A Rare Book Saga: The Autobiography of H. P. Kraus

by Hans Peter Kraus

Autobiography of a rare book dealer.

Genres: Books About Books, Biography

386 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1978

Reviews

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a classic memoir by a rare book dealer, much of which consists of the anecdote standard in this kind of work: Surprising discovery of a rare and valuable book, perhaps in the basement of a tiny bookstore; difficulty in actually purchasing the book, given the crazy bookseller, government interference, etc.; incredible amount of money paid or made in selling the book. These anecdotes are entertaining, but after a dozen of them, the thrill does begin to wear off. Furthermore, the author’s specialty is not actually books (as the title suggests) but manuscripts. He describes his purchases in loving detail, and it is clear that he really gets excited over a good German psalter or Swiss book of hours. Color illustrations would have helped to communicate more of the books’ beauty to the readers.

Unique among such memoirs is the author’s young life. He grew up in Vienna and started as a book salesperson before he started his own business. He watched the Anschluss and hoped for the best. In fact, he was denounced by one of his employees and was sent to not one but two concentration camps. Somehow his family managed to pull strings to get him an exit visa so that he could leave the country. This is an incredible story, but important parts don’t seem fully explained. To begin with, it isn’t clear until rather late that Kraus was Jewish. That removes quite a bit of the drama until one reads that he’s been arrested. The author should have explained that although Jews were rounded up and treated horribly (and died in droves), the actual Final Solution had apparently not been implemented at the time of his imprisonment, so it was still possible to leave the country. Also, I found it somewhat amazing that he was trying to avoid (legally) the US draft a few years after he moved to the US. Why wouldn’t he jump at the chance to fight against the regime that almost killed him, stole his business and wealth, forced his mother to become a refugee, was slaughtering his fellow Jews, etc.? It is all a bit puzzling.

Another aspect of the author’s life that is not fully explained is how he was able to transition from a mere salesperson to owner of a business that quickly became successful and had many employees. Buying rare books is a very capital-intensive business. He started in the business and became extremely successful *twice*. It seems that his in-laws helped in the US, but even so it is a bit mysterious how he was able to start with nothing and a few years later to be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a collection or even a single item. I wonder if he did not want everyone to know parts of his story.

The author’s enthusiasm is unforced. He admits when he lost money on books or was still holding onto them in hopes of a buyer coming forward. Not every deal, even for wonderful books, makes money. It is also interesting that he apparently read bibliographies and catalogs for relaxation at night. This enabled him to identify or at least suspect the identity of manuscripts that others did not. His enthusiasm leads him to burble with excitement about each of his finds, and readers may find that this becomes a bit tiresome. Each book might truly be amazing, but reading how amazing book after book is does become repetitive. Another favorite line of his is that “such a collection will never be for sale again” or “this group of books could not be put together today.” These things are true, I believe, and it is an interesting fact about the collection world. Nonetheless, after about the third time, one becomes less impressed.

Overall, this is a book that will appeal to those interested in the book trade or in manuscripts themselves. Are there such readers any more? I began to wonder as I read this if I would be the last person ever to actually read this book through. Who reads books any more, much less books about (now deceased) booksellers... booksellers who specialized in manuscripts?

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Rare Book Saga is divided into two parts and both should be examined separately. The first part is a traditional narrative biography of Hans Peter Kraus' life. I thoroughly enjoyed this part, especially the descriptions of his initial interest in rare books (it began with a rare atlas found in an attic he was given), his first rare book dealership in Austria, and his experience as Jew in pre-WWII Europe. The latter experience would also be an interesting read for those who study World War II and the Holocaust, as Kraus spent time in a labor camp before being forced out of Austria.

The second and longest part of the book is a collection of stories about his rare book dealings. These were hit and miss; some were great and others boring. In the majority, we learned about several regular customers who were high profile rare book collectors. However, no matter what, his expertise shined through. Kraus clearly exhibited his knowledge of the trade and the read was quite educational.

While perhaps not for the average reader, I would recommend this title to those who deal in rare books, special collections, or enjoy the history of the book.

[Faustopia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kraus discoursed expertly about the subject of books in its many capacities of collecting, storing, buying, selling and traveling around the world to acquire and own some of the world's rarest books, including a Gutenberg Bible. He also included anecdotes on his expertise in handling manuscripts and leaves. The stories were engaging, entertaining and interesting. I would highly recommend anyone who is a book lover or collector to read Kraus' account of acquiring a bookselling/buying business and all of the work and knowledge it entailed.

[Metin Celâl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her mesleğin duayenleri vardır. Sahaflığın da çok ünlü isimleri, efsaneleşmiş isimleri var. Bunlardan biri de Hans Peter Kraus. Sahaflar konuşmayı, yapıp ettiklerini, anılarını anlatmayı sever ama pek azı bunları yazıya döker. Kraus iyi bir sahaf olmasının yanında eli kalem tutanlardan. Yaşam öyküsünü “Bir Nadir Kitap Destanı” adıyla kaleme almış. Ketebe Yayınları bu önemli kitabı güzel bir baskıyla Müteferrika dizisinde yeniden yayınladı. Bu diziden ayrıca Giambattista Toderini’nin “İbrahim Müteferrika Matbaası ve Türk Matbaacılığı” ve Mark Kurlansky’nin “Kâğıt” kitapları basıldı. Ciltli, şömizli, kaliteli kâğıda özenle, sınırlı sayıda basılmış ve yeniden basılmayacağı bildirilen kitaplar.
“Bir Nadir Kitap Destanı”nın kapak içinde Hans Peter Kraus şöyle tanıtılıyor; “20. yüzyılın en meşhur sahaflarından Hans Peter Kraus da bu kitap tutkunlarından biriydi. Bir Gutenberg Kitab-ı Mukaddesi’ne sahip olabilmek için tek seferde yedi haneli bir meblağı ödeyecek kadar tutkun… Kitap sevgisi ve öğrenmeye duyduğu aşk, Kraus’a Viyana’daki bir kitabevinde çıraklıktan New York’ta bir kitapçı imparatorluğu kurmasını sağlamıştı. Bu kitap ise Kraus’un yegâne mirası; manastırlarda, tavan aralarında ve müzayede salonlarında nadir kitapların peşinde soluksuz hatta destansı öyküsü…”
Hans Peter Kraus 12 Ekim 1907’de Viyana’da doğmuş. Viyana’da ve Berlin’de kitapçı ve kitap pazarlamacısı olarak çalıştıktan sonra, 1932’de kendi sahaf dükkanını açmış. 1938’de Almanya’nın Avusturya’yı ilhak etmesinden sonra bir çalışanın ihbarıyla, Yahudi olduğu için tutuklanmış, dükkanı ihbar edene verilmiş ve Dachau toplama kampına gönderilmiş. Çeşitli toplama kamplarında sekiz ay kaldıktan sonra serbest bırakılmış ve iki ay içinde Avusturya’yı terk etmesi emredilmiş.
Kraus, işini ve 100.000 kitabı Viyana’da bırakıp İkinci Dünya Savaşı başlamadan sadece iki gün önce vize almayı başararak ABD’ye doğru yola çıkmış. Kraus, New York’ta yeniden sahaflığa başlamış. Ortaçağ tezhipli el yazmalarını ve çeşitli nadir kitapları alıp satmış. Sadece üç kopyası olan Gutenberg’in bastığı İncili’i 2,5 milyon dolara satması en başarılı satışlardan sayılıyor. Bu 1 milyon doların üzerinde satış fiyatına ulaşan ilk kitap olmuş.
Kraus, kütüphaneleri veya koleksiyonları uygun fiyatla satın alıp ardından aldığı kitapları dikkatlice araştırıp kataloglarla tek tek veya daha küçük gruplar halinde satma uygulamasını başlatmış. Örneğin Prens Lihtenştayn kütüphanesinin yaklaşık 20.000 cildini, Frederick Adams’ın erken dönem komünist, radikal ve anarşist edebiyat koleksiyonunun tamamını, 19. yüzyıl kitapları tutkunu Sir Thomas Phillipps’in büyük el yazması koleksiyonunu satın almış ve kataloglarla ya da müzayedelerde satmış. Gutenberg İncili’nden önce basılan ilk kitap olabileceğine inanılan Constance Missal’ın çok nadir bir kopyasını satın almış ve Morgan Kütüphanesi’ne satmış. Bugün referans eser olarak kullanılan, kitapların ve el yazmalarının kapsamlı ve ayrıntılı açıklamalarını içeren kitap katalogları yayınlayarak meslekte öncülük etmiş. Tabii Kraus’un yaşam öyküsünde sadece başarılı alımlar ve satışlar yok. Çok nadir bir kitabı çok ucuza sattığı, sonra pişman olup çok pahalıya aldığı ya da yıllarca izini sürüp hiç ele geçiremediği kitaplar, fırsatı değerlendiremeyip kıl payı elinden kaçırdığı kitaplar, koleksiyonlar da var.
Dünyanın en başarılı nadir kitap satıcılarından olarak tanımlanan Hans Peter Kraus’un çok ilginç bir yaşamı ve özellikle kitapseverler ve sahaflar için ders niteliğinde anıları var kitapta. İlgi ve heyecanla okudum, meraklılarına öneriyorum.

[Sue Dounim · Rating 5 out of 5]

You really need to be fascinated with the arcane business of rare book selling. But the guy spins an amazing yarn of his life even so; growing up in Austria, early book selling job, Nazi invasion, commitment to concentration camps, hair- raising stories of life in them, and his release and expulsion from Austria. Arriving in US with essentially nothing and building a giant book, manuscript and reprint business over the next decades.

On the surface it would seem too unlikely that he could build such successful business from next to nothing not once but twice -- during a worldwide depression first and during a war second -- but when you see his intense love for the business it isn't that surprising. He was brilliant in taking advantage of opportunities, for instance in acquiring huge scientific/medical/technical periodical runs and selling them to libraries. Also, other specialties like incunabula, maps, illustrated books, books in Russian (which he didn't even read or speak), etc.

Wealthy people always have money to indulge their hobbies and passions, recessions or not, and Kraus was brilliant in setting up near a big New York gallery and cultivating the business of the weathly, well-endowed university libraries, etc. He was so meticulous about knowing his products that when rare items came into his NY store he would meticulously collate them and confirm or even re-research their provenance. Even to the point of making sure that an item didn't have missing pages inserted from another copy or edition.

He had the ideal job when you think about it: working every day with rare, beautiful and historical books and printed items; meeting fascinating people--other dealers, the super-wealthy, book experts from historical libraries, traveling all over the world in style, visiting amazing libraries -- even in ancient monasteries, and making good money to boot.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is easily 4 stars. It relates Kraus' early life and his establishment of 2 successful bookselling businesses (Vienna before the war and New York afterward). He lived an incredible life and tells the story in an engaging fashion.

The second half of the book drags it down to 3 stars. It follows the trope of classic bookseller biographies of listing their greatest achievements. They're incredible books for sure, but I can only be excited about reading about so many of them in a row.

[TroTro · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first rare book biography - I thoroughly enjoyed the story of how Kraus founded and operated his business. The descriptions of the great manuscripts and their famous collectors were fascinating. By the end, however, they all started to blur together. Next time I see one of the great books, I think I will appreciate it more knowing that provenance is almost more interesting than the works themselves.

[Ludmilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

kitapseverlikten ziyade "iyi satıcının rehberi" gibi olmuş çoğu kısım. aşırı beğenmedim.

[Balloon Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read if you're a book lover.

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

En bokhandlares liv kan vara mycket spännande!