One of the world’s first calculating machines will not go to auction as scheduled in France, after a Paris court provisionally blocked the historic item from being exported, the BBC reports.
Auction house Christie’s has confirmed it will not proceed with bidding for the machine La Pascaline, developed by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642.
Valuations suggested the machine could fetch €2m to 3m, and Christie’s called it the “most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction.”
Scientists and researchers made a legal appeal to grant heritage protections to the historic instrument, arguing it should be classified as a “national treasure.”
