Hans P. Kraus
Encyclopedia
Hans Peter Kraus also known as H. P. Kraus or HPK, was an Austria
n-born book dealer described as “without doubt the most successful and dominant rare book dealer in the world in the second half of the 20th century” and in a league with other rare book dealers such as Bernard Quaritch
, Guillaume de Bure and A.S.W. Rosenbach. Kraus specialized in medieval illuminated manuscripts, incunables
(books printed before 1501), and rare books of the 16th and 17th centuries, but would purchase and sell almost any book that came his way that was rare, valuable and important. He prided himself in being “the only bookseller in history...to have owned a Gutenberg Bible
and the Psalters of 1457 and 1459
simultaneously,” stressing that “‘own’ here is the correct word, as they were bought not for a client's account but for stock.”
. After working for R. Lechner in Vienna and Ernst Wasmuth in Berlin
, he started his own rare book business in 1932, which prospered despite the Depression
. In 1938, after the German
annexation of Austria
, Kraus was arrested for being Jewish and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. After several months, he was transferred to Buchenwald
. After eight months in Buchenwald, he was released, returned to Vienna and ordered to leave Austria within two months.
Kraus abandoned his business and stock of 100,000 books, although he had previously shipped some books and valuables to Switzerland
, and traveled to Stockholm
, Sweden
. He arranged to have his mother join him there; she arrived just two days before World War II
began. In September he obtained a visa and sailed for New York City
, arriving on October 12, 1939, where he arrived with the 1494 Vérard Columbus letter gaining him his first piece of publicity as a bookdealer in America: a newspaper column on the Columbus letter arriving on Columbus Day. Within two weeks of arrival, he met Hanni Zucker, also from Vienna, whom he subsequently married.
, a major book collector, who ultimately donated his collection of early printed books to the Library of Congress
. Over the years, Kraus bought and sold major medieval illuminated manuscripts, incunables and assorted rare books and manuscripts. Among his most important sales were the Anhalt Gospels, the finely illuminated Hours of Catherine of Cleves
now reunited with its other half at the Morgan Library
, the Arthur Houghton copy of the Gutenberg Bible for $2.5 million, three copies of Caxton's first edition of the Canterbury Tales, and the original manuscript of the proclamation of the Louisiana Purchase
, signed by Thomas Jefferson
, He also purchased the enigmatic Voynich manuscript
in 1961 for $24,500, and after seven years of unsuccessfully attempting to sell it for as much as $160,000 ultimately donated it to the Beinecke Library at Yale University
. Kraus also sold the magnificent manuscript Giant Bible of Mainz
to Lessing J. Rosenwald who donated it the Library of Congress.
Early in his career, Kraus initiated a practice of buying up entire libraries or collections at a discounted price and then selling the items individually or in smaller groups, carefully researched and catalogued, for a great profit. He continued that practice after he moved to the United States, for example, buying in 1949 some 20,000 volumes of the Prince Liechtenstein library for a “rock bottom” price, the entire Frederick Adams
collection of early communist, radical and anarchistic literature and ephemera, and in 1977 the remainder of the great manuscript collection of the 19th-century bibliomaniac Sir Thomas Phillipps, which after the better part of a century of auction sales, still consisted of 2,000 manuscript volumes and 130,000 manuscript letters and documents.
. Several years later, Allan Stevenson, by a brilliant and painstaking comparison of the different states of wear in the watermarks in the Constance Missal with those in dated books, conclusively established that it was printed in 1473, nearly 20 years after the Gutenberg Bible. Despite the definitive proof to the contrary, Kraus still professed that, "Speaking for myself, I believe that the Constance Missal is earlier than the Gutenberg Bible."
, or where he sold a very rare item too cheaply.
Kraus acknowledged that his autobiography might leave the reader with “the impression that [he was] interested only in making money.” However, he had a deep love of books and was himself a serious collector. One area of particular interest for Kraus was books relating to Sir Francis Drake. He eventually wrote a biography of Drake, based on materials in his collection, a collection that he later donated to the Library of Congress. Kraus also put together a collection of important manuscripts concerning colonial Spanish America
, particularly Mexico, including a letter from Amerigo Vespucci
. Kraus donated that collection to the Library of Congress in 1969.
In 1978 Kraus published his autobiography A Rare Book Saga.
Over the years, Kraus purchased large collections of technical and academic journals, which he was able to resell to libraries at great profit. In New York, he opened a second business, Kraus Periodicals Inc., to specialize in the sale of runs of scholarly journals, and soon made an en bloc purchase of over 300,000 issues. Later, after he had received multiple orders for the same journals, Kraus formed a business that reprinted scientific and scholarly journals and reference books.
, after which the business was carried on by his widow Hanni and their daughter and son-in-law. The business subsequently closed, and its remaining inventory and reference works were sold by Sotheby's
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-born book dealer described as “without doubt the most successful and dominant rare book dealer in the world in the second half of the 20th century” and in a league with other rare book dealers such as Bernard Quaritch
Bernard Quaritch
Bernard Quaritch, full name Bernard Alexander Christian Quaritch, was a German-born British bookseller and collector....
, Guillaume de Bure and A.S.W. Rosenbach. Kraus specialized in medieval illuminated manuscripts, incunables
Incunabulum
Incunable, or sometimes incunabulum is a book, pamphlet, or broadside, that was printed — not handwritten — before the year 1501 in Europe...
(books printed before 1501), and rare books of the 16th and 17th centuries, but would purchase and sell almost any book that came his way that was rare, valuable and important. He prided himself in being “the only bookseller in history...to have owned a Gutenberg Bible
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with a movable type printing press, and marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book. Widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities, the book has an iconic status...
and the Psalters of 1457 and 1459
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
simultaneously,” stressing that “‘own’ here is the correct word, as they were bought not for a client's account but for stock.”
Early life and career
Kraus was born on October 12, 1907, in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. After working for R. Lechner in Vienna and Ernst Wasmuth in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, he started his own rare book business in 1932, which prospered despite the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In 1938, after the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
annexation of Austria
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, Kraus was arrested for being Jewish and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. After several months, he was transferred to Buchenwald
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
. After eight months in Buchenwald, he was released, returned to Vienna and ordered to leave Austria within two months.
Kraus abandoned his business and stock of 100,000 books, although he had previously shipped some books and valuables to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and traveled to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. He arranged to have his mother join him there; she arrived just two days before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began. In September he obtained a visa and sailed for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, arriving on October 12, 1939, where he arrived with the 1494 Vérard Columbus letter gaining him his first piece of publicity as a bookdealer in America: a newspaper column on the Columbus letter arriving on Columbus Day. Within two weeks of arrival, he met Hanni Zucker, also from Vienna, whom he subsequently married.
Bookseller extraordinaire
Kraus restarted his rare book business in New York, which soon began to prosper. His first important sale was to Lessing J. RosenwaldLessing J. Rosenwald
Lessing Julius Rosenwald was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, and a chess patron.-Biography:...
, a major book collector, who ultimately donated his collection of early printed books to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. Over the years, Kraus bought and sold major medieval illuminated manuscripts, incunables and assorted rare books and manuscripts. Among his most important sales were the Anhalt Gospels, the finely illuminated Hours of Catherine of Cleves
Hours of Catherine of Cleves
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is an ornately illuminated manuscript in the Gothic art style, produced in about 1440 by the anonymous Dutch artist known as the Master of Catherine of Cleves. It is one of the most...
now reunited with its other half at the Morgan Library
Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum is a museum and research library in New York City, USA. It was founded to house the private library of J. P. Morgan in 1906, which included, besides the manuscripts and printed books, some of them in rare bindings, his collection of prints and drawings...
, the Arthur Houghton copy of the Gutenberg Bible for $2.5 million, three copies of Caxton's first edition of the Canterbury Tales, and the original manuscript of the proclamation of the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
, signed by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, He also purchased the enigmatic Voynich manuscript
Voynich manuscript
The Voynich manuscript, described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript", is a work which dates to the early 15th century, possibly from northern Italy. It is named after the book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who purchased it in 1912....
in 1961 for $24,500, and after seven years of unsuccessfully attempting to sell it for as much as $160,000 ultimately donated it to the Beinecke Library at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Kraus also sold the magnificent manuscript Giant Bible of Mainz
Giant Bible of Mainz
The Giant Bible of Mainz is a very large manuscript Bible produced in 1452-3, probably in Mainz or nearby. It is notable for its beauty, for being one of the last manuscript Bibles written before the invention of printing in the West, and for its possible connections with the Gutenberg...
to Lessing J. Rosenwald who donated it the Library of Congress.
Early in his career, Kraus initiated a practice of buying up entire libraries or collections at a discounted price and then selling the items individually or in smaller groups, carefully researched and catalogued, for a great profit. He continued that practice after he moved to the United States, for example, buying in 1949 some 20,000 volumes of the Prince Liechtenstein library for a “rock bottom” price, the entire Frederick Adams
Frederick Baldwin Adams, Jr.
Frederick Baldwin Adams, Jr. was an American bibliophile and the director of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City from 1938–1969....
collection of early communist, radical and anarchistic literature and ephemera, and in 1977 the remainder of the great manuscript collection of the 19th-century bibliomaniac Sir Thomas Phillipps, which after the better part of a century of auction sales, still consisted of 2,000 manuscript volumes and 130,000 manuscript letters and documents.
Pre-dating the Gutenberg Bible?
In 1952, Kraus purchased a copy of an extremely rare incunabula, the Constance Missal, then known in only two copies. Bearing no date, it was printed with type nearly identical to, but seemingly more primitive than, that used in the 1457 and 1459 Psalters, and some scholars believed that it might be the first printed book, pre-dating the Gutenberg Bible. Kraus sold it as a major bibliographical prize to the Morgan LibraryMorgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum is a museum and research library in New York City, USA. It was founded to house the private library of J. P. Morgan in 1906, which included, besides the manuscripts and printed books, some of them in rare bindings, his collection of prints and drawings...
. Several years later, Allan Stevenson, by a brilliant and painstaking comparison of the different states of wear in the watermarks in the Constance Missal with those in dated books, conclusively established that it was printed in 1473, nearly 20 years after the Gutenberg Bible. Despite the definitive proof to the contrary, Kraus still professed that, "Speaking for myself, I believe that the Constance Missal is earlier than the Gutenberg Bible."
Sale catalogs
Kraus regularly issued printed catalogs of books for sale, which contained extensive detailed descriptions of the books and manuscripts. Totaling at least 223, they are prized today as reference works. Some of the catalogs contained full color illustrations of bindings and illustrations, and a few were issued hardbound. Kraus had "the largest and most complete reference library of books on the subject of bibliography ever put together by a book dealer anywhere."Businessman and collector
Kraus quite understandably was very proud of his success as a businessman, amassing a fortune from the rare book and manuscript trade. He described his “philosophy of success in business” as: “Push on, hit hard, follow through.” Besides being the only dealer to own, as inventory, the Gutenberg Bible and the 1457 and 1459 Psalters at the same time, he “owned most of the major incunabula,” and “bought and sold more Caxtons than any other living bookseller.” His autobiography is full of stories where he bought some rare manuscript or book at a low price and turned around and sold it for a much greater price. He also lamented a number of instances where he narrowly failed to secure some book or collection including some of the Dead Sea ScrollsDead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, or where he sold a very rare item too cheaply.
Kraus acknowledged that his autobiography might leave the reader with “the impression that [he was] interested only in making money.” However, he had a deep love of books and was himself a serious collector. One area of particular interest for Kraus was books relating to Sir Francis Drake. He eventually wrote a biography of Drake, based on materials in his collection, a collection that he later donated to the Library of Congress. Kraus also put together a collection of important manuscripts concerning colonial Spanish America
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
, particularly Mexico, including a letter from Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer. The Americas are generally believed to have derived their name from the feminized Latin version of his first name.-Expeditions:...
. Kraus donated that collection to the Library of Congress in 1969.
In 1978 Kraus published his autobiography A Rare Book Saga.
Journals and reprints
Over the years, Kraus purchased large collections of technical and academic journals, which he was able to resell to libraries at great profit. In New York, he opened a second business, Kraus Periodicals Inc., to specialize in the sale of runs of scholarly journals, and soon made an en bloc purchase of over 300,000 issues. Later, after he had received multiple orders for the same journals, Kraus formed a business that reprinted scientific and scholarly journals and reference books.
End of the business
Kraus died on November 1, 1988, in Ridgefield, ConnecticutRidgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
, after which the business was carried on by his widow Hanni and their daughter and son-in-law. The business subsequently closed, and its remaining inventory and reference works were sold by Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
.
Further reading
- H. P. Kraus, "On book collecting: the story of my Drake library". The James Ford Bell LectureJames Ford Bell LectureThe James Ford Bell Lecture has been delivered annually since 1964 in the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota on a topic relating to the collections of the Library: the history of global trade before ca. 1800 CE....
, no. 6. [Minneapolis]: The Associates of the James Ford Bell LibraryJames Ford Bell LibraryThe James Ford Bell Library is named for its donor and patron James Ford Bell, the founder of the General Mills Corporation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collection consists of some 30,000 rare books, maps, manuscripts, broadsides, pamphlets and other materials documenting the history and impact...
, 1969.
- Ernst J. Grube, Islamic Paintings from the 11th to the 18th Century in the Collection of Hans P. Kraus.
- J. Benedict Warren, Hans P. Kraus Collection of Hispanic American Manuscripts.
- Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, ed., Homage to a Bookman. Essays on Manuscripts, Books and Printing Written for Hans P. Kraus, Berlin, 1967. (A festshrift in honor of Hans P. Kraus.)