Walter L. Strauss

New York Times Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/19/obituaries/walter-l-strauss-autho...

Walter L. Strauss, Author and Expert On Old Masters Art

By Grace Glueck

Published: January 19, 1988

Walter L. Strauss, a writer, publisher and authority on Old Master drawings and prints, died of a heart attack last Thursday at Madison Avenue and 56th Street. He was 65 years old and lived in Scarborough, N.Y.

Mr. Strauss was the author of The Complete Drawings of Albrecht Durer, a six-volume work on the 16th-century German artist published in 1975.

He also wrote 40 other books on the works of Old Master artists. At his death, he was working on The Illustrated Bartsch, a multivolume revision of a standard reference work by Adam Bartsch on European prints from the 14th to the 19th century. So far, about 70 volumes of a projected 120 have been published by Mr. Strauss's own company, Abaris Books, which also issued the Durer volumes. From Toys to Durer

A one-time importer of toys who spent the day at his office and wrote at night, Mr. Strauss decided in 1970 to devote himself full time to writing. Frustrated by problems in getting his book on Durer published, he founded Abaris in 1973, using the name of a mythical sage and miracle worker who was said to have traveled on an arrow given him by Apollo.

Besides the books written by Mr. Strauss himself, the house published a number of others dealing with Old Master artists and with philosophical subjects. It also issued new editions of well-known fables and stories.

Born in Nuremberg, Germany, the son of Justin Strauss, a toy maker and mathematician, and the former Fini Lowenthal, Mr. Strauss came to this country in 1936. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the United States Army, working with the Office of Strategic Services, and took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy. He earned degrees in political science at the University of Wyoming, in chemical engineering at Pratt Institute and in philosophy from the New School for Social Research.

Mr. Strauss is survived by his wife, Lore; a brother, Peter; a daughter, Claudia Dardig; three sons, Thomas, Michael and Daniel, and a grandson.

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