Hellmut Schumann
Antiquariat

In the year 1828, Johann Jakob Siegfried started a bookshop in Zurich. To this he soon added both an antiquarian and a publishing department.

Over one hundred titles were published under his imprint, of special importance the "Sämmtliche radierte Blätter von Salomon Gessner" which appeared in 1835. In 1836 he disposed of the modern bookshop and expanded his antiquarian business, located in the Konstanzerhaus on Oberdorfstrasse.
 

In 1864, Siegfried's bookstore was taken over by Orell Füssli, the famous Zurich publishers. Their ancestor was Christoph Froschauer. This connection prompted us to adopt Froschauer's portrait with the motto "Habent sua fata libelli" for our company.

Over the decades the antiquarian stock numbered about 350'000 volumes; numerous catalogues were published and distributed to a large clientele.

The business changed hands twice in quick succession. In 1886, it went to  H. Ernst, who in turn sold it to Albert Raustein in 1888.

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In 1930 Hellmut Schumann took over the firm, which then renamed Hellmut Schumann vormals Albert Rausteins Schweizerisches Antiquariat. In 1965 H. P. Kraus bought the company. In 2003 Hans W. Neubauer became the new owner of the business which he has been successfully managing since 1970. The "Antiquariat Hellmut Schumann", our present rare books business, was started offering valuable books and manuscripts, incunables, important titles from the history of science, illustrated works, and autographs, catering to an international clientele.

 

From 1903 to 2003 our bookstore was located on Rämistrasse. Now we are in our own premises on Holzgasse 4 where our customers might meet us by appointment.

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Catalogues in the fields of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Helvetica, Science, Literature, etc. have now reached number 603 and in a few years we will celebrate our 200th anniversary.