Philosophy
Rare Philosophy Books for Sale Online
Raptis Rare Books is a trusted antiquarian book dealer of rare and first edition philosophy books. You can view our full collection of these rare philosophy books below where you can sort by title, price, or date to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
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Rare First Edition of Thomas A Kempis' The Imitation of Christ
A KEMPIS, Thomas.
The Christian Pattern, or the Imitation of Jesus Christ, being an abridgement of the works of Thomas a Kempis. By a Female Hand.
Germantown: reprinted by Christopher Sowr, 1749.
First American edition of The Imitation of Christ and the first printing of any work by a Kempis in America and one of the earliest works of Catholic Americana. In very good condition with some browning to the text and rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 112577
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“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be": Finely Bound By Bayntun of Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ
A KEMPIS, Thomas.
The Imitation of Christ.
London: Chatto & Windus, 1908.
Finely bound example of a Kempis' classic work. Octavo, bound in morocco by Bayntun, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, gilt doublures, illustrated including color plates by Flint. Translated from the Latin by Richard Wbytford and then re-edited into modern English by Wilfrid Raynal. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $1,400.00 Item Number: 120987
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Le monde d'Albert Schweitzer; Inscribed by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Albert Schweitzer
ANDERSON, Erica; Eugene Exman. [Albert Schweitzer].
Le Monde D’Albert Schweitzer.
Paris: A. Michel, 1955.
First edition of this work on the Nobel laureate. Quarto, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by Schweitzer on the front free endpaper, "To Mr. Jean Marie Dubernard upon leaving Lambaréné with my good thoughts, Albert Schweitzer Lambaréné, 18 March 1957." Photographs by Erica Anderson. Text by Eugene Exman. Preface by Daniel Halevy. In near fine condition. Books signed by Schweitzer are rare.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 120738
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Rare First Edition of Merer Baba's God to Man An Man To God
BABA, Meher.
God to Man And Man To God.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1955.
First edition of this work by Meher Baba. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. With an introduction by C.B. Purdom.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 117989
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First Edition of In Praise of Doubt; Inscribed by Peter Berger
BERGER, Peter and Anton Zijderveld.
In Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without Becoming a Fanatic.
New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
First edition of this "book of great practical wisdom by authors who have profound insight into the intellectual dynamics governing contemporary life" (Dallas Willard). Octavo, original half cloth. Inscribed by Berger on the front free endpaper, "For Christal, from Peter Berger." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 41764
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"People go off to marvel at the height of mountains and the great waves of the sea and the broad courses of rivers, and the flow of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars: but they neglect themselves": C.S. Lewis' copy of Sir Thomas Browne's highly influential 17th century Christian confessional Religio Medici; with Lewis' ownership signature and notes throughout
BROWNE, Thomas. [C.S. Lewis].
Religio Medici and Other Essays by Sir Thomas Browne.
London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd, [1911].
C.S. Lewis' copy of Browne's celebrated 17th century "confession of Christian faith qualified by an eclectic and generally skeptical attitude" (The Oxford Companion). Octavo, original boards, paper spine label, gilt vignette to the front panel, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Browne. British author and theologian C.S. Lewis' copy with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper, "C.S. Lewis April 1919", underlines, marks, and footnotes to several pages, most notably a lengthy quote from The Confessions of St. Augustine to page 29: "(1) Et eunt homines mirari alta montium et ingentes fluctus maris et latissimos lapsus fluminum et oceani ambitum…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 122430
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First Edition of Frederick Buechner's Now & Then; Signed by Him
BUECHNER, Frederick.
Now & Then.
San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1983.
First edition of the author's second memoir. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Frederick Buechner on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Catherine Flanders.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 58012
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First Edition of The Faces of Jesus; Signed by Frederick Buechner
BUECHNER, Frederick.
The Faces of Jesus.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.
First edition of this work on the life of Jesus. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. Signed by Frederick Buechner on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Photography by Lee Boltin. Design by Ray Ripper.
Price: $450.00 Item Number: 67998
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First edition in English of John Calvin's Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians
CALVIN, John.
A Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians.
London: Imprinted by Thomas Dawson for John Harison and George Byshop, 1577.
First edition in English of John Calvin's commentaries on the Pauline Epistles. Octavo, bound in full speckled calf with raised bands to the spine, all edges red, rebacked. Title within architectual woodcut border, woodcut initials. In very good condition. First editions are rare.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 96188
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First Edition of Joseph Campbell's The Masks of God: Creative Mythology; Inscribed by Him
CAMPBELL, Joseph.
The Masks of God: Creative Mythology.
New York: The Viking Press, 1968.
First edition of this Campbell classic, which discusses the primitive roots of mythology. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "To Anne and Brendan with my love and good wishes from Joe." The recipient, Brendan Gill wrote for the New Yorker for more than 60 years where he wrote more than 1,200 pieces including scores of reviews and served as the main architecture critic from 1987 to 1996. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 101266
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"Virtue which is not supported with gravity gains no repute among men": Rare Early edition of The Morals of Confucius; A Cornerstone of Chinese Philosophy
CONFUCIUS,.
The Morals of Confucius, A Chinese Philosopher.
London: T. Horne, 1706.
Rare second edition in English of The Morals of Confucius. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary sheep contemporary sheep. In very good condition, toning to the extremities.
Price: $3,200.00 Item Number: 107212
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From the collection of Joan Didion: First edition of Michael D'Antonio's Heaven on Earth
D'ANTONIO, Michael. [Joan Didion].
Heaven on Earth: Dispatches From America’s Spiritual Frontier.
New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1992.
First edition of the journalist's objective exploration of "New Age" spirituality. Octavo, original half cloth. From the library of Joan Didion with the original typed transmittal letter signed by the Senior Editor of Crown Publishers to Joan Didion laid in. The recipient, American journalist and novelist Joan Didion gained a reputation in the 1960s and 70s as a pioneer of the New Journalism style of news writing. Her articles and political writing engaged audiences in the realities of the counterculture of the 1960s, the Hollywood lifestyle, California culture, and California history. She also gained recognition for her sensational novels, including…
Price: $300.00 Item Number: 141834
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"But the main thing in view all along has been to vindicate the moral character of the Deity from the injurious representations, either of designing, or well-meaning but mistaken men" First edition of James Dana's Second response to Jonathan Edwards' The Freedom of the Will
DANA, James (Jonathan Edwards).
The “Examination of the Late Rev’d President Edwards’s Enquiry on Freedom of Will,” Continued.
New Haven: Printed for Thomas and Samuel Green, 1773.
First edition of American Protestant clergyman James Dana's second published response to Jonathan Edwards' Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the Will, preceded by Dana's prior examination of the same subject published anonymously in 1770. Octavo, original three-quarter period calf over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, morocco spine labels, raised bands. A rare and desirable example illustrating the tensions that shaped the Evangelical Revival in eighteenth century America.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 82405
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"Mary Baker Eddy was far ahead of her time in the emphasis she placed upon positive thinking, a force which modern psychology was belated in recognizing": Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures; inscribed by her to her cousin, the daughter of President Franklin Pierce
EDDY, Mary Baker.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
Boston: Published by the Author, 1886.
Early printing of the central text of the Christian Science which continues to rank as a best-seller to this day. Octavo, bound in contemporary three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the second free endpaper in the year of publication, "Mrs. F. McNeil Potter, with love from the Author, 1886." The recipient, Frances Maria McNeil Potter was the niece of President Franklin Pierce and his sometimes hostess in the White house, assisting First Lady Jane Pierce after the death of the president's…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 90463
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RARE FIRST EDITION OF JONATHAN EDWARDS TWO DISSERTATIONS
EDWARDS, Jonathan.
Two Dissertations, I. Concerning the End For Which God Created the World. II. The Nature of True Virtue.
Boston: S. Kneeland, 1765.
First edition of this important work by Edwards. Small octavo, bound in half calf over marbled boards, raised bands, morocco spine label. In very good condition. Rare.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 142014
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"Long before the emergence of Hitler I made the cause of Zionism mine because through it I saw a means of correcting a flagrant wrong": Rare first edition of Albert Einstein's About Zionism
EINSTEIN, Albert. Introduction by Leon Simon.
About Zionism: Speeches and Letters by Professor Albert Einstein.
London: The Soncino Press, 1930.
First British edition (which precedes the American edition by one year) of this volume of Einstein's speeches and letters concerning his views on Zionism. Octavo, original cloth. Very good in the scarce original dust jacket which is lacking the spine.
Price: $1,150.00 Item Number: 126038
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Rare fifth edition of Erasmus' Praise of Folly with numerous splendid engravings after Holbein
ERASMUS, Desiderius.
Moriae Encomium: Or, the Praise of Folly. Made in English from the Latin of Erasmus.
London: Printed for J. Wilford, 1735.
Rare fifth edition in English of Dutch Renaissance theologian Erasmus’ classic satire which influenced the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. 16mo, bound in full calf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, marbled endpapers, illustrated with 46 engraved plates after Hans Holbein, 6 folding, and 2 engraved portraits including the frontispiece of Erasmus. In very good condition. Small bibliographic descriptions tipped in, period ownership inscription.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 133450