Extremely rare original vintage Apple-1 Operation Manual issued by the Apple Computer Company circa 1976, 12 pages, 8.5 x 11, featuring Apple's original logo on the front cover, designed by third Apple co-founder Ron Wayne and showing Isaac Newton thoughtfully seated beneath a tree, with a shining apple dangling overhead. The Operation Manual features information on getting the system up and running, using the system monitor, and expanding the Apple system, and features an impressive fold-out schematic of the Apple-1 computer. It also has a page headed "6502 Hex Monitor Listing," for an innovative memory program devised by Steve Wozniak which is commonly called the 'Woz Monitor.' In fine condition, with a faint stain to the left edge of the front cover. This superior example is not three-hole punched, and has no further staining or notations inside.
The Apple-1 was originally conceived by Steve Jobs and Steve 'Woz' Wozniak as a bare circuit board to be sold as a kit and completed by electronics hobbyists, their initial market being Palo Alto's Homebrew Computer Club. Seeking a larger audience, Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Aiming to elevate the computer beyond the realm of the hobbyist, Terrell agreed to purchase 50 Apple-1 computers, but only if they came fully assembled. The Apple-1 thus became one of the first 'personal' computers which did not require soldering by the end user. All together, over a span of about ten months, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers and sold 175 of them. The Apple-1 was not only a marvel of early computing ingenuity, but the pioneering product that launched what is today one of the most valuable and successful companies in the world. Very few of the original Apple-1 operating manuals-perhaps 65 or so-are known to exist today.
