First Edition
First Edition Books for Sale Online
Raptis Rare Books maintains an extensive collection of rare and first-edition books from a variety of authors and publishers. Navigate through our full selection of first-editions below to find a particular item you're looking for, ask a question, or order online today!
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"I have numerous readers among farmers and workers. They make India. Their poverty is India's curse and crime. Their prosperity alone can make India a country fit to live in:" Second Series of Mohandas K. Gandhi's Young India; signed and dated by him
GANDHI, Mohandas K. [Mahatma].
Young India Second Series 1924-1926.
New York: The Viking Press, 1927.
First edition of the second series of the writings of Gandhi. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. Signed and dated by Gandhi on the front free endpaper, "MK Gandhi 3:4:29." Gandhi founded and published the weekly periodical in English, Young India, from 1919 to 1931 to spread the philosophy and principles of the Satyagraha Movement and urge readers to participate in it. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Exceptionally rare and desirable signed and in this condition.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 95311
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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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Exceedingly rare new and revised edition of M. de Bourrienne's Life of Napoleon extra-illustrated with additional portraits and views and over 50 autograph letters and notes signed by Napoleon I, members of his family, and royal associates
DE BOURRIENNE, Fauvelet. [Napoleon].
Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte.
London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1885.
Exceedingly rare edition of M. de Bourrienne's Life of Napoleon extra-illustrated with additional portraits and views and over 50 autograph letters and notes signed by Napoleon I, members of his family, associates, and the author bound in. Octavo, bound in three quarters scarlet morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt with others uncut, tissue-guarded frontispiece and full color portrait to each volume, illustrated with engravings issued in the initial publication and over 100 extra portraits and views bound in. With over 50 autograph letters signed bound…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 117078
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“THE SOUTHERN STATES HAD RIGHTFULLY THE POWER TO WITHDRAW”: JEFFERSON DAVIS’ HISTORY OF THE CONFEDERACY, FIRST EDITION; INSCRIBED BY HIM TO HIS PHYSICIAN
DAVIS, Jefferson.
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1881.
First edition of Jefferson Davis’ important history of the Confederacy, inscribed by him to his doctor. With 18 maps (14 folding) and 19 plates, including stipple-engraved portraits of Davis, members of the presidential staff, General Lee, and others. Thick octavo, original three-quarter brown morocco, original brown cloth gilt, patterned endpapers, with steel-engraved plates, including frontispiece portraits, wood-engraved plates, maps. Association copy, inscribed by him in volume one, "Maurice Davis M.D. with the respects of the Author." The recipient was his friend and physician, when the Davis' were in London. Dr. Maurice Marcus Davis (1821-1898) acted as physician to the Davis’s whilst…
Price: $42,000.00 Item Number: 129632
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"There are cases in which the greatest daring is the greatest wisdom": FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT TREATISE ON POLITICAL-MILITARY ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY EVER WRITTEN; CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ'S ON WAR
VON CLAUSEWITZ, Carl Philipp Gottfried.
On War.
London: N. Trubner & Co., 1873.
First edition in English of arguably the most important treatise on political-military analysis and strategy ever written. Small quarto, three volumes complete in one, original cloth, frontispiece portrait of Clausewitz. Translated by Colonel J. J. Graham from the third German edition. In near fine condition. From the library of Lt. Colonel Walter Pipon Braithwaite with his bookplate and ownership signature. General Sir Walter Pipon Braithwaite was a British Army officer who held senior commands during the First World War. After being dismissed from his position as Chief of Staff for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, he received some acclaim as a…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 127055
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Scarce first edition and only printing of Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story; signed by both Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King
HASSLER, Alfred and Benton Resnik. [Martin Luther King Jr.; Coretta Scott King].
Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story: How 50,000 Negroes Found a New Way to End Racial Discrimination.
Nyack, N.Y: The Fellowship of Reconciliation, [1957].
First and only edition of this highly influential and historic comic book used to teach the tactics and power of nonviolent resistance during the Civil Rights Movement. Quarto, original pictorial wrappers, the text is presented as a graphic novel illustrated in color. Boldly signed by Martin Luther King on the front panel, "Best Wishes Martin L. King" and additionally signed by Coretta Scott King. With annotations in blue pen noting that King signed the book in 1958 and Coretta in 1985. Illustrated by Sy Barry, text by John Duffy. In very good condition. Very rare. Copies of the original comic…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 138337
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First Edition of Martin Luther's King Jr.'s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?; inscribed by him
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967.
First edition of King's "last grand expression of his vision" (Cornel West). Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Lester Arnet In appreciation for your great support Martin Luther King Jr." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ronald Clyne. Jacket photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Bob Fitch. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 133573
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First Edition of Martin Luther's King Jr.'s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?; inscribed by him
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967.
First edition of King's "last grand expression of his vision" (Cornel West). Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Carl Colodne, With Best Wishes for Peace and Justice, Martin Luther King Jr." Fine in a fine dust jacket, small name. Jacket design by Ronald Clyne. Jacket photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Bob Fitch. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 137331
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First Edition of Martin Luther's King Jr.'s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?; inscribed by him
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967.
First edition of King's "last grand expression of his vision" (Cornel West). Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Mr. H.O. Wilson In appreciation for your great support Martin Luther King Jr." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ronald Clyne. Jacket photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Bob Fitch. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $19,500.00 Item Number: 120468
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First British Edition of Long Walk To Freedom; Warmly Inscribed by Nelson Mandela and signed by Desmond Tutu and F.W. de Klerk
MANDELA, Nelson.
Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.
London: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.
First British edition of the first autobiography of one of the greatest moral leaders of the twentieth century which has went on to sell over six million copies worldwide. Octavo, original black cloth, cartographic endpapers, illustrated with photographs. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Dr. Ivan May Compliments and best wishes to a public figure who cares. Nelson Mandela 6.1.95." Additionally signed by Nobel Prize-winners Desmond Tutu and F.W. de Klerk. The recipient, Ivan May was an academician and humanitarian, who worked closely with The Nelson Mandela Foundation. He was described by the foundation as…
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 130735
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"Nonviolence is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil. It is evil that the nonviolent resister seeks to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil": First Edition of Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story; Signed by Martin Luther King, Jr.
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1958.
First edition of Dr. Martin Luther King’s first book. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Martin Luther King, Jr. on the front free endpaper. Review copy, with the slip laid in, near fine in a very good dust jacket with some fading to the spine and light wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. First printings are uncommon signed.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 30031
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"God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race": First Edition of Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story; Signed by Martin Luther King, Jr.
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1958.
First edition of Dr. Martin Luther King’s first book. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Best Wishes Martin Luther King, Jr." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom slipcase. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 145065
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Winston S. Churchill's My Early Life, Thoughts and Adventures, Great Contemporaries, and Step by Step; inscribed by Churchill to his trusted financial adviser T.E.R. Harris
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
My Early Life; Thoughts and Adventures; Great Contemporaries; Step by Step.
London: Odhams Press Limited, 1936-1939.
First Odhams press edition of four of Churchill's best-known works. Octavo, 4 volumes, original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, illustrated. Presentation set, inscribed by Churchill to his financial adviser on the front free endpaper of My Early Life, "To T.E.R. Harris from Winston S. Churchill Christmas 1947" and initialed by Churchill in the three other volumes. The recipient, T.E.R. Harris was Churchill’s financial adviser at the Pall Mall branch of Lloyds bank in London from 1943 to 1948. For many years Churchill relied heavily on his press articles and book deals to assuage his financial worries…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 131601
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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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"God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race": First Edition of Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story; Signed by Martin Luther King, Jr.
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1958.
First edition, early printing of Dr. Martin Luther King’s first book. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Best Wishes Martin Luther King, Jr." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 144105
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“We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more”: First Edition of My Life; Signed By Bill and Hillary Clinton and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
CLINTON, Bill [Ruth Bader Ginsburg].
My Life.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
First edition of President Clinton's autobiography. Large octavo, original blue boards, illustrated with 32 pages of photographs. Boldly signed on the title page by Bill and Hillary Clinton and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993 by President Clinton. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson. An exceptional and most unique example.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 124933
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"It is my hope to recall this great shade from the past, and not only invest him with his panoply, but make him living and intimate to modern eyes": Complete First Edition Set of Marlborough: His Life and Times; vol. iv inscribed by Winston Churchill to his research assistant and biographer Maurice Ashley
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
Marlborough: His Life and Times.
London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1933-38.
First edition of Churchill's magisterial biography of his notable ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Octavo, 4 volumes, original cloth, top edge gilt, illustrated with hundreds of maps and plans (many folding), plates and document facsimiles. Association copy, inscribed by Winston Churchill on the front free endpaper of volume IV, "To Maurice Ashley from Winston Churchill August 1938." The recipient, Maurice Ashley worked as a research assistant to Winston Churchill for four years during which he was working on the Marlborough biography. Ashley is also the author of Churchill as Historian (1968), which discusses how Churchill approached historical research.…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 144914
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"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness": Rare First Edition Of The Dalai Lamas Autobiography My Land and My People; Signed By His Holiness the Dalai Lama
THE DALAI LAMA OF TIBET,.
My Land and My People: The Memoirs of His Holiness The Dalai Lama.
London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1962.
First edition of the Dalai Lama's first autobiography. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Signed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the title page. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket with light rubbing. Jacket design by Jaspar Blackall. Edited by David Howarth. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $12,000.00 Item Number: 136902
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"Our first black President" (Toni Morrison) First Edition of My Life; Signed By Bill and Hillary Clinton and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison
CLINTON, Bill [Hillary Clinton.
My Life.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
First edition of President Clinton's autobiography. Large octavo, original blue boards, illustrated with 32 pages of photographs. Boldly signed by Bill and Hillary Clinton and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison on the title page. In 1998, Toni Morrison wrote a comment for The New Yorker arguing that “white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson. A unique example, we have never seen another example signed by both Bill and Hillary Clinton and…
Price: $12,000.00 Item Number: 133847