Hans P. Kraus
Hans P. Kraus | |
---|---|
Born | Vienna, Austria | October 12, 1907
Died | November 1, 1988 | (aged 81)
Nationality | Austrian-born |
Occupation | Rare book dealer |
Known for | Success as a rare book dealer |
Hans Peter Kraus (October 12, 1907 – November 1, 1988), also known as H. P. Kraus or HPK, was an
Early life and career in Europe
Kraus was born on October 12, 1907, in Vienna, Austria. 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.[4]
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.[5] Within two weeks of arrival, he met Hanni Zucker, also from Vienna, whom he subsequently married.[6]
Career in the United States
Kraus restarted his rare book business in New York, which soon began to prosper. His first important sale was to
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.
Pre-dating the Gutenberg Bible?
In 1952, Kraus purchased a copy of an extremely rare incunabulum, the
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."[21]
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."[22] 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,"[23] and "bought and sold more Caxtons than any other living bookseller."[24] 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 Scrolls,[25] 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."[26] 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.[27] 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.[28]
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.[29] In 1947 he opened a second business in New York, 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.[30] In 1956, after he had received multiple orders for the same journals, Kraus opened a third business, the Kraus Reprint Corporation, that reprinted scientific and scholarly journals and reference books.[31][32] The latter business was sold to Lord Thomson in 1965.[33]
End of the business
Kraus died on November 1, 1988, in Ridgefield, Connecticut, after which the business was carried on by his widow Hanni and their daughter and son-in-law, Mary Ann and Roland Folter.[34] The business subsequently closed, and its remaining inventory and reference works were sold by Sotheby's.[35]
References
- ^ William S. Reese, The End of H.P. Kraus Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
- Peter Schoeffer. See Margaret Stillwell, 'The Beginning of the World of Books', 1450 to 1470, nos. 18 & 27.
- ISBN 0-399-12064-5.
- ^ RBS, pp. 59-72. Kraus does not explain in his autobiography exactly how he came to be released.
- ^ The Kraus Saga, The Book Collector, 1983, p.137
- ^ RBS, pp. 73-82.
- ^ RBS, p. 85.
- ^ RBS, pp. 139-140.
- ^ RBS, pp. 236-137.
- ^ RBS, p. 246.
- ^ RBS, p. 216.
- ^ RBS pp. 218-222.
- ^ RBS, p. 122.
- ISSN 0090-8290.
- ^ RBS, pp.40, 45-50, 77, 105.
- ^ RBS, pp. 151-156.
- ^ RBS, pp. 157-165.
- ^ RBS, p. 226.
- ^ Allan Stevenson, The Problem of the Missale Speciale, London, 1967.
- ^ RBS, p. 229.
- ^ Selby Kieffer, quoted in Wendy Moonan "Time to Write Finis For a Book Trove"
- ^ RBS, p. 36.
- ^ RBS, p. 227
- ^ RBS, pp. 245-246.
- ^ RBS, p. 127-128.
- ^ RBS, p. 373.
- ^ RBS pp. 344-349. See also The Sir Francis Drake Collection and The Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake.
- ^ RBS pp. 361-366. See also Hans P. Kraus Collection; Documents relating to colonial Spanish America. and A Register of the Collection.
- ^ RBS, pp. 48, 77, 101-103.
- ^ RBS, pp. 102-103.
- ^ RBS, pp. 367-372.
- ^ F.J. Mosher, "Kraus Organization Ltd", in: Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens Online, referenceworks.brillonline.com. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ RBS, p. 371.
- ^ "H.P. Kraus, Internationally Prominent Rare Book Dealer", AB Bookman's Weekly (Mar. 20, 1989) pp. 1284-1285.
- ^ William S. Reese, The End of H.P. Kraus Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
Works
- Sir Francis Drake: A Pictorial Biography by Hans P. Kraus Online presentation for the Collections at the Library of Congress
Further reading
- Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, ed., Homage to a Bookman. Essays on Manuscripts, Books and Printing Written for Hans P. Kraus, Berlin, 1967. (A festschrift in honor of Hans P. Kraus.)
- H. P. Kraus, "On book collecting: the story of my Drake library". The James Ford Bell Lecture, no. 6. [Minneapolis]: The Associates of the James Ford Bell Library, 1969.
- H. P. Kraus, A Rare Book Saga : The Autobiography of H. P. Kraus. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1978.
- 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.
External links
- H. P. Kraus Library Auction - video on the end of his business and his reference library
- Hans P. and Hanni Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake From the Collections at the Library of Congress