Ronald Wayne Selling off His Final Collection of Early Apple Documents

According to a report by BusinessInsider, Apple’s forgotten cofounder Ronald Wayne is selling his final collection of early Apple documents for tens of thousands of dollars. For those who aren’t aware, Ronaly Wayne was one of three people to sign Apple Computer’s original founding contract in 1976, the other two being Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

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Wayne was given a 10% share in Apple at the time, but he sold it for $800 soon after because he was burned by past business failures and he didn’t want to be personally liable for any Apple Computer debt. “No, I don’t regret the decision,” Wayne said in an interview with Computer World. “My passion was not computers. I had put my two cents in and was glad to help”.

Below are the contents of what Wayne is offering for sale on Christie’s, with the sale starting Dec. 11 and worth estimates between $30,000 and $50,000:

  • Proof sheets for the Apple-1 Operation Manual: A COMPLETE SET OF PROOFS collected by Ronald Wayne, with the exception of the folding schematic that would have been printed by a different process.
  • Personal archive of preparatory drawings and blueprints for the casing of the Apple II Computer: Wayne’s drawings and blueprints show the enclosure, panels, door, hinges, pivots etc. The final version of the Apple II was introduced on 16 April 1977 at the West Coast Computer Faire. Although the final version contained certain recognizable elements of Wayne’s early renderings, such as the gently sloping front panel holding the keyboard, the result was quite different. This series of renderings illustrates the rigorous industrial design process employed in Apple’s formative years: a process that can certainly still be seen in the company’s adventurous, innovative leap forwards in its combination of applied science and design.
  • Apple-II. Advance Order Information: As most examples would have been filled out and returned to the company, an original example, unmarked, is a very rare ephemeral piece of Apple history.
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