THE ITEM:
C A T A L O G U E
THE HELMUT N. FRIEDLANDER LIBRARY
Helmut Nathan Friedlaender (1913–November 25, 2008) was an American lawyer and financial adviser who collected rare books.
Friedlaender was born in 1913 in Berlin, Germany. In 1933 he fled to Lausanne, Switzerland afraid that Hitler was about to seal Germany's borders. It was at Lausanne that he received a doctorate in administrative law with a thesis on hydroelectric enterprises. After working at a London-based brokerage for some time where he had been an apprentice and learned international arbitrage.
After arriving in the United States on November 12, 1936, Friedlaender made arrangements for an interview at the investment banking firm of Abraham & Company. The 6-foot, 3-inch tall, 120-pound Friedlaender showed up for the interview wearing traditional attire for the London Stock Exchange, consisting of "striped pants, black jacket, gray tie, black bowler hat, dull black shoes and an umbrella that had never been unfurled". Hundreds of people passed through the reception room to gawk at "what was to all of them a very funny sight", but he got the job.
Friedlaender was an announcer for the Voice of America during World War II for its broadcasts to Europe. He became an adviser to philanthropist William Rosenwald in 1944, helping arrange the financing for the construction of 1407 Broadway and the purchase of the Empire State Building by the Rosenwald Group.
Friedlaender took up book collecting in 1970, with a focus on rare books, including medieval illuminated manuscripts and incunabula (books printed before 1501), with his first purchase being a 15th-century manuscript of the Book of hours. Other items of interest were rare editions of works by Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Franz Kafka and Alexander Pushkin, authors who were among his favorites.
In an auction held by Christie's in April 2001, most of the collection Friedlaender had built up over the previous 30 years was put up for sale, totaling 559 lots. Among the items sold were Cicero's De Officiis, printed in 1465 and one of the first classical works ever printed, sold for $666,000. A illuminated manuscript from Bohemia of St. Gregory's Moralia in Job from the 14th century that retained its original doeskin binding, sold for $248,000.
After the auction was held, Friedlaender would repurchase some of the items on the open market. The managing director of the London bookshop Bernard Quaritch said that Friedlaender would look at these items as lost children and say "I’m going to take them back and give them a proper home" before repurchasing them.
(WIKIPEDIA)
PART I AND PART II
INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL LISTS OF AUCTION RESULTS
SOLD BY
CHRISTIE'S
NEW YORK
MONDAY 23 APRIL 2001
AND
CHRISTIES
EAST
TUESDAY 24 APRIL 2001
REFERENCE:
"CRACOW"
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COMPLETE SET OF TWO CHRISTIE'S CATALOGUES, RICHLY ILLUSTRATED, BOUND IN GILT-STAMPED GREY CLOTH, STILL IN THE ORIGINAL DUST-JACKETS AND INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL CHRISTIE'S LISTS OF AUCTION RESULTS
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SIZED:
CENTIMETERS: 22 X 27
PAGES: 452 (PART I) and 232 (PART II)
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CONDITION:
GENERAL:
GOOD TO VERY GOOD, COMPLETE
DUST-COVER:
LITTLE RUBBED, CORNERS AND EDGES VERY LIGHTLY BUMPED, SOME LIGHT STAINS
COVER:
VERY GOOD
SPINE:
O.K.
PAGES:
HARDLY TO NO SIGNS OF USAGE
AUCTION RESULTS:
SOME WRITING IN PENCIL
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A T T E N T I O N
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WE WILL BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A QUOTATION OR YOU CAN CHECK FOR YOURSELF AT:
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AFTER PURCHASE WE WILL SEND YOU AN INVOICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE INCLUDING THE SHIPPINGCOSTS FOR YOUR COUNTRY
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