A rare and valuable book collection, which includes one volume estimated at between $600,000 and $800,000 (USD), will be auctioned at Christie’s (June 27) and Wednesday.

The auction, called “The History of the Book,” comprises the collection of Cornelius J. Hauck who was the heir to a Cincinnati beer brewery fortune. The collection had been housed in the Cincinnati Museum and hardly known or explored.

“The books were maintained very well. Since they hadn’t been looked at and the whereabouts of these books were virtually unknown to the world, they were in great state of preservation, so we were very lucky to find that they were in great condition. If we see a list of books, we go and look sometimes and the books are in terrible condition. In this case they were really spectacular,” said Christie’s Book and Manuscripts department head, Francis Wahlgren.

One of the rarest books in the collection is the only known round-bound book from the German Renaissance. It dates back to 1590 and the square-shaped text has been printed onto the rounded pages. The contents are varied, since the binding style, not the content, was most important. The book is expected to fetch a hammer price of between $30,000 and $40,000 (USD).

Posted: 06|26|06 at 3:27 pm. Filed under: US News.