The collection amounted to 36,000 books including a few thousand incunabula. His house in Malibu, Manfred Heiting designed it around his library. Everything disappeared during the fires of last month. Jeff Dunas, close to Manfred, sent us these few lines!
“The citadel of photo books, the finest one of a kind collection of rare photographic literature is no more, a consequence of the Malibu Fire of November in California. Super collector Manfred Heiting, who had painstakingly and over many years assembled perhaps the world’s finest collection of mint condition photo books lost his house and collection in less than 10 minutes in the inferno that claimed lives and property in Southern California. I was one of the lucky ones to have breathed the air of this incredible concentration of the history of photography. The mind-boggling collection was the fruit of one of the world’s most educated and determined collectors to be found. With his vast knowledge, means and tenacity, Manfred Heiting brought together under one spectacular roof the dreams and passions of untold numbers of photographers whose work filled the pages of rare and incredibly valuable monographs from the 19th century to today.“
Jeff Dunas
