IBM BASIC – Personal Computer Hardware Reference Library
IBM Corporation / Microsoft
Part No. 6025010
Second Edition, May 1982
IBM Personal Computer BASIC
Three-Ring Binder in Original Slipcase
Original IBM reference manual for BASIC on the IBM Personal Computer, issued as part of IBM’s Personal Computer Hardware Reference Library.
This early IBM documentation covers the three upward-compatible versions of BASIC used with the original IBM PC:
Cassette BASIC
Disk BASIC
Advanced BASIC
The manual includes detailed reference information on BASIC statements, functions, variables, program operation, commands, and extensive appendices.
This is a technical reference intended for users already familiar with general programming concepts rather than a simple introductory tutorial.
Why It Matters:
BASIC was central to the earliest IBM PC experience.
The original IBM Personal Computer included Microsoft BASIC in ROM, allowing users to begin programming even without loading separate development software from disk. IBM’s official BASIC manuals documented the language in the detail needed by programmers writing their own software on the new PC platform.
Part number 6025010 belongs to the earliest generation of IBM PC reference documentation and predates the later BASIC 3.0 manuals.
The manual also reflects the close relationship between IBM and Microsoft at the beginning of the IBM PC era, when Microsoft supplied both BASIC and the operating-system technology that helped establish the PC software ecosystem.
Today, original IBM Hardware Reference Library binders are collectible artifacts of the first generation of IBM personal computing.
