Historic Auction of Blaise Pascal's First Calculator Suspended: The Battle Over a 17th Century Scientific Treasure

Blaise Pascal was merely 19 years old when he invented the groundbreaking calculating machine to assist his father's work. (File)

France:

On Wednesday, Christie's announced the suspension of the Paris auction featuring one of the rare surviving examples of the world's first calculating machine, invented by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642.

The auction of "La Pascaline" had been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but the sale was halted after a Paris court suspended the export authorization on Tuesday evening—effectively preventing potential buyers from taking the historic device outside France.

This particular Pascaline represents one of only nine known surviving examples and is believed to be the only one in private ownership, with the others preserved in museum collections worldwide.

Christie's had described the ebony-decorated device as "the most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction" with an estimated value between 2-3 million euros.

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The auction house had characterized the machine as "nothing less than the first attempt in history to substitute the work of a machine for that of the human mind".

Following instructions from the item's owner, Christie's confirmed the suspension of the sale after the Paris administrative court provisionally revoked the export authorization.

The auction, part of a larger sale featuring the library of late collector Leon Parce, will remain suspended pending the final court decision, according to Christie's statement.

"Pending the final judgment, given the provisional nature of this decision and in accordance with the instructions of its client, Christie's is suspending the sale of La Pascaline," the auction house informed AFP.

Scientists and researchers had urgently petitioned the administrative court to prevent the potential export of this historic calculating machine.

These experts are advocating for the instrument to receive classification as a "national treasure" of France.

The culture ministry stated that an export certificate had been issued in May following standard procedural guidelines.

Two experts—one from the National Centre of Arts and Crafts (CNAM) and another from the Louvre Museum—had previously approved this decision, according to ministry information.

Blaise Pascal created this revolutionary device at just 19 years of age to help his father, who oversaw a court responsible for restoring order to tax revenue collections in northern France, Christie's explained.

"To simplify these tasks, Blaise Pascal designed calculating machines that, for the first time in history, allowed for the mechanisation of mental calculation," noted the auction house.

The final court ruling regarding the Pascaline's status could take several months to resolve.