Fine Rare and Antiquarian First Edition Books

Raptis Rare Books is an Antiquarian Book firm that specializes in Fine First Editions, Signed and Inscribed books, and Landmark books in all fields. We have distinguished ourselves by having a reputation for handling unique and important books that are in exceptional condition.

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This holiday season, we invite you to browse a carefully curated selection of exceptional gifts with the arrival of our Holiday 2018 Catalog. Highlights of the catalog include a first edition of Pope Leo XIII’s first Papal encyclical inscribed by him to the Empress of Austria, a rare Military Commission signed by President Abraham Lincoln, a finely bound Manuscript edition of the Writings of John Muir, a signed first edition of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, a signed first edition of Leonard Cohen’s Let Us Compare Mythologies and a signed limited first edition of Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince.

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We invite you to explore an exceptional selection of fine rare books and historic signed documents with the arrival of our new Fall 2018 catalog. Highlights of the catalog include a magnificent first edition of Saint Augustine’s monumental Of the Citie of God, an exceptionally rare Autograph Album Signed by Abraham Lincoln, one of the earliest obtainable examples of Homer’s landmark work The Odyssey, a scarce first edition of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, a rare Autograph Note Signed by Charles Darwin to fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, a rare second edition of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior signed by John von Neumann, and a rare first edition of Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends lengthily inscribed by him with a poem to his editor.

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Our passion, expertise, and attentive customer service will guide you on a remarkable journey with a rich history and tradition. Whether your aim is to create a beautiful personal library, start a small collection of first editions, or give a gift to a loved one, we can assist you in discovering the world of book collecting. Create your legacy and preserve culture by holding these unique items in your personal library.

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The world of rare and antiquarian books awaits you. Browse by our extensive collection by subject, view featured books, recent arrivals and more. Call us at (561) 508-3479 to speak with us about any of the books you see on this website, request a printed catalog, or if you have questions regarding adding books to your wishlist or shopping cart. We’re here to assist you.

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FEATURED ITEMS

Sand and Foam: A Book of Aphorisms.

Signed limited edition of the author’s classic work. Number 75 of 95 copies, signed by Kahlil Gibran. Illustrated with seven View product.

The Writings of George Washington Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private.

The complete writings of George Washington. Large octavo, 12 volumes, uniformly bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling View product.

The Great Gatsby.

First edition, second printing of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original green cloth, gilt titles to the spine. Inscribed by the View product.

The Count of Monte-Cristo.

First edition in English of the author’s masterpiece, published just one year after the original French edition and before the View product.

The Fountainhead.

Later printing of the Rands’s breakthrough work. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed and dated by the author on the front View product.

The Day of the Triffids.

First American edition, which preceded the British edition of Wyndham’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by John Wyndham View product.

The Count of Monte-Cristo.

First edition in English of the author’s masterpiece, published just one year after the original French edition and before the View product.

The Invisible Man.

First edition, first issue, with the title page printed in orange and black and pages 247 and 248 being publisher’s View product.

To Kill a Mockingbird.

Fourth printing of the author’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the View product.

Nineteen Eighty-Four.

First edition of Orwell’s classic dystopian novel. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in an excellent dust jacket with some toning to the spine. View product.

Theory of Games and Economic Behavior.

Second edition of von Neumann and Morgenstern’s landmark work. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by John Von Neumann. Near fine in View product.

To Kill a Mockingbird.

Tenth printing of the author’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, published a few months after the first edition. Octavo, original half cloth. View product.

Mutiny on the Bounty.

First limited edition of this epic historical drama made into the 1962 film starring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris. View product.

On Liberty.

First edition of this classic work, which remains the basis of much liberal political thought. Octavo, original cloth. In very good View product.

The Life and Letters of Captain John Brown, Who Was Executed at Charlestown, Virginia, Dec. 2, 1859, For an Armed Attack upon American Slavery; With Notices of Some of His Confederates.

First edition of one of the earliest biographies of profoundly influential American abolitionist, John Brown; published in the first year View product.

Florence Nightingale Autograph Note Signed.

Rare autograph note signed by the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. The note reads, “A verbal answer, please, by View product.

Babe Ruth Signed Photograph.

Full length photograph of Babe Ruth swinging a baseball bat. Inscribed by him, “To my good friend Jack Musante Sincerely View product.

What Makes Sammy Run?

First edition of what many consider one of the most important novels on Hollywood and the film industry. Octavo, original View product.

Mohandas K. Gandhi Autograph.

Rare Mohandas K. Gandhi autograph, signed at the height of the struggle for Indian Independence. Signed by Gandhi, “M.K. Gandhi 28-12-38 View product.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles Signed Christmas Card.

Royal Christmas card bearing a full-color family photograph of Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and the infant Prince William. Inscribed by View product.

Soldiers’ Pay.

First edition of Faulkner’s first book in the rare first state dust jacket with An American Tragedy as the first of five View product.

The Compleat Troller, or, The Art of Trolling.

Rare first edition of Nobbes’ authoritative work on the history and methods of trolling. First issue with the engraved hook View product.

Sometimes a Great Notion.

First edition, first issue with the publisher’s logo on the half title page of Kesey’s second novel. Octavo, original cloth. View product.

Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding By the Author of the Essays Moral and Political.

First edition of this landmark of Enlightenment thought. 12mo, bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, View product.

Charles Darwin Autograph Note Signed To Alfred Russel Wallace.

Rare autograph note signed by Charles Darwin to fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. The note reads, “Oct. 27 Down, Beckenham View product.

Bob Dylan Song Book.

First edition of this music collection of the songs of Bob Dylan. Quarto, original illustrated wrappers as issued, frontispiece portrait View product.

Picturesque Ceylon and Its Ruined Cities.

One volume containing four parts: Colombo and the Kelani Valley; Kandy and Peradeniya; Nuwara Eliya and Adam’s Peak and The View product.

The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia.

First edition, first issue binding with “By Rail Through Asia”. Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers. Signed by Paul Theroux on View product.

The Godfather.

First edition of Puzo’s definitive novel of the Mafia underworld. Octavo, original half black cloth. Association copy, warmly inscribed by View product.

Autograph Album Signed by Abraham Lincoln and His Cabinet.

Exceptionally rare finely bound autograph album signed by the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln as well as View product.

Ulysses S. Grant Autograph.

Autograph boldly signed “U.S. Grant, Lt. Gen.” on a card. Double matted and framed with a photograph of Grant. The View product.

Opuscula Mathematica, Philosophica et Philologica.

First edition of the first collected edition of Newton‘s writings, which has been hailed as “a fine piece of bookmaking” (Babson). View product.

The Fountainhead.

First edition, first issue with first edition stated on the copyright page of the author’s first major novel, as well View product.

The Personal History of David Copperfield.

First edition in parts of “the most perfect of all the Dickens novels” (Virginia Woolf). Original serial issue. Twenty parts View product.

The Lost World.

First edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “robust adventure story,” illustrated with eight tipped-in plates, including frontispiece photographic portrait of “the members of View product.

The History of the British Empire in India.

Finley bound first edition set of Gleig’s history the British Empire in India from the library of Charles Dickens. Octavos, View product.

The Republic of Plato. In Ten Books. Translated from the Greek by H. Spens. With a Preliminary Discourse Concerning the Philosophy of the Ancients by the Translator.

First edition in English of one of the cornerstones of Western philosophy and politics. Quarto, period style full calf, red View product.

Trattato della Pittura di Lionardo da Vinci.

First edition, the preferred work in Italian of da Vinci’s work on painting. Folio, Bound in full calf, gilt titles View product.

The Oracle of Human Destiny; Or, Book of Fate: Being an Unerring Fortune-Teller and Accurate Interpreter of Mystical Signs & Heavenly Bodies.

Rare first edition of this early book of fortune telling and divination through card reading. Octavo, bound in original cloth, View product.

Gone With the Wind.

First edition, first issue with “Published May 1936” on the copyright page of the author’s classic novel. Octavo, original gray View product.

The Fables of Aesop, with a Life of the Author and Embellished with One Hundred & Twelve Plates.

First Stockdale edition of The Fables of Aesop, with a Life of the Author. Octavo, two volumes. Bound in full View product.

The Financier.

First editions of the first novel of the author’s acclaimed Trilogy of Desire. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on View product.

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA.

First edition of Watson’s ground breaking work regarding the discovery of DNA for which the author, Francis Crick and Maurice View product.

Mary Poppins.

First American edition of this children’s classic. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 27 line cuts (13 full-page) and chapter tailpieces View product.

From Here to Eternity.

First edition of the author’s first book, one of the great novels of World War II. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation View product.

Golf Architecture: Economy in Course Construction and Green-Keeping.

Rare first edition of this important work on golf architecture by one of the world’s most influential golf architects, Dr. View product.

Walt Disney’s Fantasia. With a Foreword by Leopold Stokowski.

First edition of the lavishly illustrated companion volume to Disney’s animated musical masterpiece. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 16 mounted color plates. View product.

Abraham Lincoln Military Commission Signed.

Military commission boldly signed by Abraham Lincoln as President August 7, 1861, and countersigned by Simon Cameron as Secretary of View product.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Translated from the Original Runes by Hermione Granger. With Commentary by Professor Albus Dumbledore.

First edition, limited issue of this wizarding classic. Signed by J.K. Rowling on the half-title page, with the authentication hologram. View product.

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter.

First edition of this work by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist regarding quantum electrodynamics. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Richard Feynman View product.

All Quiet On The Western Front.

First American edition of this landmark novel of the 20th century. Octavo, original beige cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in View product.

The Brothers Karamazov.

First American edition of Dostoevsky’s masterpiece, described by Freud as “the most magnificent novel ever written.” Octavo, original cloth, top edge View product.

The Manuscript Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau.

The manuscript edition of the writings of Henry David Thoreau. With the original manuscript sheet by Thoreau from his journal View product.

The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909.

Rare first edition, Special Limited Large Paper Issue of Shackleton’s account of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-1909, number 97 of only View product.

Big Game Hunting in the Rockies and On the Great Plains. Comprising “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman” and “The Wilderness Hunter.”

Signed limited first edition, number 122 of 1000 large-paper copies signed by Roosevelt beneath the frontispiece portrait and signed by View product.

Jurassic Park.

First edition of Crichton’s gripping, bestselling scientific thriller. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg on View product.

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

First edition of Adam Smith’s magnum opus and cornerstone of economic thought. Quarto, 2 volumes. Bound in full brown calf, View product.

Duty – Honor – Country: Two Memorable Addresses.

First edition of this collection of addresses delivered by General Douglas MacArthur to the Corps Cadets of West Point Military View product.

Joe DiMaggio Presidential Commission Signed by Richard Nixon.

Rare Richard Nixon Presidential Commission appointing Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio as a “Member of the Conference on Physical View product.

Virginia Woolf Autograph Postcard Signed to Clive Bell.

Rare original postcard handwritten and signed by influential British novelist Virginia Woolf to her brother-in-law Clive Bell. The postcard reads, View product.

Winston S. Churchill Autograph Letter Signed.

Two page autograph letter signed by British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill. Two pages on stationery with Churchill’s Hyde Park View product.

Ernest Hemingway Autograph Letter Excerpt Signed.

Rare letter excerpt boldly signed by Ernest Hemingway. Published by the Walden Book Shop in 1930, the introduction begins "The View product.

Utilitarianism.

First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine. In very good condition with View product.

Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America.

Rare early printing of Thomas Paine’s landmark work. Octavo, bound in calf over marble boards, gilt titles and tooling to View product.

The Sun Also Rises.

First edition, first issue of the first printing, with the misprint (“stoppped”) on page 181 line 26, in the first View product.

Machiavel’s Discourses upon the First Decade of T. Livius, Translated out of the Italian. To which is added his Prince: With some Marginal Animadversioms.

Rare second collected edition in English of The Prince and the Discourses on Livy, translated by Edward Dacres, Machiavelli’s first View product.

Casino Royale.

First edition of the first novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by View product.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

Magnificent first trade edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald and with illustrations View product.