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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Rare First Edition of The Education of Henry Adams; One of only 40 Examples
ADAMS, Henry.
The Education of Henry Adams.
Washington: Privately Printed, 1907.
Rare first edition, one of only 40 copies printed of this classic work. The text of Education was not made commercially available until 1918, following the author's death, when it was published by Houghton Mifflin. In 1919 it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Modern Library named it as the best non-fiction book published in English since 1900. BAL 32; Reese Narratives of Personal Experience 2 ("certainly one of the great American biographies"). In near fine condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 140067
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"I hardly think that any letter will further your object; still, if the accompanying one can be made of the least service, I shall be happy": Rare autograph letter signed by Great American Author Herman Melville
MELVILLE, Herman.
Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed.
c. 1855.
Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of great American novelist Herman Melville. One page, the letter reads in full, "Pittsfield Aug 26 Osmond Tiffany Esq. My dear Sir, With pleasure I comply with your request, but hardly think that any letter will further your object; still, if the accompanying one can be made of the least service, I shall be happy. Wishing you all success in your affairs I am Very Truly Yours H Melville." The recipient, Osmond Tiffany was a Baltimore merchant and occasional author who contributed to the Atlantic Monthly and The Knickerbocker. In 1855, he…
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 138591
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"what first attracts our interest in the person of Moses is his name": First Edition of Freud's Moses And Monotheism; Inscribed by Him To His Niece
FREUD, Sigmund.
Moses And Monotheism.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
First American edition of last book written and published in Sigmund Freud's lifetime. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "To dear Poppy from Uncle Sigm. London 1939." The eldest daughter of Freud's elder brother, Philipp, Pauline "Poppy" Freud was born in 1873 when Sigmund was seventeen years old. Freud visited Pauline and her parents in Manchester, England periodically throughout her childhood and maintained correspondence with Pauline well into her adulthood, visiting her and her husband, Frederick Oswald Hartwig, in London in 1939. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some wear to the extremities. Housed in a…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 67018
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"Many thanks for your lucid thoughts and interest in my work": First edition of Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team; inscribed by John Steinbeck to Legendary literary critic Edmund Wilson
STEINBECK, John.
Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team.
New York: The Viking Press, 1942.
First edition of Steinbeck's riveting account of his experiences with several bomber crews of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 60 photographs by John Swope. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Dear Mr. Wilson, Many thanks for your lucid thoughts and interest in my work, John Steinbeck." The recipient, Edmund Wilson, was an American literary critic and progenitor of the Library of America publication series. His critical works helped foster public appreciation for many of the foremost American writers of the 20th century including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway,…
Price: $9,200.00 Item Number: 109635
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First Edition of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test; Signed by Tom Wolfe, Ken Kesey and Phil Lesh
WOLFE, Tom [Ken Kesey; Phil Lesh].
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1968.
First edition of the classic account of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters during their bus trip across America in the late 1960's. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Tom Wolfe with his characteristic signature on the title page. Additionally signed on the front free endpaper by Merry Prankster Ken Kesey and legendary bassist Phil Lesh on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with just a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by Milton Glaser.
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 144225
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“It was not well to drive men into final corners; at those moments they could all develop teeth and claws": Rare First Edition of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage
CRANE, Stephen.
The Red Badge of Courage.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1895.
First edition, first printing with page [235] advertising the three works of Gilbert Parker's Best Books, and the last page of advertisements (page 238) ending with The Land of the Sun, by Christian Reid; last gathering, including ads on laid paper. Octavo, original publisher's tan cloth. In very good condition. From the library of Jean Hersholt, actor and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1945-1949, with his bookplate. Hersholt's best-remembered film roles include Marcus Schouler in Erich von Stroheim's 1924 Greed and Shirley Temple's beloved grandfather in the 1937 film version of the 1880 children's book, Heidi, written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. During his long career in…
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 127362
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Finely Bound Set by Sangorski and Sutcliffe of the Works of Kahlil Gibran
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
The Works of Kahlil Gibran, Including: The Prophet, The Madman, The Forerunner, Sand and Foam, Jesus the Son of Man, The Earth Gods, The Wanderer, The Garden of the Prophet, Prose Poems, Nymphs of the Valley, Spirits Rebellious, and A Tear and a Smile.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962-1965.
Finely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in full red morocco, gilt titles to spines direct with two raised bands and gilt tooling, gilt-ruled board edges and turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Illustrated plates by Gibran. Complete with each of the text volumes of his works as published by Knopf (originally between 1918 and 1950). In fine condition. An attractively bound set of Kahlil Gibran.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 82975
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First Editions of Henry Yule's The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East; finely bound in full morocco by sangorski and sutcliffe
YULE, Colonel Henry.
The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East.
London: John Murray, 1871.
First edition of Yule's important work which correlated Polo's travels with their present-day locations. Octavo, two volumes. Bound in full morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt ruling and vignettes to the front panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, patterned endpapers, with maps and engraved illustrations many folding and in color. From the Adventure and Exploration collection of James Stephen “Steve” Fossett with his bookplate to the pastedown of each volume. American businessman and record-setting aviator Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in…
Price: $3,800.00 Item Number: 111068
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Finely Bound First Editions of Henry Yule's The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East
YULE, Colonel Henry.
The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East.
London: John Murray, 1871.
First edition of Yule's important work which correlated Polo's travels with their present-day locations. Octavo, two volumes. Bound in three quarters morocco with gilt tooling featuring naval vignettes and red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt to the spines, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers, with maps and engraved illustrations many folding and in color. In near fine condition. First editions are uncommon.
Price: $1,850.00 Item Number: 90447
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First Edition of Churchill's Ian Hamilton's March; Finely Bound by the Harcourt Bindery
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
Ian Hamilton’s March.
London: Longman's, Green, and Co, 1900.
First edition of Churchill's fifth book, a continuation of his coverage of the Boer War which he began in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt signature to the front panel, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt,engraved frontispiece portrait of Ian Hamilton, folding map in color and 4 pages of advertisements for Churchill's works at rear. In fine condition.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 144787
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Rare First edition, limited issue of T.E. Lawrence's The Mint; signed by his brother and the book's editor A.W. Lawrence
LAWRENCE, T.E. [A.W. Lawrence].
The Mint: A Day-Book of the R.A.F. Depot Between August and December 1922 with Later Notes by 352087 A/C Ross.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1955.
First edition, limited issue of Lawrence's semi-autobiographical account of his R.A.F. training days. Quarto, original quarter morocco, patterned endpapers, top edge gilt with others uncut. One of 2000 numbered copies, this is number 1039. Although not called for this example is signed by A.W. Lawrence on the limitation page (T.E. Lawrence's brother who edited and contributed to introductory notes to this volume). Near fine in the rare original slipcase which is in very good condition. Bookplate. Rare and desirable.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 117566
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First Edition of Churchill's Ian Hamilton's March in the original cloth
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
Ian Hamilton’s March.
London: Longman's, Green, and Co, 1900.
First edition of Churchill's fifth book, a continuation of his coverage of the Boer War which he began in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria. Octavo, original red cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, engraved frontispiece portrait of Ian Hamilton, folding map in color and 4 pages of advertisements for Churchill's works at rear. In near fine condition. A sharp example.
Price: $1,200.00 Item Number: 129329
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"There had been a heavy shower of rain, but the sun was already shining through the breaks in the clouds and throwing swiftly changing shadows on the streets, the houses, and the gardens of the city of Laurania": First edition of Churchill's only full-length work of fiction: Savrola: A Tale of the Revolution in Laurania
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
Savrola: A Tale of the Revolution in Laurania.
New York: Longmans, Green and Co, 1900.
First American edition (which precedes the British first) of Churchill's singular attempt at full-length fiction. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable in this condition, Churchill's only work of literature.
Price: $1,100.00 Item Number: 129733