An Electric Tabulating System; Author's Edition
YEAR: 1889
ITEM: Periodical
COMPANY: School of Mines, Columbia University
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
IN OUR COLLECTION: Yes
No less an authority than Columbia University points out that Herman Hollerith is "widely regarded as the father of modern automatic computation." (it is probably worth noting that Hollerith was a graduate of Columbia so they might not be entirely objective.) Without a doubt, Hollerith's Electric Tabulating system brought about a sea-change in the way information was handled.
The first article that Hollerith wrote describing his invention was published in April 1889. We are fortunate enough to have the Author's Edition of that publication...a reprint that we believe belonged to Herman Hollerith. In this article, he describes how his Tabulating System was being used in the 1890 U.S. census.
The handwriting on the cover may be that of Herman Hollerith. It says, "Electrotypes sent to the Franklin Institute. Feb. 10, 1890" and refers to drawings sent to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia that would shortly appear as illustrations in the Franklin Institute's Journal.
Herman Hollerith's doctorate and dissertation
Dr. Hollerith was awarded his doctorate from Columbia University in 1890. However, it seems that Herman Hollerith did not attend classes in the doctoral program nor did he write a dissertation. This has led some to claim that his doctorate was honorary. As best as we can tell, his doctorate was not honorary. Columbia University makes the following claim.
"The Minutes of the Faculty of the School of Mines, 3 April 1890, state (regarding Hollerith's lack of prior matriculation in the doctoral program): "Resolved, that the Board of Trustees be respectfully requested to waive this requirement in the case of Mr. Hollerith, and to grant him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy upon the work which he has performed" and by the subsequent Trustees resolution of 7 April 1890, granting him the degree."[1]Hollerith's dissertation was entitled, In Connection With The Electric Tabulation System Which Has Been Adopted By U.S. Government For The Work Of The Census Bureau.
There are unsubstantiated claims that Hollerith's dissertation was the article shown here. Some believe that he submitted a copy of this article, which had been previously printed in the Columbia University School of Mines Quarterly, and the faculty counted it as his dissertation. It does make some sense as his dissertation, according to the title, was obviously written after the Electric Tabulating System was adopted by the Census Bureau.
[1] Columbia University websiteRelated Items
Related Item 1: Different Methods of Tabulating Census DataRelated Item 2: Electric Tabulating System Salesman's Model
Viewer Stories & Comments
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Documents
Documents for this item have not yet been scanned or not yet posted. There are a lot of pages...contact us if you have an immediate need. (Although there are not a lot of "immediate needs" for a 70+ year old computer!)
One Of A Kind
This is a unique and historic item. It is Herman Hollerith's personal copy of the very first article he wrote about his Electric Tabulating System. Along with his patent applications, this article also likely served as his "dissertation" since he never formally wrote one for his doctoral degree.
You may have noticed on the cover that it says, "AUTHOR'S EDITION", which is a strong indication that this booklet was sent to Hollerith.
The Franklin Institute's files contain correspondence about the awarding of the medal and the printing of an article about the award in the Institutes journal. You may note the writing at the top of the cover says, "Electrotypes sent to the Franklin Institute Feb 10/90". The Franklin Institute (located in historic Philadelphia about half-way between City Hall and the Philadelphia Art Museum...which visitors from another country recently called "the Rocky steps building"...) awards the Cresson Medal each year for "a discovery in the Arts and Sciences, or for the invention or improvement of some useful machine...". As you may have guessed, Herman Hollerith was awarded the medal in April 1890 for his Electric Tabulating Machine (it did not hurt that Benjamin Franklin also experimented with electricity). Other recipients include Nikola Tesla, Elisha Gray (who lost out to Alexander Graham Bell on the telephone...Bell was also a Cresson Medalist), Marie Curie, Henry Ford...well, you get the idea. Back to the electrotypes...these are basically high-quality printing plates and the Franklin Institute would have needed those to illustrate their article. You may notice in our pictures that four of the drawings have a checkmark next to them. These drawings are the same ones that later appear in the Franklin Institute's journal article about the award given to Hollerith. Immediately after being notified of the award, someone in Hollerith's office sent the electrotypes to the Franklin Institute.
If you know the location of any other of these items, please let us know by contacting us at Director@TheComputerChurch.com .
OUR DEFINITIONS OF RARITY
One of a Kind: Only known existing item.
Exceedingly Rare: Only 2 to 10 known to exist.
Very Rare: Only 11 to 25 are known to exist.
Rare: Only 26 to 50 are known to exist.
Difficult: Difficult to find.
Available:Can be commonly be purchased.
Unknown: We cannot make a determination.
(For comparison: Many people consider the Apple-1 computer to be rare. As of 2025 there are 92 confirmed and probable Apple-1 computers.)
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