Hans Peter Kraus

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Hans Peter Kraus (also HP Kraus or Hans P. Kraus , often just HPK ; * October 12, 1907 in Vienna , † November 1, 1988 in Ridgefield (Connecticut) ) was an Austrian-American bookseller, antiquarian and collector.

After working for R. Lechner in Vienna and Ernst Wasmuth in Berlin, he opened his own book shop in Vienna in 1932, during a difficult economic time. In 1938, after the German annexation of Austria , he was arrested and taken to the Dachau concentration camp . After a few months he was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp , from here he was released after eight months, he returned to Vienna, but had to leave Austria within two months. He was able to sell his business and then emigrated to New York via Stockholm .

He opened a shop in New York and some of the most valuable books passed through his hands: for example the Anhalter Gospel , the Book of Hours of Mary of Cleves, various Gutenberg Bibles , rare first editions of Caxton ’s Canterbury Tales , the Voynich manuscript , the Missale speciale (formerly Constantiense) , the St. Blasien psalter and many others.

His antiquarian catalogs, published around 223, contain detailed descriptions of the books and manuscripts.

Hans Peter Kraus was one of the most successful antiquarians, comparable to dealers like Bernard Quaritch , Guillaume de Bure and the Rosenbach brothers . Kraus specialized in medieval manuscripts and incunabula . He is said to have said of himself that he had "the only bookstore in history ... that has a Gutenberg Bible and at the same time two psalteries from 1457 and 1459". (This refers to the two earliest psalteries printed by Gutenberg's successors, Johannes Fust and Peter Schöffer ).

After the death of his wife Hanni (1919–2003) the business was closed.

literature

  • HP Kraus: A Rare Book Saga. The autobiography of HP Kraus. Putnam, New York, 1978, ISBN 0-399-12064-5 .
    • German: The saga of the precious books. SV international, Swiss publishing house, Zurich, 1982, ISBN 3-7263-6326-2 .
  • HP Kraus: The Kraus saga. In: The Book collector Sommer 1983, pp. 137-150.
  • William S. Reese: The End of HP Kraus. In: Antiquarian Book Review 2008 full text .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Margaret Bingham Stillwell: The Beginning of the World of Books , 1450-1470, Nos. 18 and 27 publication of the Lathrop Colgate Harper Litt. D. Trust Fund; Published by Bibliografische Society of America, 1972; A chronological overview of the texts of the first 20 years of printing, with an overview of the Gutenberg documents
personal data
SURNAME Kraus, Hans Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kraus, HP; Kraus, Hans P .; HPK
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-American bookseller, antiquarian and collector
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 1988
Place of death Ridgefield, Connecticut