The Otto Haas Archive: beginnings in England

Blog series Music

Author Ruairidh Pattie, Music Manuscripts and Archives Cataloguer

As part of the British Library’s ‘Hidden Collections’ initiative, the archive of the renowned music antiquarian Otto Haas (1874–1955) has recently been catalogued, and its contents will be available to researchers. The archive was generously donated by Julia Rosenthal, the final proprietor of the firm, which was purchased by her father in 1955, and subsequently left to her. It contains some 419 catalogues, 282 files of correspondence and 61 files of bills and invoices.

Otto Haas’s business spanned the globe, and he continued to trade through World War II. This archive provides a fascinating insight into the antiquarian book trade at this time, the restrictions on international businesses caused by the war, and the life and work of Otto Haas himself.

Speaking at Haas’s funeral, Albi Rosenthal stated:

‘The name of Otto Haas is legendary. Wherever one may go in the world of music scholars, music librarians, or collectors, his name is familiar, and held in highest esteem. His name has, indeed, become a symbol, the hallmark in his profession of a unique combination of scholarship and ethos. It was he who created in his sphere, through his personality and learning, a new type of antiquarian: one whose role far exceeded the business of buying and selling – who became the adviser, even the teacher and authority, for scholars of music history and bibliography. When he began his career in 1893, the term ‘Musik-Antiquar’ hardly existed, and if it did, it meant much less than it does, thanks to his life-work, to-day. The development of Musicology as an important branch of learning in the past fifty years owes a great deal, and, I am sure, much more than is often realised, to Otto Haas’s activity. The spread of scholarship is based on the provision of books and source-material. Practically all important music libraries and collections built up or enlarged in this century, be they public institutions or private collections, have been shaped by the tireless and scrupulous service of Otto Haas.’

While these remarks may well have been coloured by Rosenthal’s recent acquisition of Haas’s firm, they do undoubtedly show the esteem in which Otto Haas was held by the antiquarian book trade at the end of his life. Haas’s contribution to the profession and unerring professional standards, as well as personal warmth and kindness, come through strongly in the archive of his firm, now held at the British Library.

Leo Liepmannssohn

The story of the Otto Haas Archive (MS Mus. 2018) begins with the first of Leo Liepmannssohn’s catalogues, dated 1866. This catalogue is from the year Liepmannssohn moved to Paris to set up his own antiquarian book selling business.  Liepmannssohn had previously worked for Ascher & Co. in Berlin, and largely adopted their format for presenting his catalogues. He had also once been a pupil of the conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, who remembered him in a letter written in 1890 (MS Mus. 2045).

The 419 catalogues contained within this archive offer the greatest historical scope: the first lists the contents of Leo Liepmannssohn’s Library in 1866 and the last describes Albi Rosenthal’s offering at the International Antiquarian Book fair in 1978. These catalogues offer an intriguing insight into the values placed on particular items over time, the standards for their description and the reach of the book trade from the second half of the 19th century into the last quarter of the 20th century. Many of these catalogues also contain hand-written marginalia, giving further details of prices of items, to whom they were sold or from whom he had purchased the items. For provenance researchers, these marginal notes provide extremely valuable evidence.

Purchase from Liepmannssohn – 1903

In 1903 Otto Haas, having worked for several established book sellers in Frankfurt, New York and Berlin, entered a business partnership with Liepmannssohn, before becoming proprietor of the business later the same year. Haas retained the name of the business, and in many ways his clientele would not have noticed any great change between the two owners. This continuity can be seen within the archive, as only the handwriting within the catalogues changes while other aspects remain consistent. After World War I, Haas restricted his activities more specifically to the musical antiquarian sphere, as opposed to the more generally antiquarian activities of Liepmannssohn, who, as can be seen in the catalogues, also dealt in mostly Germanic literature.

Move to UK – 1936

In 1935, as a result of rising antisemitism in Germany, Haas was obliged to move to London, where in 1936 he established his business under his own name. In terms of the archive, this is also a significant date, as it is the beginning of the largest series of material, the correspondence. This correspondence provides a much richer picture of Haas’s activities than it is possible to glean from the catalogues available before this date. Whilst the catalogues still provide a detailed account of the dealings of the Leo Liepmannssohn firm, the correspondence collected by Haas illuminates the mechanics of the antiquarian book trade to a much greater extent, as well as the interpersonal relationships between Haas and his colleagues.

The correspondence between Haas and two of his most significant business contacts appears in the archive from 1936, although the men had been acquainted with each other before this date. These contacts are Paul Hirsch and Percy Muir of Elkin Mathews.

Paul Hirsch was a German industrialist with a lifelong passion for the study of books, music and antiquarian collecting. Although ostensibly an amateur, Hirsch’s collection of editions, manuscripts and book relating to music, was, by the 1930s, one of the finest in Europe, and is also now held in the British Library. Like Haas, Hirsch relocated to Britain from Germany in 1936, to avoid attempts by the Nazi government to confiscate his collection.

Hirsch and Haas worked alongside one another in both Germany and in Britain, both buying and selling to and from each other, and facilitating sales and purchases of materials for each other. Haas also acted as an intermediary in the sale of Hirsch’s catalogues, particularly in the post war period of their businesses. From the beginning of the correspondence held in this archive both Haas and Hirsch wrote to each other in English and German, switching freely between the two languages.

Percy Muir first met Haas in Berlin. In his autobiography, Minding my own business (1956), Muir relates a story of the selling of a Mozart manuscript notebook from Haas to Paul Graupe, and then to Stephan Zweig, as an illustration of the odd business decisions that were necessitated by the effects of the unstable economic conditions in the early 1930s.  As Muir’s career progressed, he became one of the most respected antiquarians in Britain, becoming the president of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association in Britain (1945–47). In this capacity Haas asked him to mediate in a dispute between Haas and his printing company. Beyond these specific instances, Haas and Muir corresponded on a variety of topics. Like Haas and Hirsch, the pair organised sales and purchases together, negotiating prices for various items. They also discussed their opinions of the practices of various other book sellers with whom they did business. The bulk of Muir’s personal correspondence is held in the archives of Indiana University, some gaps in which may be filled by the material present in Haas’s archive.

A third correspondent with whom Haas exchanged letters with great frequency was Cecil Hopkinson of the First Edition Bookshop. As well as providing an interesting insight into the antiquarian trade at this time, Hopkinson and Hass’s correspondence shows the difficulties that World War II caused on a personal level for the two men. Hopkinson was conscripted, and struggled to continue his business during these years. There is also an extraordinary personal warmth evident between the two men, with much good-natured teasing exchanged.

Another correspondent, with whom Haas admittedly shared fewer letters, but who appears from the beginning of the correspondence is the pianist Alfred Cortot. Cortot’s requests largely entail particular editions of music, from which he wished to play. Although his correspondence in itself does not shed particular light on the workings of Haas’s business, the fact that such an eminent artist came to Haas in order to procure his desired materials, so early in the establishment of Haas’s own business, shows the strength of reputation Haas carried with him from his proprietorship of the Leo Liepmannssohn firm.

An early success for Haas’s business in London, in 1937, was the sale of a Schubert manuscript to Herr Ernst Jutrosinski in Neuilly for £930, approximately £55,300 pounds in 2025. This was slightly less than five times the average annual salary at the time. The fact Haas was entrusted with such high-value sales, together with the frequent requests for his professional advice, makes clear his significant standing within the antiquarian world.

Much of the early correspondence held in this archive contains explanations from Haas to his customers that his business is a continuation of his work under the banner of Leo Liepmannssohn, merely under his own name. As the years progress, there is an increasing awareness between the correspondents that war is looming in Europe. Given Haas’s connections on both the British and German side, this archive provides a fascinating insight into the attitudes of people in each country on the likelihood of conflict, and whether they believe it is justified.

Although Haas had only established his firm in London three years before the outbreak of the war, the strong foundation he had brought with him from Leo Liepmanssohn, and his own industriousness had already established him as a significant player in the musical antiquarian world of London at the time. This is clear from the many letters seeking his advice or opinion on a valuation or sale, and the number of major institutions who entrusted their sales to Haas.

The second part of this blog will discusses how Haas’s business fared during and after the war.

​​Bibliography

​​Muir, P. H. (1956). Minding my own business: an autobiography. London: Chatto and Windus.

​Perry, F. (2025, February 19th). Cataloguing the Paul Hirsch Papers. British Library blog

​Rosenthal, A. (1955). Otto Haas, 1874-1955: Words spoken at the Funeral on May 2, 1955. Notes for the Music Library Association, 369.

​Rosenthal, J. (2026, February 27th). A Brief History of Otto Haas. Retrieved from ottohaas-music.com.

​Simpson, C. (2012). Muir mss. II, 1892-1981. Retrieved from archives.iu.edu.

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