Rare History, Law & Political Books for Sale Online
Raptis Rare Books is a trusted antique book dealer and reseller and as such we maintain an extensive selection of rare history books, law & political books. Browse through our entire collection of rare and first-edition books about history, law or politics, use the filters or search bar to find exactly what you’re looking for then call or email us with any questions or order here directly online!
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First Edition of Read My Lips No New Taxes; Signed by Ostrander and President George Bush
Ostrander, Dan; Foreword by George Bush.
“Read My Lips No New Taxes.”
Oroville, California: Butte College Press, 1999.
First edition of this work on the Bush administration. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Dan Ostrander and President George Bush on the half-title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Cover design by Patty Melron. Uncommon signed by President Bush.
Price: $750.00
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“THERE ARE NO PEOPLE ON EARTH IN WHOM A SPIRIT OF ENTHUSIASTIC ZEAL IS SO READILY KINDLED, AND BURNS SO REMARKABLY, AS AMERICANS”: FIRST EDITION OF DAVID MCCULLOUGH'S 1776; SIGNED BY HIM
McCullough, David.
1776.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005.
First edition of this work by McCullough, considered a companion piece to his earlier biography of John Adams which focuses on the events surrounding the start of the American Revolution. Octavo, original half-cloth, pictorial endpapers. Signed by David McCullough on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Wendell Minor.
Price: $100.00
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"In 1999, we will remember the twentieth century as the bloodiest and the best in the history of man": First signed limited edition of Richard Nixon's 1999: Victory Without War; Signed by Richard Nixon
Nixon, Richard.
1999: Victory Without War.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.
Signed limited first edition of Nixon’s bestselling work. Octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine. One of 600 copies signed by Richard Nixon, this is number 391. In fine condition. Housed in the original slipcase which is in fine condition.
Price: $350.00
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“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between”: Rare First Editions of the Full Orchestral Scores of the Symphonies of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; Including the first appearance of of the full scores of Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro and Symphony no. 40
Beethoven, Ludwig van; Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .
A Compleat Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies, in Score, Most Respectfully Dedicated, by Permission, to H.R.H The Prince of Wales.
London: Lavenu, Cianchettini & Sperati, 1808-1810.
First editions of the first printings of the full orchestral scores of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Mozart, and Hadyn. Quarto, two volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards wit gilt titles and tooling to the spine, including A Complete Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies (Cianchettini and Sperati) and A Complete Collection of Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies. A Compleat Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies contains the first appearance of the full scores of Mozart‘s Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, Mozart‘s Symphony no. 40, and no. 41. (Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, 564-567). A Complete Collection of Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies (Lavenu) contains the first appearance of the full scores of Mozart‘s Symphony no. 39, no, 13, and no. 38. In very good condition with light toning to the text. An exceptional collection of the utmost rarity.
Price: $40,000.00
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First Edition of A Critical Essay on Modern Macroeconomic Theory; Signed by Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Robert Solow
Hahn, Frank and Robert Solow.
A Critical Essay on Modern Macroeconomic Theory.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1995.
First edition. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $300.00
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“a portrait of the Kennedy family as it looked then” : First Edition of Jim Bishop's A Day in the Life of President Kennedy; Signed by Jacqueline Kennedy
Bishop, Jim (Jacqueline Kennedy).
A Day in the Life of President Kennedy.
New York: Random House, 1964.
First edition of this Bishop’s account of a day in the life of President Kennedy. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Jacqueline Kennedy on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Rare and desirable signed by Jacqueline Kennedy.
Price: $2,000.00
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“A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever”: First Edition of John Adams' A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America; In the Rare Original Boards
Adams, John.
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.
London: Printed for C. Dilly, 1787.
First edition of John Adams’ landmark work. Octavo, original boards, minor wear. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half calf clamshell box. Rare, especially in the original boards.
Price: $16,000.00
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Rare First Edition of Black's A Dictionary of Law
Black, Henry Campbell.
A Dictionary of Law Containing: Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern.
St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co, 1891.
First edition of this landmark work, the most widely cited law book in the world. Thick quarto, original cloth, red leather spine label. In near fine condition with a touch of rubbing. A superior example, most scarce and desirable in the original cloth.
Price: $4,200.00
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"THE MOST AMAZING, ENDURING AND ENDEARING ONE-MAN FEAT": FIRST EDITION OF JOHNSON’S LANDMARK DICTIONARY
Johnson, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language: In Which The Words are deduced from their Originals, And Illustrated in their Different Significations By Examples from the best Writers. To Which Are Prefixed, A History of the Language, And An English Grammar.
London: : Printed by W. Strahan, for J. & P. Knapton, et al., 1755.
First edition of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary of the English language. Folio, 2 volumes. Bound in three quarters calf over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt titles, black spine labels. In very good condition with owner inscription on title head, title of volume one conserved, occasional light toning.
Price: $14,000.00
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A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation
McCulloch, J.R.
A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation.
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, Longman, 1834.
Early edition of this important work on international trade, it contains a plethora of contemporary commercial and maritime laws, international business practices, financial institutions, currencies, ports and the imports and exports of different nations. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, double gilt ruled, marbled endpapers, marbled edges. In near fine condition.
Price: $350.00
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First Edition of Jimmy Carter's A Government As Good As Its People; Inscribed by Him
Carter, Jimmy.
A Government As Good As Its People.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.
First edition. Octavo, original boards. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the Jimmy Carter.
Price: $350.00
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"For it is this understanding which, in part, promotes a climate of freedom within which fruitful and genuinely new ideas- and the science of economics- can progress and prosper": First Edition of A History of Economic Theory and Method; Lengthily Inscribed by Robert Ekelund
Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. and Robert F. Hebert.
A History of Economic Theory and Method.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975.
First edition of this classic work. Small quarto, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by Robert Ekelund on the half-title page, “For John Rogers- For it is this understanding which, in part, promotes a climate of freedom within which fruitful and genuinely new ideas- and the science of economics- can progress and prosper. With all good regards and wishes Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. (Bob Ekelund) March 25, 2015.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $975.00
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First Editions of Allan Meltzer's A History of the Federal Reserve Volumes 1 & 2; Each Signed by Him
Meltzer, Allan H.; Foreword by Alan Greenspan.
A History of the Federal Reserve, Volumes 1 & 2.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
First editions of this seminal work on the Federal Reserve. Octavo, original cloth, 2 volumes. Both volumes one and two are inscribed by Allan Meltzer. Fine in a near fine dust jackets.
Price: $1,800.00
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Rare First Edition of A History of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club St. Andrews 1754-1900
Everard, H.S.C.
A History of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club St. Andrews 1754-1900.
Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1907.
First edition of “one of the most handsome books in the library of golf.” Octavo, original cloth, gilt titles an tooling to the spine and front panel, top edge gilt, illustrated with numerous plates from photographs and paintings, including some color plates. In near fine condition. Housed in custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $1,500.00
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First Edition of Bertrand Russell's A History of Western
Russell, Bertrand.
A History of Western Philosophy.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1946.
First edition of this classic work that is universally acclaimed as the most outstanding work on the subject of Western philosophy. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Bertrand Russell on the title page. Fine in a very good dust jacket with some light rubbing and wear. Signed copies are exceptionally rare, none have appeared at auction in 60 years.
Price: $20,000.00
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First Editions of Frederick Law Olmsted's A Journey In The Seaboard Slave States; A Journey Through Texas; A Journey In The Back Country
Olmsted, Frederick Law.
A Journey In The Seaboard Slave States; A Journey Through Texas; A Journey In The Back Country.
New York: Dixon & Edwards, 1856-1860, 1860.
First edition, Octavo, three volumes, original cloth. A Journey In The Seaboard Slave states is inscribed by the author to his cousin Charles Olmsted. The cloth has been sympathetically rebacked. The remaining two volumes are in very good condition. Books inscribed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American Landscape Architecture, are rare.
Price: $2,750.00
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Rare First Edition of first Dictionary of American Law: Bouvier's Law Dictionary
Bouvier, John.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America and of the Several States of the American Union, with Reference to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law.
Philadelphia: T. & J.W. Johnson, 1839.
First edition of this cornerstone of American law. Quarto, 2 volumes bound in period style calf, gilt titles and tooling. First editions are rare, with no examples appearing at auction in the last 80 years.
Price: $9,800.00
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Inscribed by John Kenneth Galbraith to Henry and Nancy Kissinger
Galbraith, John Kenneth; Henry A. Kissinger.
A Life In Our Times.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981.
First edition of Galbraith’s autobiography. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to Henry and Nancy Kissinger, “For Nancy & Henry as a guide to those K volumes yet to come! With all good wishes J.K.G. 1981.” Galbraith and Kissinger were close friends, both civil servants and Harvard University professors, who played a vital role in the development of United States foreign policies in the 1960s-70s and beyond. Galbraith, working as United States ambassador to India in the Kennedy administration and Kissinger in the Nixon administration as Secretary of State. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. An outstanding association copy linking these two giants of American history.
Price: $1,500.00
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First Edition of A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr.; Signed by Alvin Felzenberg
Felzenberg, Alvin S.
A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017.
First edition of this “gracefully written and richly informative book” (Damon Linker, New York Times). Octavo, original boards. Signed by Alvin Felzenberg on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $75.00
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First Edition of Matthew Henson's A Negro Explorer at the North Pole; In exceptional condition
Henson, Matthew A.
A Negro Explorer at the North Pole.
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co, 1912.
First edition of this landmark work. Octavo, original blue cloth with portrait of Henson to the front panel, frontispiece, 3 double-sided leaves of plates. Foreword by Peary and an introduction by Booker T. Washington. In fine condition. Rare in this condition.
Price: $3,800.00