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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Exceptionally rare and spectacular 17th century editions of both volumes of Cervantes’ masterpiece Don Quixote; comprising one of the most desirable pairings of both volumes: Cervantes' final revised third edition of Part I and the scarce first edition of Part II
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de.
El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Segunda Parte del Ingenioso Cavallero Don Quixote de la Mancha.
Madrid: Por Juan de La Cuesta, vendese en casa de Francisco de Robles, librero del Rey, 1608-1615.
Exceedingly rare and spectacular 17th century editions of both volumes of Cervantes’ prized work, the remarkable Beilby Thompson-Maggs-Ortiz Linares copy with a shared provenance spanning over 320 years, this is among the oldest known sets of both parts paired and uniformly bound in the 18th century, comprising one of the most desirable pairings of the editions of each volume selected for the superior qualities of their respective printings: the third edition of Part I - printed in 1608 - being the last edition corrected and revised by Cervantes himself which remains its definitive form, and the scarce first edition of…
Price: $1,900,000.00 Item Number: 142820
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"Who is the most important person I've ever met in a signing queue & the first person ever to see merit in Harry Potter. With huge [underlined 4 times] thanks. J.K. Rowling": First Edition, First Printing of J.K. Rowling's Rare First Book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; Inscribed by Her to Bryony Evens and with a large original illustration by Thomas Taylor
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
First edition, first printing of the rarest book in the Harry Potter series, a cornerstone of young adult literature, and one of the best-selling books of all time. First printing with "First published in Great Britain in 1997", the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1", "Joanne Rowling" for "J.K. Rowling", and "Thomas Taylor1997" (lacking the space) on the copyright page and "1 wand" listed twice (as the first item and last item) on the "Other Equipment" list on page 53. Octavo, original laminated pictorial boards, without a dust jacket as issued. Association copy,…
Price: $975,000.00 Item Number: 115640
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Exceedingly rare first edition, first issue presentation copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit; inscribed by Tolkien to the Livesleys who ran the summer guest cottage in the village of Sidmouth which inspired 'The Shire' and where Tolkien did much of his writing
TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
The Hobbit.
London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1937.
First edition, first issue of Tolkien's classic tale, "among the very highest achievements of children’s authors during the 20th century” (Carpenter & Pritchard, 530), one of only a handful of presentation copies reserved for Tolkien to give to family members, colleagues and close friends. Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers, frontispiece and 9 full-page uncolored illustrations after drawings by Tolkien. Presentation copy, inscribed by Tolkien on the flyleaf, "Mr. & Mrs. Livesley & Edgar with best wishes from J.R.R. Tolkien." The recipients, the Livesleys and their son Edgar, ran the Kennaway House, a Regency town house in the village of Sidmouth,…
Price: $475,000.00 Item Number: 135801
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Rare First Editions, First Printings of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; Each VOLUME Signed by J.R.R. TOLKIEN
TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1954-55.
First editions, first states of each title comprising the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes, original red cloth, folding map in the rear of each volume. Each volume is signed by J.R.R. Tolkien on the front free endpapers. Each volume is housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. An exceptional set, most rare and uncommon signed.
Price: $275,000.00 Item Number: 143092
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“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment": Rare First Edition of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
AUSTEN, Jane.
Pride and Prejudice.
London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813.
First editions of all three volumes of Jane Austen's second novel and most popular. Octavo, three volumes, bound in contemporary three quarter calf over marbled boards with gilt titles to the spine. In very good condition. Armorial bookplates to each pastedown. Period gift inscription from the year of publication to the title page of Vol. I.: "Mary Anne King given her by her mother April 1813." An exceptional example of this landmark work in English literature, rare and desirable bound in contemporary calf.
Price: $175,000.00 Item Number: 133221
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"SO WE BEAT ON, BOATS AGAINST THE CURRENT, BORNE BACK CEASELESSLY INTO THE PAST": FIRST EDITION OF THE GREAT GATSBY; IN THE SCARCE ORIGINAL FIRST ISSUE DUST JACKET
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925.
First edition, first printing of Fitzgerald's masterpiece with "chatter" on p. 60, line 16; "northern" on p. 119, line 22; "it’s" on p. 165, line 16; "away" on p. 165, line 29; "sick in tired" on p. 205, lines 9-10; and "Union Street station" on p. 211, lines 7-8. Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Near fine in a very good first issue dust jacket, with the lowercase "j" in "jay Gatsby" on the back panel, hand-corrected in ink. The dust jacket has had expert restoration, which appears to be trimmed. Jacket art by Francis…
Price: $125,000.00 Item Number: 141091
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The Catcher In The Rye; Inscribed and dated by J.D. Salinger in the Year of Publication
SALINGER, J.D.
The Catcher In The Rye.
Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1951.
Early printing, printed in the year of publication of the author's classic novel. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "December 24, 1951 To Elizabeth Fueller- with best wishes J.D. Salinger." Salinger's signature is scarce and signed examples of The Catcher in the Rye are rare. Very good in a very good supplied dust jacket. Jacket design by Michael Mitchell. Photograph of Salinger by Lotte Jacobi. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Exceptionally scarce, most rare and desirable inscribed and in the year of…
Price: $98,000.00 Item Number: 140488
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"Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it": The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; inscribed by Mark Twain
TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1886.
Early printing of Twain's masterpiece, inscribed by Mark Twain. Octavo, bound in half buckram by Roycroft with paper labels to the spine, tissue-guarded frontispiece photogravure plate of Gerhardt's bust of Clemens, one hundred and seventy-four illustrations by E. W. Kemble. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Mr. Garth W. Cate: Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it. Truly Yours, Mark Twain, Nov. 25/06." With a lengthy letter of provenance dated October 14, 1964 and signed by the recipient which reads in part, "Dear Mr. Jacobs, If I had been younger…
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 123083
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“What does the brain matter compared with the heart?”: First Edition of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
WOOLF, Virginia.
Mrs Dalloway.
London: Hogarth Press, 1925.
First edition of one of Woolf's best-known novels, one of only 2000 copies. Octavo, original orange cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities. From the library of Virginia bibliophile and historian Christopher Clark Geest with his bookplate to the pastedown. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example, scarce and desirable in the original dust jacket and in this condition.
Price: $56,000.00 Item Number: 99750
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"I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren": Rare First Editions, First Printings of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1954-55.
First editions, first states of each title comprising the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes, original red cloth, folding map in the rear of each volume. Near fine in excellent dust jackets with light rubbing and wear. An exceptional set.
Price: $55,000.00 Item Number: 136748
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"Great men are not born great, they grow great": FIRST EDITION OF THE GODFATHER; SIGNED BY MARIO PUZO AND MARLON BRANDO
PUZO, Mario [Marlon Brando].
The Godfather.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969.
First edition of Puzo's definitive novel of the Mafia underworld, signed by him and legendary Academy Award-winning actor Marlon Brando. Octavo, original half black cloth. Boldly signed by both Mario Puzo and Marlon Brando on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket art by S. Neil Fujita. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. We have never seen another first edition signed by Brando and Puzo.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 136975
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“When you get an idea into your head you find it in everything": Rare First Edition of Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris; One of only 1100 examples
HUGO, Victor.
Notre-Dame de Paris.
Paris: Charles Gosselin, 1831.
First edition, first printing of Hugo's masterpiece, one of only 1,100 examples. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in half calf. The publisher Charles Gosselin published the novel on 16 March 1831 in an edition of 1,100 copies as was his usual practice. It was such a sensation that an additional three printings had to be published the same year. The first impression of 1100 copies was separated into four groups, each bearing a fictitious edition statement on the title-page, a scheme designed to make the public believe that the novel was selling rapidly. "This first edition is the rarest of all…
Price: $48,000.00 Item Number: 139559
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Complete Set of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Deluxe Editions; Each Signed by Her
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter Series Complete Deluxe Set. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows.
London: Bloomsbury, 1997-2007.
First editions of the deluxe edition of each book in Rowling's Harry Potter series. Octavo, 7 volumes, illustrated, original decorative cloth as issued. Each volume is signed by J.K. Rowling and were collected in person by the previous owner. The Prisoner of Azkaban is inscribed. In fine condition. No dust jackets were issued for these volumes. Scarce and desirable.
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 81035
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"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer": First American Edition of Albert Camus Classic Novel The Stranger; Inscribed by Him to fellow novelist Vincent Sheean
CAMUS, Albert.
The Stranger.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946.
First American edition of Camus' first novel and masterpiece. Octavo, original beige cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "A Vincent Sheean pour le remercier de savoir si bien parler de Stendhal Sympathiquement Albert Camus." The recipient, Vincent Sheean was an American journalist and novelist. Sheean's most famous work was Personal History, which won one of the inaugural National Book Awards: the Most Distinguished Biography of 1935. Film producer Walter Wanger acquired the political memoir and made it the basis for his 1940 film production Foreign Correspondent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Sheean wrote the narration for…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 97850
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Rare first edition, first impression of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations; bound in full royal blue crushed levant morocco by Bayntun Bindery
DICKENS, Charles.
Great Expectations.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1861.
First edition, first printing of Dickens' rarest novel. Octavo, three volumes bound in full royal blue crushed levant morocco by Bayntun Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and wide gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by Bayntun, all edges gilt. This copy agrees in all points with Margaret Caldwell's analysis of the differing impressions in the Clarendon edition of Great Expectations. The third volume contains the numeral "3" in the pagination on p. 103, and the initial "i" in "inflexible" on p. 193,…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 142357
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“HILARIOUS, CHILLING, SEXY, PROFOUND, MANIACAL, BEAUTIFUL AND OUTRAGEOUS” (THOMAS PYNCHON): FIRST EDITION OF RICHARD FARINA’S FIRST NOVEL; inscribed by him to close friend Richard Gillespie only days prior to Farina's tragic death
FARINA, Richard.
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.
New York: Random House, 1966.
First edition of the author and songwriter’s first novel, warmly praised by his friend Thomas Pynchon; the only novel published in Fariña’s lifetime, as he tragically died in a motorcycle accident two days after its publication. Octavo, original half green cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "G - Recognize any of these events. We had fun. Dick." The likely recipient, Richard Gillespie, was a close personal friend and colleague of both Richard Fariña and Thomas Pynchon at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The three shared the same residence and Gillespie and Pynchon attended a…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 141590
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"Faulkner was breathtaking in the accuracy of his observations": Rare advance reading copy of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird; signed by three actors from the 1962 film and with a two page autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of harper lee declining the invitation to participate in a documentary film about her novel
LEE, Harper.
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Barnstable, MA: Crane’s Duplicating Service, for J.B. Lippincott Company,, 1960.
Rare advance reading copy of the first edition of Harper Lee's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel signed by three actors from the 1962 film and with a two page autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Harper Lee declining the invitation to participate in a documentary film about her novel. Octavo, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by three actors from the film on the pastedown and front free endpaper, "Bonnie Great Weekend My Best Wishes Phillip Alford 'Jem'", "To Bonnie Sincere regards Brock Peters 'Tom Robinson'", and "Bonnie, Thank you so much for all your help this week. Please…
Price: $32,500.00 Item Number: 133817
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"AH, DISTINCTLY I REMEMBER IT WAS IN THE BLEAK DECEMBER; AND EACH SEPARATE DYING EMBER WROUGHT ITS GHOST UPON THE FLOOR": First Editions of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven and Tales; in the rare original publisher's cloth
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Raven and Other Poems. [Bound With] Tales.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.
Rare first editions of Poe's two great collections of stories and poems, bound together in the original publisher's cloth. Octavo, original publisher's dark green cloth elaborately stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine, publisher's advertisements at rear of each volume which are most often lacking with both volumes bound together. Wiley and Putnam issued both titles separately in paper wrappers, but bound the two together for additional appeal to readers. The Raven is bound first in this copy (the order varies); that work is arguably the widest read and best-known in the American canon. Tales includes "The "The…
Price: $32,000.00 Item Number: 139816
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"With all my heart, the flower beyond": Rare First Edition of the Authors Masterpiece Cien Anos de Soledad; Inscribed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to close friend Juana Munoz
GARCIA MARQUEZ, Gabriel.
Cien Anos de Soledad [One Hundred Years of Solitude].
Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1967.
First edition of the author's masterpiece which is recognized as one of the most significant works in the Spanish literary canon. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed and dated by the author on the dedication page with a large drawing of a flower, "Para Juana, con todo el corazon, la flor mas alla, Gabo." [For Juana, with all my heart, the flower beyond]. The recipient, Juana Munoz, was a close friend of Marquez and wife of Sergio Munoz. They met in 1964 in Mexico City in the home of author Carlos Fuentes, who often hosted a literary open house…
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 132338