Christie’s New York Book auction takes $10.5 million
Published June 29th, 2006
The two-day auction netted $10.5 million for the Cincinnati Museum Center - more than twice the pre-sale estimate of $4.5 million.
On June 7, the center announced it was putting the 900-book Cornelius J. Hauck collection on the auction block because it didn’t fit into the center’s local and regional focus.
The wealthy Hauck was heir to a Cincinnati brewery and banking fortune that dated back to Hauck’s grandfather John Hauck (1829-1896), founder of the Dayton Street Brewery, known for its “Golden Eagle” brand.
Hauck and his wife, Harriet Wesche, put together the collection during the first half of the 20th century. He donated it to the Cincinnati Historical Society in 1966, a year before his death.
Among the 713 lots were books from ancient Greek papyri fragments and Babylonian terracotta cuneiform cones to European medieval manuscripts and Chinese scrolls.
“We haven’t felt such electricity in the air during a book auction in many years,” said Francis Wahlgren, head of Christie’s books and manuscripts department.
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