Rare Books Monument Man

Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt

Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt

Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt (1903 – 1992) was a German American author, professor, bibliographer, and rare books expert.¹ He was curator of rare books at Columbia University and assistant professor of book arts at Columbia’s School of Library Service before World War II.

Hero of the Monuments Men

After World War II, Lehmann-Haupt worked with the Monuments Men.

Lehmann-Haupt was the first to analyze the records of the SS. Ahnenerbe (Ancestral Heritage), revealing Heinrich Himmler’s archaeological activities in the USSR and Poland^. ² He wrote about this in his book, Art Under a Dictatorship.³

Lehmann-Haupt is included on the roster of The Heroes | Monuments Men and Women Foundation.

Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz

In 1969, he began teaching at the University of Missouri, where he was named professor emeritus upon his retirement in 1974.

In 1980 he was honored with the Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz.

Gutenberg Prize - Gutenberg-Gesellschaft

Publications of Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt

His publications include:

• Fifty Books About Bookmaking. New York: Columbia University Press, 1933

• The Book in America. New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1939

• Seventy Books About Bookmaking. New York: Columbia University Press, 1941

• One Hundred Books About Bookmaking. New York: Columbia University Press, 1949

• Art Under a Dictatorship. Oxford, 1954.

• Current Trends in Antiquarian Books. 1961. Library Trends, Vol. 9, No. 4, April.

• The Life of the Book: How the Book is Written, Published, Printed, Sold and Read. London: Abelard-Schuman, 1975

• The Gottingen Model Book: A Facsimile Edition and Translations of a Fifteenth-Century Illuminators' Manual. University of Missouri Press, 1979.

The Monuments Men

1. Hellmut E. Lehmann-haupt, 88, author and bibliography expert. New York Times (1923-). Mar 12 1992:1.

2. Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut Emil | Monuments Men and Women | Monuments Men Foundation.

3. Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut. 1954. Art under a Dictatorship. New York: Oxford University Press.