Apple Manual Signed by Steve Jobs Auctioned for over $700K

Your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world!

The Apple II computer, released in 1977, marked the first real commercial success of the company founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. It was the first computer designed for the mass market, giving nearly 6,000 homes and companies their first personal computer. The VisiCalc software, developed for the Apple II in 1979, subsequently contributed to the democratization of the model in American companies.

This past August, at RR Auctions in Boston, it was not a copy of the Apple II computer that made waves, but its instruction manual, a 196-page book decorated with a sketch of the device and colored bands. The object was sold for the impressive sum of $787,484.

Rare Apple II manual, engraved and signed by Steve Jobs in 1980. Photo © RR Auctions

What was so special about this manual? On the one hand, it boasts the signatures of Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula, one of Apple's first investors and the company's second CEO, who signed the manual while in the UK to promote Apple. On the other hand, there is also a personal inscription left by Jobs himself, opposite the table of contents: “Julian, your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980." The manual was dedicated to Julian Brewer, the 14-year-old son of an entrepreneur who worked with Apple to distribute their products across the Atlantic.

As Brewer recalls, "I was sitting in my bedroom writing games on my Apple II when Dad called me down to meet some guests. To my amazement, it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I had the manual with me and only later understood how rare it was for Jobs to sign anything, let alone to write an inscription like this. He got on well with Dad, so I feel the inscription was made with care."

Steve Jobs was known to decline any autograph requests, saying that everything at Apple was a team effort. Jobs' signatures are therefore very rare and highly sought after on the auction market.

The manual was purchased by Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, for whom "Jobs was a truly transformative figure who changed the way in which human beings think, do business and interact on a daily basis," according to a statement made to the auction house.

Related: The Godfather of Video Games

RR Auctions also offered several historical objects related to Jobs and Apple, such as a signed letter in which he writes ironically "I'm afraid I don't sign autographs."

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About the author

Laurianne Simonin

Laurianne Simonin is the Managing Editor at Barnebys Magazine. She has been writing for Barnebys French Magazine since 2018. After studying arts and photography, she worked in various cultural enterprises, both in galleries and in the museum sector. With a penchant for discoveries and objects with singular stories, Laurianne has written on a wide range of subjects ranging from archeology to cinema, but is particularly fond of writing in-depth articles on ceramics, Art Deco and Japanese art. Laurianne is now Editor-in-Chief and oversees the editorial strategy of Barnebys' six language platforms.