine books, maps, and manuscripts sale, which closes on June 19. The images, which are expected to sell for up to $162,000, are by two different photographers.
Two of the images are by Antoine Claudet, who studied under Louis Daguerre and photographed Lovelace around 1843, near the time she published her famous paper on her mentor Charles Babbage’s invention, the “Analytical Engine.” Initially, Lovelace was only going to translate an article about the Analytical Engine written by an Italian engineer. Still, she ended up adding her own two cents, theorizing that such a machine could be programmed to follow instructions.
The third image is by an unknown artist. It reproduces a painting of Lovelace created not long before her death from uterine cancer in November 1852. She died at only 36 years old.
Furthermore, according to Bonhams, Lovelace was also remarkably forward-thinking about the potential of photography. She wrote that “it is as yet quite unsuspected how important a part photography is to play in the advancement of human knowledge.”
Since 2009, the second Tuesday of October has been celebrated as “Ada Lovelace Day,” a time to recognize the contributions of women in STEM with events ranging from Wikipedia “edit-a-thons” to pub quizzes.
Did you enjoy this installation of SmarterMSP’s Pioneers in Tech? Check out others here.
Photo: mayak / Shutterstock
This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.