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Calculator Books

The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen)

Nearly every mechanical calculator to 1925 is extensively reviewed with drawings and diagrams.

• Martin, Ernst, "The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen)", 16: Charles Babbage Institute Reprint Series for the History of Computing, translated and edited by Peggy Aldrich Kidwell and Michael R. Williams from the original by Ernst Martin, The MIT Press and Tomash Publishers, 1992, ISBN, 0-262-13278-8.
• A pdf version of this book is available for viewing on line at http://www.rechenmaschinen-illustrated.com/
• A reprint of the original, with additional information to 1937 is also available, see below.

Die Rechenmaschinen und Ihre Entwicklungsgeschichte

Nearly every mechanical calculator to 1925, with additions to 1937, is extensively reviewed with drawings and diagrams in a reprint of the original book in German, as translated above.

• Martin, Ernst, "Die Rechenmaschinen und Ihre Entwicklungsgeschichte". Is available from the bookshop at Auction Team Breker

Antique Office Machines: 600 Years of Calculating Devices

The Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators

The World's Only Guide to Early Pocket Calculators

"The Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators" by Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm is available!

The authors spent 3 years working on this book. They found and included calculators from lesser-known companies in England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, and Russia. In addition, the book features over 470 photographs of various models

"The Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators" also includes a comprehensive "pricing" guide to help you gauge rarity and desirability of the various models -- especially as they relate to each other.

The book can be purchased for a special discount rate of $20.00 plus $4 for USA priority mailing. For buyers in countries other than the USA, please send $6 for first class mailing to Canada and Mexico, or $9 for airmail to all other countries. California residents please add $1.80 state sales tax.
Send a check to: Wilson/Barnett Publishing; P.O. Box 345; Tustin, CA 92781-0345; USA.  For more information, contact Guy Ball at mrcalc@usa.net.

We now accept PayPal, so you can pay with your credit card through them.

Autographed copies available. Just ask for one. (If you want something other than just the authors' signatures on it, let us know.)

Alternative Places to Buy the Book

"Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators" is also available through Amazon.com's book store at www.amazon.com (if outside the U.S.A. try your local Amazon site first). The book takes about 3 weeks to work through their system.

A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers

The third edition of Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz's "A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers" has been published and is available for sale.

This is his 5th edition and includes improvements such as the addition of some new reference text on existing models, information on the newest HP model, black and white photos of various HP calculators, and corrections and slight modifications to the existing text. A section on restoration has been added and the "sources of additional information" section has been enlarged.

The printing of the book is a bit different, designed to be easier to use and to read. The font size of the text has been increased and the page count has increased accordingly (now 224 pages). A spiral binding is used to bind the book, allowing it to stay flat when open. The color copies of the photos in the book were also improved and their resolution increased.

Further details and ordering information are available at http://www.hpcalculatorguide.com/.

Alternative Places to Buy the Book

"A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers" is also available through Amazon.com's book store at www.amazon.com (if outside the U.S.A. try your local Amazon site first). The book takes about 3 weeks to work through their system.

Calculators are often mentioned and illustrated in books on the history of computing. A heavyweight, profusely illustrated book is -

• Augarten, Stan, "Bit by Bit, An Illustrated History of Computers", George Allen & Unwin, 1984 - out of print.

A lightweight introduction is -

• Tweedale, Geoffrey, "Calculating Machines and Computers", Shire Album 247, Shire Publications Ltd, 1990 - available from the publisher, Amazon, and elsewhere.

Illustrating the development of calculators and computers and the uses made of these early machines, and full of photographs, is -

• Eames, Charles & Ray, "A Computer Perspective - Background to the Computer Age", Harvard University Press, 1990 - available from Amazon and elsewhere.

For calculator operating and maintenance manuals try Ernie Jorgenson's "Office Machine Americana" site at http://users.lewiston.com/ejorgens/office/index.htm

Vintage Calculators

© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout   2000-2012 except where noted otherwise.