Ars Libri

Previously Sold Collections

Although all of the libraries below have been sold, many of the catalogues are available here as html documents. Please e-mail any questions to us at orders@arslibri.com.

• The Library of Gernot Prunner


Ars Libri, Ltd has sold the Library of Gernot Prunner, an immense and important library devoted to comparative cultural studies of the civilizations of Asia and the Islamic World.

Prunner, a scholar of Asian ethnography, and former Director of the Museum für Völkerkunde und Vorgeschichte (Hamburg), formed this vast collection over the past several decades. The library covers in a comprehensive manner and in great detail all aspects of these cultures, with an emphasis on religion, art and architecture, archaeology and language. Of particular interest to Dr. Prunner was the study of ethnic minorities throughout Asia, and that interest is strongly reflected in his library.

The collection consisted of roughly 16,000 individual titles in well over 17,000 volumes.

• The Library of Hasso von Winning: Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology
• The Library of Dr. J.M. Edelstein: The History & Making of Books: 1540 titles in 1790 volumes
• Cuisine & Culture: The Culinary Library of Phyllis Pray Bober
• Antiquity in the Renaissance: The Library of Phyllis Pray Bober: 253 titles in 382 volumes
• The Sanskrit Library of Prof. Daniel H. Holmes Ingalls (complete catalogue)


Ars Libri is pleased to offer the library of the late Daniel H. Holmes Ingalls, Wales Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus at Harvard University, and former chairman of the Harvard Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. One of the leading scholars of the postwar era, Professor Ingalls was particularly well-known for his translation and commentary in "An Anthology of Sanskrit Court Poetry." The library, containg some 1650 volumes and in very good condition, is focused on primary sources in critical editions, and in scholarly studies of Sanskrit literature and philosophy. Further details on request.

• Iran & Central Asia: Three Scholarly Libraries

The Library of Professor Dr. Karl Heinrich Menges (1908-1999): Central Asia. Languages, Literature, History & Culture
including 2601 monographs in ca. 3,080 volumes, and 50 serial titles in ca. 1,150 volumes

The Library of Professor Dr. Karl Jettmar: Cultures of the Karakorum Highway & Eurasia, and Their Relationship with Adjacent Civilizations
including 5632 monographs in ca. 6,500 volumes, and 118 serial titles in ca. 2,500 volumes

The Library of Professor Richard N. Frye: Iran & Central Asia
including 5,050 monographs in ca. 6,500 volumes, and 108 serial titles in ca. 3,600 volumes

Although each of these libraries is significant and important on its own, the three together--due to their complementary character and the very small amount of internal duplication--form the most significant resource for the scholarly study of Central Asia and Iran in private hands. This amalgamated library of over 17,000 monographic volumes, and more than 200 complete periodical runs in over 8,500 volumes, as well as some 13,000 offprints, 2,500 slides and correspondence and manuscripts by the three scholars, rivals the holdings of virtually all major research institutions.

The Menges Library constitutes a comprehensive research collection devoted primarily to the languages of the geographical region in question. It is particularly strong in publications in Central Asian languages published in the countries of Central Asia in the first half of the 20th century, in addition to publications in Western and Slavic languages (as well as Chinese, Japanese and Korean).

Professor Jettmar’s library is devoted to the cultures of the Karakorum Highway and Eurasia and their contacts with adjacent cultures. Focused primarily on the archaeology and ethnography of the peoples of that region, the library is comprehensive in those subjects. It contains significant concentrations of publications on the archaeology of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the peoples of Northern India.

The focal point of the library of Professor Frye is the countries of the Persian Empire from the Achaemenids to modern times. It is exceptionally strong in rare publications of the 19th and early 20th centuries covering the history, literature, religion, philosophy, and art and archaeology of Iran, Azerbaidjan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan from Achaemenid times to the 20th century, and also has important groups of publications on Armenia and Georgia. Within the library is contained an important collection of publications related to Zoroastrianism, mostly published in India in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century.

• The Library of Dr. James C. Harle, Keeper Emeritus, Department of Eastern Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University: Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent.

including circa 823 monographs in over 1450 volumes