In the early 2000s, Dr. David Kahn made numerous donations to the Foundation, including three prior to 2009 that comprised well over 150 boxes of personal papers, manuscripts and rare memorabilia. Among the more significant items from his earlier donations were the first book ever published on codes and ciphers; the entire set of Dr. Kahn’s original manuscripts for The Codebreakers; rare advertising posters from old movies with intelligence and espionage themes; and, an old German-made hand-held cipher substitution wheel. We also received dozens of rare first edition books on cryptology, many personally inscribed by the authors to Dr. Kahn.
The centerpiece of his latest donation was an original carbon copy of Herbert Yardley’s editor’s manuscript for The American Black Chamber. Written in 1931 this book provided details of America’s first peacetime cryptanalytic organization, MI-8, the forerunner of today’s National Security Agency. Other significant items included uncorrected proof copies of Dr. Kahn’s books Kahn on Codes and Hitler’s Spies; numerous English and foreign language pamphlets on cryptology from the late 1800s and early 1900s; and, many commercial books and pamphlets on cryptology and secret writing written immediately before and during World War II.
A number of Dr. Kahn’s donated items were on display at the National Cryptologic Foundation or available for review in the Museum Library. See a picture here of Dr. Kahn presenting his donation to Dave D’Auria, the Chairman of the Foundation’s Acquisition Committee. The house in the framed picture in the background was Dr. Kahn’s boyhood home. The room on the extreme left is where The Codebreakers was written.
On 20 November 2009, Dave D’Auria traveled to Great Neck, NY to pick-up the 6th donation of cryptologic memorabilia from Dr. David Kahn. This donation consisted of 30+ boxes and three small file cabinets of books, notes, journals and other personal papers and effects from Dr. Kahn’s distinguished career in journalism and literature. The NCM Librarian catalogued the material and added it to the extensive Kahn collection already on display and available in the Library.
