Biography and Autobiography
Rare Biography & Autobiography Books for Sale Online
If you are looking for rare or first edition biography or autobiography books look no further than Raptis Rare Books. Browse through our entire collection of rare biographies and autobiographies below, view details about individual books and contact us to ask a question or find out more information.
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"One of the most fascinating regiments in American military history": Rough Rider Sergeant Craig W. Wadsworth's personal collection of Rough Riders books, letters and photographs; with a first edition of The Rough Riders and typed letter signed by President Theodore Roosevelt
ROOSEVELT, Theodore and Craig W. Wadsworth.
Theodore Roosevelt and Craig W. Wadsworth Rough Riders Collection.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899.
Craig Wharton Wadsworth's personal collection of books, letters and photographs from his time as a Sergeant in Roosevelt's Rough Riders cavalry. The collection includes a first edition of Roosevelt's best-selling work, The Rough Riders (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899) signed by Roosevelt, "Theodore Roosevelt" and Wadsworth, "Craig W. Wadsworth Sergeant-Troop K"; Wadsworth's 14-leaf photograph album bound in full pebbled leather with gilt titles to the front panel which read: "First United States Volunteer Cavalry (Roosevelt Rough Riders) 1898" containing 24 original photographs of the cavalrymen on their expedition to Daiquiri with annotations in Wadsworth's hand and a lengthy introduction…
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 123510
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"Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other": First Edition of Memoirs of William T. Sherman; Inscribed three times by Him
SHERMAN, William T.
Memoirs of William T. Sherman.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1875.
First edition of this memoir from one of the most well regarded generals, “oft-consulted and much-quoted reminiscences ... Sherman wrote as he fought; dynamically and bluntly” (Nevins II, 89). Octavo, bound in publishers three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by General Sherman three times: on the front free endpaper of Vol. I, "Mrs. E.J. Lynch Presented by Gen. W.T. Sherman 1876 New York City"; on the front free endpaper of Vol. II, "Mrs. E.J. Lynch Presented by Gen. W.T. Sherman 18"; and the second free endpaper of Vol. II, “Mrs. Eleanor…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 103400
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Extensive collection of over fifty first edition Civil War era pamphlets
DODGE, W.C.; Andrew Johnson; Henry J. Raymond; et al.
Civil War Political Pamphlet Collection.
Various publishers, c. 1861-1865.
Extensive collection of over fifty first edition Civil War era pamphlets on topics including politics, battles, foreign relations, debt, and the draft. Octavo, 52 volumes, original wrappers. The collection includes first editions of: Memorial to the Hon. Secretary of War, or, How to Strengthen our Army and Crush the Rebellion, with a Saving of Life and Treasure [Dodge, W.C. Washington DC: McGill & Witherow, 1864. From the collection of James W. Grimes (1816-1872), Governor of Iowa and United States Senator from Iowa with his ownership inscription]; Correspondence between John H. Gilmer and Honorable Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury [Richmond:…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 135127
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“A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnanimity": First Edition of Frederick Douglass' My Bondage and Freedom
DOUGLASS, Frederick .
My Bondage and Freedom.
New York & Auburn: Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, 1855.
Rare first edition of Douglass' second autobiography. Octavo, original publisher's brown cloth, with three engraved plates, including the engraved frontispiece from the classic daguerreotype of Douglass. In very good condition. A very nice example, uncommon in this condition.
Price: $12,000.00 Item Number: 133267
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First Edition, First Issue of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin with a first edition of A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin; With a signed Card and Cart-de-visite
STOWE, Harriet Beecher.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lowly and A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Boston and Cleveland: John P. Jewett and Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, 1852.
First edition, first issue of the author's classic work. Octavo, original cloth, volume with title vignettes and six wood-engravings. In very good condition. With a rare carte-de-visite and note card signed "truly yours HB Stowe." Comes with a first edition of Stowe's A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1853. Housed in a custom case.
Price: $11,000.00 Item Number: 112652
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Signed Limited Editions Of President Eisenhowers Mandate For Change and The White House Years: Waging Peace 1956-1961; both volumes inscribed by Eisenhower to his Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, Jr.
EISENHOWER, Dwight D.
The White House Years: Mandate for Change 1953-1956 and The White House Years: Waging Peace 1956-1961.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1963-65.
Signed limited first editions of Eisenhower's memoirs, each one of 1500 copies. Thick Octavo, two volumes, original tan cloth with green morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, cartographic endpapers. One of 1500 numbered copies signed by the author. Association copy, Waging Peace is an Advance presentation copy, inscribed by Eisenhower to Secretary of Defense, Thomas S. Gates, Jr., "Devotedly Dwight D. Eisenhower" on an Eisenhower Farm, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania bookplate. The recipient, Thomas S. Gates is mentioned numerous times in both of these volumes. "To replace Neil McElroy as Secretary of Defense I prevailed on Secretary of the Navy Tom Gates to delay…
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 133263
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"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do": RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE COLLECTION OF JEFFERSONS WRITINGS; In the Rare Original Boards
JEFFERSON, Thomas.
Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph.
Charlottesville, VA: F. Carr and Co, 1829.
First edition of the first published collection of Jefferson’s writings, an impressive four-volume work edited by his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Octavo, 4 volumes, original boards, engraved frontispiece portrait after Gilbert Stuart in Volume I. Rare and desirable in the original boards.
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 143456
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First Edition, First Issue of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
STOWE, Harriet Beecher.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lowly.
Boston: John P. Jewett & Company. Cleveland: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, 1852.
First edition, first issue of Stowe's classic American novel, widely considered the book that precipitated the American Civil War. Octavo, two volumes in the original publisher's cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles and vignettes to the front panels, illustrated with title vignettes and six wood-engravings. BAL's binding B (no priority). Portrait of Stowe tipped in opposite the title page of volume I. In very good condition.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 142642
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“THE MOST WIDELY READ OF ALL AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES": TRUE FIRST EDITION OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
FRANKLIN, Benjamin.
Mémoires de la Vie Privée de Benjamin Franklin, Écrits Par Lui-Même, et Adressés à Son Fils, Suivis d’un Précis Historique de Sa Vie Politique, et de Plusieurs Pièces, Relatives à Ce Père de la Liberté. [Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin].
Paris: Chez Buisson, Libraire, 1791.
True first edition of the first part of Franklin’s famed autobiography which preceded the first English edition by two years. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with a morocco spine label lettered in gilt, elaborate period gilt tooling to the spine, ribbon bound in. In very good condition. A nice example.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 139755
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Rare first edition of S. Putnam Waldo's Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American Naval Heroes and the War of the Revolution
WALDO, S. Putnam. [James Monroe; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson].
Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American Naval Heroes and the War of the Revolution, Between the American Republic and the Kingdom of Great Britain; Comprising Sketches of Com. Nicholas Biddle, Com. John Paul Jones, Com. Edward Preble and Com. Alexander Murray. With Incidental Allusions to other Distinguished Characters.
Hartford: Published by Silas Andrus, 1823.
First edition of Putnam's work dedicated to American naval heroes of the Revolutionary War including James Monroe, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles to the spine. In near fine condition. Armorial bookplate to the pastedown. Rare.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 120635
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“Learning the secret of flight from a bird was a good deal like learning the secret of magic from a magician”: First Edition of The Wright Brothers; Inscribed by Orville Wright
KELLY, Fred C.; Introduction by Orville Wright.
The Wright Brothers.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1943.
First edition of this classic American biography authorized by Orville Wright and long considered the definitive Wright biography. Octavo, original blue cloth, illustrated with 16 pages of photographs. Presentation copy, inscribed by Orville Wright in the year of publication on the half-title page, "To Edward with affectionate regards. Orville Wright May 4, 1943." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Introduction by Orville Wright.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 142422
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The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln; Finely BOUND IN FULL CRUSHED LEVANT MOROCCO IN AN ELABORATE COSWAY-STYLE BINDING
STEPHENSON, Nathaniel Wright. [Abraham Lincoln].
An Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln: Consisting of his Letters Speeches and Conversations.
London: Andrew Melrose, 1926.
First edition of Stephenson's appreciation of the great American President. Octavo, bound in full crushed levant morocco in an elaborate Cosway-style binding with a hand painted miniature ivorene portrait of Lincoln under glass to the front panel within an elaborate gilt vignette, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt-ruled turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, watered silk endleaves, illustrated, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 138601
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“If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance": First Edition of The Wright Brothers; Inscribed by Orville Wright to Sir Bennett Melvill Jones
KELLY, Fred C.; Introduction by Orville Wright.
The Wright Brothers.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1943.
First edition of this classic American biography authorized by Orville Wright and long considered the definitive Wright biography. Octavo, original blue cloth, illustrated with 16 pages of photographs. Association copy, inscribed by Orville Wright in the year of publication on the half-title page, “To Professor Melvill Jones with my compliments and cordial regard. Orville Wright May 5, 1943.” The recipient, Sir Bennett Melvill Jones was Francis Mond Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cambridge from 1919 to 1952. Melvill demonstrated the importance of streamlining in aircraft design, developing the ideas of Louis Charles Breguet into a refined theory…
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 140081
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“The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark": The Patriot's Edition of The Life and Works of Thomas Paine
PAINE, Thomas.
The Life and Works of Thomas Paine.
New Rochelle, New York: Thomas Paine National Historical Association, 1925.
The Patriot's edition of the Life and Works of Thomas Paine. Octavo, ten volumes bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. In good condition.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 138611
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"This is a book that needed to be written": First Edition of Tin Pan Alley; Signed by George Gershwin, Charles Previn and James Melton
GOLDBERG, Isaac; Introduction by George Gershwin.
Tin Pan Alley.
New York: The John Day Company, 1930.
First edition of this work on American popular music. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Introduction by George Gershwin. Boldly signed "Sincerely George Gershwin" on the dedication page. Additionally signed by conductor Charles Previn and tenor James Melton. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Previn was an American film composer who was highly active at Universal in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. Before going to Hollywood, Previn had arranged music for over 100 Broadway productions. Melton was a popular singer in the 1920s and 1930s and later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out…
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 84308
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Rare First Edition of Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery; with an autograph letter signed by him
WASHINGTON, Booker T.
Up From Slavery. An Autobiography.
New York: Doubleday, Page, 1901.
First edition of Booker T. Washington's landmark biography with an autograph letter signed by him on his Tuskegee Institute letterhead. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of the author. Accompanied by an autograph letter signed by Washington on his The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute letterhead which reads, "Oct. 19, 190 Mr. George A. Dary Exchange Bldg 53 State St. Boston Mass Dear Sir: - you will find enclosed a copy of my last annual report to the Board of Trustees which has just been printed. I thought you might like to read it or at least glance through…
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 135007
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"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do": RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE COLLECTION OF JEFFERSONS WRITINGS
JEFFERSON, Thomas.
Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph.
Charlottesville, VA: F. Carr and Co, 1829.
First edition of the first published collection of Jefferson’s writings, an impressive four-volume work edited by his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Octavo, 4 volumes, contemporary calf, engraved frontispiece portrait after Gilbert Stuart in volume I, 4 folding plates of facsimiles of Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 142662
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First Edition of As We Remember Joe; Inscribed by Robert Kennedy to Bill Walton
KENNEDY, John F.; Robert Kennedy.
As We Remember Joe.
Cambridge, MA: University Press, 1945.
First edition, second issue (of only 250 copies), of this tribute to the eldest of the Kennedy brothers. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece, illustrated throughout. Inscribed by Robert Kennedy on the front free endpaper, "For Bill Walton Bob Kennedy Christmas 1945." American journalist William Walton was a confidant of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy and played critical roles in managing the funeral and burial services of John F. Kennedy. In near fine condition.
Price: $4,500.00 Item Number: 69057
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Rare first edition of Charles Goepp's Kossuth and America; from the Library of Congress
[GOEPP, Charles].
E Pluribus Unum. A Political Tract on Kossuth and America.
Philadelphia: Published by F. W. Thomas, 1852.
Rare first edition of Goepp's criticism of Kossuth. Octavo, bound in full cloth. Deaccessioned from the Library of Congress with the library's bookplate and stamp to the pastedown. In good condition. Rare.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 131558