would never have asked for this privilege not just here but in any of the environments in which I conduct interviews.
In no time I find myself in a cold, climate controlled room that holds shelves full of material far too superior to put on the open stacks. Considering what I’ve seen from the open stacks, I can’t imagine how truly good this material must be. I do not dare pull anything off of the shelves. I just stare at the two hundred or so books and manuscripts that meet my eye. I feel temptation challenging me to look at something, anything, in more detail, but I know that that is not within the rules. So Mr. Lipton and I make polite conversation about approximately how many books and manuscripts are in there and about how the really special stuff – one can only imagine how special this material must be – is kept in a real bank somewhere nearby.
I sense that this vault visit – a visit, if you will, to the heart of the H.P. Kraus, Inc. empire, if one may call it that, is a good note to leave on. I bid my farewells and thank my generous hosts for their time and cooperation. And then, sadly, I put on my coat and go out of the magic kingdom into the real world, taking the crowded New York City subway home. It – the outside, the real world -- is really quite a let down from the antiquarian world in which I was immersed for some hours that day. But I didn’t regret my transition from the one environment to the other. Just being part of the rich history of H.P. Kraus, Inc., if only for a few hours, was good enough for me. At least for the meantime. It is a visit I urge other bibliophiles to make. Trust me – the last thing you’ll be is disappointed.
H.P. Kraus, Inc. is located at 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y., 10017. They are open from 9:30 -5:00 pm weekdays. Appointments are recommended. Their telephone number is (212) 687-4808 and their fax number is (212) 983-4790. They can be reached by email at hpkraus@hpkraus.com. Their website is accessible at http://hpkraus.com. Select items from their stock can also be browsed by visiting the following sites: Bibliopoly.com, worldbookdealers.com, and ilab-lila.com. All images accompanying this article are copywrite H.P. Kraus, Inc., and are used with the firm’s permission. AE subscribers may access the Kraus Catalogue #185 by searching the Bibliographic Database in the Advanced Search mode and entering "Kraus" in the Database Source field. The records are accompanied by images. Again, interested parties might want to investigate H.P. Kraus’s autobiography, A Rare Book Saga, (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, [1978]) and also Homage to a Bookman: Essays on Manuscripts, Books and Printing Written for Hans P. Kraus on his 60th Birthday, Oct. 12, 1967 (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, [1967]), both of which are available on abe.com.
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Doyle, Dec. 5: Minas Avetisian (1928-1975). Rest, 1973. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). Yawning Tiger, conceived 1917. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert M. Kulicke (1924-2007). Full-Blown Red and White Roses in a Glass Vase, 1982. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). L’ATELIER DE CANNES (Bloch 794; Mourlot 279). The cover for Ces Peintres Nos Amis, vol. II. $1,000 to $1,500.Doyle, Dec. 5: LeRoy Neiman (1921-2012). THE BEACH AT CANNES, 1979. $1,200 to $1,800.Doyle, Dec. 5: Richard Avendon, the suite of eleven signed portraits from the Avedon/Paris portfolio. $150,000 to $250,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Flowers in Vase, 1985. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Nude, 1936. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Juniper, High Sierra, 1937.Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven J. Levn (b. 1964). Plumage II, 2011. $6,000 to $8,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven Meisel (b. 1954). Madonna, Miami, (from Sex), 1992. $6,000 to $9,000. -
Gonnelli:
Auction 55
Antique prints, paintings and maps
November 26st 2024Gonnelli: Stefano Della Bella, 23 animal plances,1641. Starting price 480€Gonnelli: Stefano Della Bella, Boar Hunt, 1654. Starting price 180€Gonnelli: Crispijn Van de Passe, The seven Arts, 1637. Starting price 600€Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, La Maschera è cagion di molti mali, 1688. Starting price 320€Gonnelli: Biribissor’s game, 1804-15. Starting price 2800€Gonnelli: Nicolas II de Larmessin, Habitats,1700. Starting price 320€Gonnelli: Miniature “O”, 1400. Starting price 1800€Gonnelli: Jan Van der Straet, Hunt scenes, 1596. Starting Price 140€Gonnelli: Massimino Baseggio, Costantinople, 1787. Starting price 480€Gonnelli: Kawanabe Kyosai, Erotic scene lighten up by a candle, 1860. Starting price 380€Gonnelli: Duck shaped dropper, 1670. Starting price 800€ -
Doyle, Dec. 6: An extensive archive of Raymond Chandler’s unpublished drafts of fantasy stories. $60,000 to $80,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: RAND, AYN. Single page from Ayn Rand’s handwritten first draft of her influential final novel Atlas Shrugged. $30,000 to $50,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Ernest Hemingway’s first book with interesting provenance. Three Stories & Ten Poems. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Hemingway’s second book, one of 170 copies. In Our Time. $15,000 to $25,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A finely colored example of Visscher’s double hemisphere world map, with a figured border. $12,000 to $18,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Raymond Chandler’s Olivetti Studio 44 Typewriter. $10,000 to $20,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Antonio Ordóñez's “Suit of Lights” owned by Ernest Hemingway. $10,000 to $20,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A remarkable Truman archive featuring an inscribed beam from the White House construction. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: The fourth edition of Audubon’s The Birds of America. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: The original typed manuscript for Chandler’s only opera. The Princess and the Pedlar: An Entirely Original Comic Opera. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A splendidly illustrated treatise on ancient Peru and its Incan civilization. $7,000 to $10,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A superb copy of Claude Lorrain’s Liber Veritatis from Longleat House. $5,000 to $8,000. -
Ketterer Rare Books
Auction November 25thKetterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
H. Schedel, Liber chronicarum, 1493. Est: € 25,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
P. O. Runge, Farben-Kugel, 1810. Est: € 8,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
W. Kandinsky, Klänge, 1913. Est: € 20,000Ketterer Rare Books
Auction November 25thKetterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
W. Burley, De vita et moribus philosophorum, 1473. Est: € 4,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
M. B. Valentini, Viridarium reformatum seu regnum vegetabile, 1719. Est: € 12,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
PAN, 10 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: € 15,000Ketterer Rare Books
Auction November 25thKetterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
J. de Gaddesden, Rosa anglica practica medicinae, 1492. Est: € 12,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
M. Merian, Todten-Tanz, 1649. Est: € 5,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
D. Hammett, Red harvest, 1929. Est: € 11,000Ketterer Rare Books
Auction November 25thKetterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
Book of hours, Horae B. M. V., 1503. Est: € 9,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
J. Miller, Illustratio systematis sexualis Linneai, 1792. Est: € 8,000Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
F. Hundertwasser, Regentag – Look at it on a rainy day, 1972. Est: € 8,000
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - January - 2003 Issue
Paying Tribute to an Honorable Legacy: A Visit to the Firm of H.P. Kraus, Inc.
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![<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b719f220-50aa-4855-9a72-293cad312283.jpg "<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.")
