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Hanni Kraus - legendary New York bookseller

Hans Kraus arrived in New York on October 12, 1939, a refugee recently released from Buchenwald, with just one small but valuable book in his bag. Hanni Zucker, born like Hans him in Vienna, had escaped with her family to Switzerland, arriving in New York early in November 1939 and met Hans Kraus soon after her arrival.

For him, meeting her was the first stroke of the good luck that seemed to attend him thereafter, and he recognised at once that he had found not only a wife to cherish but also a partner who would be essential to his business, one who watched over the accounts and made sure that the money needed for purchases was covered by incoming revenue, dealing in magnificent books and manuscripts. They became the dominant New York booksellers from the 1950s to the 1980s.

He was never one to conceal the debt he owed to Hanni, a constant companion in and out of the shop, and their happy partnership ended only with Hans’s death in November 1988. Hanni's appetite for work was undiminished. She set up a fund in memory of Hans at the Beinecke Library at Yale, attended the annual congresses of the Association Internationale de Bibliophilie, and continued to go into the shop. Her part in building up the firm her husband founded was no less important than his, and its greatness today, now in the hands of her daughter Mary Ann and her husband Roland Folter, is their joint achievement.

Collecting Enid Blyton
by Green Meadow Books

I have collected Enid Blyton books all my life, and is interesting to see how things have changed over the years. I remember being very upset when my Daddy bought me a Famous Five book with a white spine as it didn’t conform to my earlier ones, complete with picture on the spine, and the letter from Enid Blyton - but it was actually a first edition! Sadly, apart from my precious Famous Fives, I gave away many of my books when I left home. These included my wonderful Bestime jigsaw puzzles, including the Famous Five ones, delectably illustrated by Eileen Soper of course. I am still looking for many of these, 40 years later.

In the 1950’s, my Aunt took me to a children’s book Fair, where Miss Blyton was due to attend. Great excitement at the thought of actually meeting her! Sadly she was bitten by a dog and was being treated in hospital and unable to attend. I had to make do with meeting Richmal Crompton, (William has always been another favourite) Captain W.E. Johns, and Noel Streatfeild. It was great to chat to these authors, who happily signed books and autograph albums too.

In the 1960’s I began actively searching for all the books I had given away, for my own children. It didn’t really matter which edition, or even whether they had dustwrappers, although that was obviously nicer. This was still very much the case when I began bookselling in 1982. I sold a first edition of Malcolm Saville’s “Where’s My Girl”, mint condition and signed as he was a dear friend, for the princely sum of £3.50! At this time no one ever even considered whether or not a dustwrapper was price clipped. (This is a fad I find really irritating!)

It is amazing that the price of these children’s books has now reached such heights, and that they hold their own with adult fiction “Modern Firsts”. In the 1980’s they were sadly treated with disdain by so many but now are exceptionally hard to find. Occasionally, items still turn up in catalogues, but generally the real treasures only seem to surface when offered privately. I think the ephemeral items are also most appealing.

In twenty years of being a book dealer, Enid Blyton has been the only continual favourite. Other authors come and go, but she is definitely the only constant top seller. So, if you find any Bestime jigsaws, I will be very glad to give them a home!

News from the
Independent Booksellers' Network

March 2003

Contents:

News from the Independent Booksellers' Network

March 2003

Contents:

News from the
Independent Booksellers' Network