Paying Tribute to an Honorable Legacy: A Visit to the Firm of H.P. Kraus, Inc.
Courtesy of H. P. Kraus
AT: One thing that I was really interested with – among many fascinating entries and facts in your father’s autobiography – was the fact that you were schooled in the rare book business by your father. Can you talk about this a bit?
MAF: Yes, that’s right. I learned literally at my father’s knee. Now I use this knowledge to take care of running the day to day aspects of the place.
AT: You couldn’t have had a better teacher.
MAF: No, that’s certainly true. He was a great bookman and I learned a lot from him, more than I can adequately summarize.
AT: OK then, let’s move on. I want to ask you something about how you conduct your business today. In Mr. Kraus’s book he describes the painstaking lengths he would go to to win over a customer and keep in contact with collectors. This is a book selling model that you don’t see as often today, but I’m assuming that you still follow it. For instance, when I looked up your site on the internet I did find a home page but I’m assuming, perhaps falsely, that you don’t do most of your business over the net. Would you care to comment on this?
MAF: Well, our own web site is under construction. What you can do from it now is basically email us with inquiries.
JL: But I should add that a selection of our stock is available on three different internet sites: on Bibliopoly.com, on worldbookdealers.com, and on ilab-lila.com.
AT: Yes, I found the worldbookdealers.com site. I didn’t visit the other two you mention, though.
JL: Well, if you go to any one of them you’ll find about 500 titles listed at any one time. This of course is a fraction of our stock but it does give people an idea of the sorts of books and titles that we carry.
AT: Which leads to my next question: some people – myself among them – feel that the role of book dealer as mentor is something of a dying art. Your father [gesturing at Mrs. Folter] was a genius at mentoring collectors, it seems. How important do you think the role of rare book dealer as mentor is and to what extent do you feel that role has shifted in this modern internet age?
JL: I personally feel that there is nothing like maintaining a personal relationship with your customer, courting collectors over time if you will. This is the way that business is still conducted at H.P. Kraus, Inc.
MAF: I would really like to second that. The kind of material we sell, people are not going to put their credit card information in anonymously to buy it. Certainly not
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Plato. [<i>Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera</i>], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/df7dd9ac-f0d0-4cb3-a44d-2731758530e4.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Plato. [<i>Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera</i>], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/c40bad29-8cb5-4347-a0fd-5361d39e84a5.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Powell (Anthony). [<i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i>], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b7fdee12-4803-4d32-9330-a5729091cb92.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Powell (Anthony). [<i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i>], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/a06cc0dd-7619-45e9-b155-5ad75ed7b2e5.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000")