Fifty Years: An Anniversary Catalogue of 120 Outstanding Books Printed Before 1700 and Sold By H. P. Kraus From 1932 to 1982, with a Bibliography of All H. P. Kraus Rare Book Catalogues Issued During Those Years.

Published by H. P. Kraus, New York, 1982, hardcover, illustrated, author & title index, printers index & others, 24 cms x 30.8 cms, condition; as new.

Hans Peter Kraus (1907   1988), also known as H. P. Kraus or HPK, was an Austrian-born American book dealer described as "without doubt the most successful and dominant rare book dealer in the world in the second half of the 20th century" and in a league with other rare book dealers such as Bernard Quaritch, Guillaume de Bure and A.S.W. Rosenbach. 

Kraus specialized in medieval illuminated manuscripts, incunables (books printed before 1501), and rare books of the 16th and 17th centuries, but would purchase and sell almost any book that came his way that was rare, valuable and important. He prided himself in being "the only bookseller in history...to have owned a Gutenberg Bible and the Psalters of 1457 and 1459 simultaneously," stressing that "'own' here is the correct word, as they were bought not for a client's account but for stock."

Kraus regularly issued printed catalogues of books for sale, which contained extensive detailed descriptions of the books and manuscripts. Totalling at least 223, they are prized today as reference works. Some of the catalogues contained full colour illustrations of bindings and illustrations, and a few were issued hardbound. Kraus had "the largest and most complete reference library of books on the subject of bibliography ever put together by a book dealer anywhere."