Source : Kraus

Source Title Americana Vetustissima, Catalogue 185
Description For half a century H.P. Kraus has been established at 16 East 46th Street, New York, in a five-story brownstone amid the skyscrapers of mid-town Manhattan. This small cultural oasis epitomizes the world of rare books whose inhabitants need, as well as scholarship and knowledge, the persistence and intuition of a good detective. In the words of the firm’s late founder, life in this field of rare books “involves research carrying one back through all of recorded history, across the world, and into just about every human activity.”

Some of the most magnificent achievements of Western civilization in the form of early manuscripts and printed books have passed through our hands. Treasures such as the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (Morgan Library), the Rothschild Apocalypse (Cloisters, MMA), the Giant Bible of Mainz (LC), the Gutenberg Bible and the Shakespeare Folios; libraries such as part of the enormous collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps, the princely library of Lichtenstein, and much of the ducal one of Arenberg. One rarity which eluded Hans Kraus all his life was finally acquired by the firm in 1991, and a copy of the 36-line Bible, much rarer than the Gutenberg Bible, is now in the W.H. Scheide library at Princeton.

As well as early manuscripts and incunabula, our stock includes European books on a variety of subjects from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, early Americana, maps, and bibliography. We issue three or four catalogues yearly in different fields, and are always pleased to assist new collectors in those areas.
Scope of Text In an extraordinary tour-de-force the esteemed booksellers H. P. Kraus of New York City prepared an unusual catalogue of Americana to honor the five hundredth anniversary of Columbus arriving in the new world – Americana Vetustissima (Catalogue 185). To create this catalogue that they issued in 1991, they organized an absolutely extraordinary group of important pieces most of which date to within 50 years of Columbus’ discovery. Of course the first item is a Columbus Letter printed in Rome in the late spring of 1493. For those who love the earliest materials what follows is an absolute tour de force of absolutely impeccable examples. There’s a 1504 Vespucci Letter and a 1507 Waldseemuller, a 1521 Peter Martyr, a 1532 Cortes Letter and a 1553 Lopez de Gomara. To read this catalogue you could begin to think that such material is actually obtainable when in fact it is very rarely seen. For those who are momentarily transported back to a time when such material could be found, one is brought back to reality by the prices which reflect that these pieces, while rare in any condition, are themselves, in every case in this catalogue, condition rarities.

It is one thing to look through great catalogues of 75 years ago and think that a few dollars invested then would have yielded extraordinary returns today. But we all know that such materials haven’t just risen in price, they have also disappeared almost entirely.”
Total Records in AED 569
  • Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: The "Hatfield" Apple-1 Computer in working condition, signed by Steve Wozniak with a letter signed by Steve Jobs. Estimate: $500,000-800,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: REICHARDT, JASIA; curator. Cybernetic Serendipity: The computer and the Arts. Portfolio and Catalogue. Estimate: $5,000-8,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Lisa 1 Microcomputer. Estimate: $50,000-70,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A rare Apple Paladin "All-In-One" computer prototype. Estimate: $40,000-60,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: 30th Anniversary "White OC" Edition Asus ROG Nvidia Astral Gegorce RTX 5090 signed by Jensen Huang. Estimate: $10,000-15,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A clear plastic prototype Apple Macintosh Portable. Estimate: $10,000-15,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Jolly Roger pirate flag. Estimate: $4,000-6,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Newton messagepad engineering development notebook. Estimate: $4,000-6,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A rare 1839 Jacquard-woven silk portrait of Joseph-Marie Jacquard. Estimate: $4,000-6,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A clear plastic prototype Apple Macintosh Powerbook Duo dock with an Apple Powerbook Duo 280. Estimate: $3,000-4,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A clear plastic prototype Macintosh 'Apollo' Classic II. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: WEIZENBAUM. Computer Power and Human Reason. 1976. Estimate: $1,500-2,500
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Newton Messagepad with marketing display. Estimate: $1,000 - 1,500
  • Sotheby’s
    Reason and Revolution:
    Extraordinary Works from a Distinguished Private Collection
    Part I
    Live Sale 20 October
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Copernicus, Nicolaus. De revolutionibus orbium colestium, Nuremberg, 1543, first edition.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Newton, Isaac, Sir. Autograph manuscript worksheet, Cambridge, probably May 1694.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Euclid. Praeclarissimus Liber Elementorum in Artem Geometrie, Venice, Ratdolt, 25 May 1482, first edition of the first substantial mathematical work to appear in print, Durazzo copy.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Galilei, Galileo. Sidereus nuncius …, Venice, 1610, first edition of the foundation of modern astronomy.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Kepler, Johannes. Astronomia nova aitiologitos …, Prague or Heidelberg, 1609, first edition, contemporary vellum, the Chasles copy.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Cellarius, Andreas. Harmonia macrocosmica seu atlas universalis et novus ..., Amsterdam, Jan Jansson, 1661, brilliantly handcolored.
  • Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair
    October 24-25, 2026
    Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair
    October 24-25, 2026
  • Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Document bearing Napoleon's autograph signature. 1797. Starting bid € 900
    Gonnelli: Manuscript Libro de giustitiati nella città di Ferrara. 1441-1717. Starting bid € 9.000
    Gonnelli: Anonymous Jewish Siddur in Hebrew. Germany, 15th century. Starting bid € 1.200
    Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Chagall, Drawings for the Bible. 1960 Starting bid € 1.200
    Gonnelli: Duchamp, Le Surrealisme en 1947. Starting bid € 2.600
    Gonnelli: Valturio, [De re militari]. 1483. Important provenance. Starting bid € 15.000
    Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Ketham, Fasciculus medicine. 1500. Starting bid € 10.000
    Gonnelli: Ketham, Fasciculus medicie. 1522. Starting bid € 10.000
    Gonnelli: Kepler, Harmonices mundi libri V. 1619. Starting bid € 15.000
    Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Kepler, Tabulae Rudolphinae. 1627. Starting bid € 8.000
    Gonnelli: Kondakov, ISTORIYA I PAMYATNIKI VIZANTIISKOI EMALI. [Histoire et monuments des emaux byzantins]. 1892. Starting price € 5.000
    Gonnelli: Strada, Imperatorum Romanorum. 1559. Starting bid € 12.000
  • Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: TASSO. La Gerusalemme Liberata. 1745. Estimate: $15,000-25,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: SAVAGE. Practical Hints on Decorative Printing... 1822. Estimate: $8,000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: BEWICK. The Works... [1805-]1822. Estimate: $8.000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: RÖSEL VON ROSENHOF. De natuurlyke historie der insecten... [1765–1788]. Estimate: $8.000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: BOYS. Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen, etc. [1839]. Estimate: $8,000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: HOLBEIN. Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein... 1792[-1800]. Estimate: $8.000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: CRANACH PRESS. — SHAKESPEARE. Hamlet. 1928. Estimate: $7,000-10,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: SGRILLI. Descrizione della regia vila... 1742. Estimate: $6,000-9,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: The Coronation of King Louis XV. Le Sacre de Louis XV... 1731. Estimate: $6,000-9,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: NONESUCH PRESS. — DICKENS. The Works. 1937-8. Estimate: $6,000-9,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: CRAIG. Gordon Craig's Book of Penny Toys. 1899. Estimate: $5,000-8,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: FOULIS PRESS. — HOMER. The Iliad & The Odyssey. 1756-8. Estimate: $5,000-7,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: LA FONTAINE. Fables choises... 1755-1759. Estimate: $5,000-7,000