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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“It is a curious fate to be objectified alive. Think with humor while reading": First Edition of Anton Reiser's Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait; Inscribed by Albert Einstein with an original poem
REISER, Anton. [Albert Einstein].
Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait.
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1930.
First edition of this Einstein biography written by Rudolf Kayser, a German literary historian and husband to Albert Einstein's stepdaughter Ilse under the pseudonym Anton Reiser. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. Inscribed by Albert Einstein with an original poem on the front free endpaper in German, which translates as, "It is a curious fate to be objectified alive. Think with humor while reading. A. Einstein." From the library of Alexandre and Catherine Barjansky with her ownership signature to the verso of the front panel and notation below Einstein's inscription, "S.S. 'Belgenland,' New-York, 14/XII/30." Russian sculptress Catherine Barjansky, her celebrated cellist husband, and Einstein…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 90431
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"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning": First Edition of Anton Reiser's Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait; Signed and dated by Albert Einstein
REISER, Anton. [Albert Einstein].
Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait.
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1930.
First edition of this Einstein biography written by Rudolf Kayser, a German literary historian and husband to Albert Einstein's stepdaughter Ilse under the pseudonym Anton Reiser. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. Signed and dated by Einstein in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "Albert Einstein 1930." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Rare signed and in the original dust jacket.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 138499
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First Edition of Anton Reiser's Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait; Signed and dated by Albert Einstein
REISER, Anton. [Albert Einstein].
Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait.
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1930.
First edition of this Einstein biography written by Rudolf Kayser, a German literary historian and husband to Albert Einstein's stepdaughter Ilse under the pseudonym Anton Reiser. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. Signed and dated by Einstein on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, "Albert Einstein New York 1930." In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 110352
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"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new": First edition of Out of My Later Years; Signed by Albert Einstein
EINSTEIN, Albert.
Out of My Later Years.
New York: Philosophical Library, 1950.
First edition of Einstein's collection of social science-related articles, addresses and speeches. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. Signed by Albert Einstein on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $12,000.00 Item Number: 138884
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"Let Us Hope That The Best Important Achievement Of Atomic Energy Will Lie In Planetary Exploration, And Not In Human Destruction": First Edition of George Gamow's Atomic Energy In Cosmic And Human Life: Fifty Years Of Radioactivity; Inscribed by Him to Chester Nimitz
GAMOW, George [Chester Nimitz].
Atomic Energy In Cosmic And Human Life: Fifty Years Of Radioactivity.
New York: 1946.
First edition of this work by the legendary physicist and cosmologist. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To The Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz Cordially From The Author G. Gamow." The recipient, Chester Nimitz was made Fleet Admiral in 1944 (a lifetime appointment) and was in charge of the United States Forces in the Pacific, and Commander of Operations including the first military use of atomic energy in warfare, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Near fine in very good dust jacket. An exceptional association.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 139841
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First Edition of DNA Pioneer: James Watson and the Double Helix; Signed by Nobel Prize-winning Scientist's James Watson and Francis Crick
BALDWIN, Joyce [James D. Watson and Francis Crick].
DNA Pioneer: James Watson and the Double Helix.
New York: Walker and Company, 1994.
First edition of this riveting work on the legendary scientist James D. Watson. Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by James Watson and Francis Crick on the half-title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ron Monteleone. Rare and desirable signed by Watson and Crick.
Price: $3,800.00 Item Number: 145786
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First Edition of R. Buckminster Fuller's Nine Chains To The Moon; Inscribed by him
FULLER, R. Buckminster .
Nine Chains to the Moon.
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1938.
First edition of Fuller's first book. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to his sister on the front pastedown, "To Rog and K With dearest love Bucky." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. An exceptional association.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 124952
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“No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body": First edition of Margaret Sanger's My Fight For Birth Control; signed by her and in the scarce original dust jacket
SANGER, Margaret.
My Fight For Birth Control.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart Incorporated, 1931.
First edition of Sanger's remarkable first autobiography with the publisher's device to the copyright page. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with twenty black and white photographs. Boldly signed by Margaret Sanger on the front free endpaper. Very good in the scarce first issue dust jacket which is in very good condition.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 129460
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“this is the story of a great inventor, the most conspicuous figure of the age of electricity”: First edition of the Boy's Life of Edison; Signed by Thomas A. Edison
MEADOWCROFT, William H. [Thomas A. Edison].
The Boy’s Life of Edison.
New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1911.
First edition of Meadowcroft's biography of Thomas Edison, written for children. Octavo, original cloth with paper label portrait of Edison to the front panel, illustrated with eight photographic portraits of Edison including tissue-guarded frontispiece. With Edison's autobiographical notes. Boldly signed on the second free endpaper, "Thomas A. Edison." In very good condition. First printings are uncommon signed.
Price: $2,750.00 Item Number: 110225
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"The ultimate aim of the modern movement in biology is in fact to explain all biology in terms of physics and chemistry": First Edition of The Path to the Double Helix; Signed by Francis Crick and Robert Olby
OBLY, Robert; Foreword by Francis Crick.
The Path to the Double Helix.
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974.
First edition of this work on the history of the double helix. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Signed by both the author and Francis Crick on the title page, who contributed the foreword. The author has transcribed the following from this work, "The ultimate aim of the modern movement in biology is in fact to explain all biology in terms of physics and chemistry Robert Olby." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 3394
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THE FIRST EXPLORER TO REACH THE NORTH POLE: Deluxe signed limited edition of Robert Peary’s The North Pole; one of only 500 copies
PEARY, Robert E. Introduction by Theodore Roosevelt.
The North Pole.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910.
Deluxe signed limited edition of Peary’s illustrated account of his journey to the North Pole, number 4 of only 500 copies signed by Peary and Captain R. A. Bartlett. Thick quarto, publisher's original full vellum decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, illustrated with a large folding map printed in color, four black-and-white mounted photogravures and 112 tipped-in photographic plates. Introduction by Theodore Roosevelt. In very good condition.
Price: $2,450.00 Item Number: 125090
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First Edition of John Muir's The Story of My Boyhood and Youth; in the rare original dust jacket
MUIR, John.
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth.
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
First edition, first issue of Muir's autobiography of his youth with the biting criticism of his neighbor's treatment of his son on p. 217: "...none was bold enough or kind enough to break the blacksmith's jaw" (Kimes 315) . Octavo, original illustrated green cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Muir, illustrated. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition.
Price: $2,250.00 Item Number: 126377
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First Edition of B.F. Skinner's Notebooks; Inscribed to Harvard colleague Arthur K. Solomon and his wife
SKINNER, B.F.
Notebooks.
Englewood, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980.
First edition of this work by the famed psychologist. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Marnie and Arthur Fondly Fred." The recipients were Harvard University colleague Arthur K. Solomon and his wife Marnie, who were close friends of Skinner. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Hal Siegel. Edited and with an introduction by Robert Epstein.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 131399
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“The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts": First Edition of John Muir's A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
MUIR, John.
A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916.
First edition of this work by Muir. Octavo, original green cloth, color pictorial cover label, lettered in white, top edge gilt. Edited with an introduction by William Frederic Badè. Illustrated with several plates from photographs, including a frontispiece portrait with tissue guard; map. Fine in the rare original dust jacket, which is in near fine condition. Uncommon in this condition.
Price: $1,850.00 Item Number: 114781
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First edition of James Herriot's The Lord God Made Them All; inscribed by him
HERRIOT, James.
The Lord God Made Them All.
London: Michael Joseph, 1981.
First edition of this installment in Herriot's true-life-saga as a veterinarian in the Yorkshire countryside. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Bill... James Herriot." Near fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket photograph by Fay Godwin. Uncommon signed.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 129084
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"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new": First edition of Out of My Later Years; Finely Bound by the Harcourt Bindery
EINSTEIN, Albert.
Out of My Later Years.
New York: Philosophical Library, 1950.
First edition of Einstein's collection of social science-related articles, addresses and speeches. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 142361
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"The prophet of the wilderness": Rare John Muir ephemera collection including numerous rare articles, periodicals and facsimile printings
MUIR, John.
John Muir Ephemera Collection.
Rare collection of ephemera related to American naturalist John Muir. The collection includes a variety of periodicals articles, exhibition guides, and proof sheets including: John Muir 1838-1914: Keepsake for the Roxburghe-Zamorano Biennial Joint Meeting of 1996; The Presence of Mr. Muir. Keepsake for the John Muir Observance at Yosemite National Park, April 21-30, 1972, signed by publishers Bill Lane and Lew Osborne; John Muir: His World Exhibition pamphlet [Vacaville, California: Vacaville Museum, 1987]; Yosemite Earthquake Storms [Muir, John. Wawona Press, 1993. First state No. 1 of 3]; Reference List to the Published Writings of John Muir [Bradley, Cornelius B. Sierra…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 126971
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First Edition of John Muir's A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
MUIR, John.
A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916.
First edition of this work by Muir. Octavo, original green cloth, color pictorial cover label, lettered in white, top edge gilt. Edited with an introduction by William Frederic Badè. Illustrated with several plates from photographs, including a frontispiece portrait with tissue guard; map. Fine in the rare original dust jacket, which is in very good condition. Uncommon in this condition.
Price: $1,400.00 Item Number: 124411