In 1883 Hermann Gilhofer established himself as a dealer in master drawings and prints. In 1884 he associated with Heinrich Ranschburg and the business was extended also to rare books. The founder retired in 1897 and in 1905 William H. Schab, entered the firm, which at that moment was occupied with the dispersal of one of the great Viennese private libraries, that of Franz Treu. This sale brought to sVienna for the first time the stars of the European rare book trade as Damascène Morgand, Leo Olschki, Bernard Quaritch, and Jacques and Ludwig Rosenthal. The firm prospered and succesively very important collections were sold at auction such as that of the Prince Metternich, Schreiber, König and the duplicatesof the Albertina

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