Preliminary Description of the UNIVAC
11x8 inches. 54 leaves (printed on one side only). Offset printed (?). Intended as an internal document, only. Copyright and printed 1950 (Revised. 7/19/50) by the Ekert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, a Subsidiary of Remington Rand Inc. Marked: “U-300” and "#192". RARE. $2250
A note on the author: who is identified on as “HFMjf:mb” (as the
last line of the document). This is almost certainly Herbert F. Mitchell, Jr.,
who we find identified in the Grace Hopper papers at the Smithsonian
Institution (and who was author of “Outline for First Lecture: Programming
Course for EMCC's Engineers”, 4/4/50; A-TC-7 by HFM jr (Herbert F. Mitchell,
Jr.), 4 pages and “Outline for Second Lecture: Programming Course for EMCC's
Engineers”, 11 April 1950; A-TC-7, no author but probably by H.F. Mitchell (see
First Lecture), 2 pages. AND with J. Presper Eckert,
Jr., James R. Weiner, H. Frazer Welsh “The UNIVAC System”, American Institute of
Electrical Engineers Institute of Radio Engineers Conference, pp. 6-16,
December, 1951.
This work is composed of 26 sections, as follows, and seems to be a rather complete description of the running of the UNIVAC as could be in 54 pages:
- Introduction
- Initial read Operation
- Four-stage Cycle of Operation
- Data Transfers
- Arithmetic Operations
- Overflow
- Addition
- Overflow Routine
- Subtraction
- Shifts
- Multiplication
- Division
- Extraction
- Control Transfers
- Tape Instructions
- Read Instructions
- The Write Instructions
- Read Tape Instructions
- Supervisory Control Operations
- Recorder Transfer of Control
- The Writer Operations
- The rewind Instruction
- The Breakpoint Instruction
- Supervisory Control Input
- Tape Reversal
- Checks
There are also two full page sheets of block diagrams:
--Simplified Input circuits // Simplified Output circuits
Binding: punch-bound in a period manila binding with metal compressors. Cloth tape spine. Typed, home-made (contemporary) title on front of binding.
Everything in VERY GOOD condition. Rare. Only three copies found in OCLC/WorldCat.
From Book Rags:
"UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first
mass-produced commercial computer. UNIVAC was the result of a collaborative
effort between computer pioneers John
Mauchly (1907-1980) and J.
Presper Eckert (1919-1995). Their partnership in building advanced
computers began in the early 1940s at the Universityof Pennsylvania


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