Americana
Rare Americana Books, Manuscripts & More for Sale Online
If you’re looking for first edition books celebrating the American experience, you’ve come to the right place. At Raptis Rare Books we maintain an extensive collection of rare Americana, books, manuscripts and more. Browse through our entire collection online, use our sorting tools or search to find exactly what you’re looking for then call with any questions you may have or order online today.
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Extensive collection of over fifty first edition Civil War era pamphlets
DODGE, W.C.; Andrew Johnson; Henry J. Raymond; et al.
Civil War Political Pamphlet Collection.
Various publishers, c. 1861-1865.
Extensive collection of over fifty first edition Civil War era pamphlets on topics including politics, battles, foreign relations, debt, and the draft. Octavo, 52 volumes, original wrappers. The collection includes first editions of: Memorial to the Hon. Secretary of War, or, How to Strengthen our Army and Crush the Rebellion, with a Saving of Life and Treasure [Dodge, W.C. Washington DC: McGill & Witherow, 1864. From the collection of James W. Grimes (1816-1872), Governor of Iowa and United States Senator from Iowa with his ownership inscription]; Correspondence between John H. Gilmer and Honorable Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury [Richmond:…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 135127
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Rare Letter signed by George Washington regarding his various land holdings in Virginia
WASHINGTON, George.
George Washington Letter Signed.
Mount Vernon: July 28, 1785.
Rare letter signed by George Washington to his land agent in Virginia, Battaile Muse. Quarto, three pages on a single folded leaf, the letter is addressed to Mr. Battaile Muse. The body of the letter, in a secretarial hand, reads in full: "Mount Vernon, July 28, 1785 Sir: A few days ago by a Mr. Hickman, who either is, or wants to be a tenant of mine in Frederick County. I sent you a Dozen Blank leases. The Tract on which he says he is fixed, is part of two lots which I purchased at the sale of Colo. George…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 139571
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Manuscript copy of the 1841 Democratic Republican Convention Proceedings; signed by Colonial American Reformer Thomas Dorr
DORR, Thomas W.
Thomas Wilson Dorr Signed January 20th 1841 Democratic Republican Convention Proceedings Document.
January 20,1841.
Rare manuscript copy of the proceedings of the January 20th 1841 Democratic Republican Convention, signed by Chairman Thomas W. Dorr. Octavo, one page, the document reads, "Resolutions. Resolved, That the members of the Convention must cordially concur in the strong recommendations of William Ennis for the post of paymaster in the Army, or purser in the Navy which have been presented by many distinguished citizens of this and other states; and they assure the President, that this appointment is most earnestly desired by the Convention, would by very generally acceptable to our citizens, and particularly gratifying to the friends of…
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 142568
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RARE AMERICAN MILITARY COMMISSION BOLDLY SIGNED BY FOUNDING FATHER JOHN HANCOCK
HANCOCK, John.
John Hancock Military Commision Signed as Governor of Massachusetts.
October 8, 1787.
Military commission signed by John Hancock in 1787 as Governor of Massachusetts. One page, partially printed, bound in boards with gilt titles to the front panel. The document appoints Peter Ayer to the rank of "Ensign of the Seventh company in the fourth Regiment and in the Brigades of the Second Division of the Militia of this Commonwealth, comprehending the County of Essex." Dated October 8th 1787 and signed by John Hancock at left beneath the Massachusetts seal. Countersigned by John Avery Jr. as Secretary of the Commonwealth and on the verso by Col. John Brickett of Haverhill. Bound with…
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 143823
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"No one quality by itself makes a good man or woman; many are essential; but three especially - courage, straightforward honesty, and common sense": Rare autograph quotation book lengthily inscribed by Theodore Roosevelt as President in addition to many others including William Howard Taft, John Muir, John Burroughs, and Bernard Baruch
ROOSEVELT, Theodore; William Howard Taft; John Muir; John Burroughs; Bernard Baruch et al. [Olga Roosevelt].
Theodore Roosevelt Signed and Inscribed Autograph Quotation Book.
c. 1903.
Olga Roosevelt's autograph book, lengthily inscribed and signed by Theodore Roosevelt as President of the United States, William Howard Taft as Vice President of the United States and several other famous figures of the era, including naturalists John Muir and John Burroughs and financier Bernard Baruch. Octavo, bound in full vellum with hand painted decorations to the spine and panels, patterned endpapers. Inscribed and signed by Theodore Roosevelt with a lengthy quotation, "No one quality by itself makes a good man or woman; many are essential; but three especially - courage, straightforward honesty, and common sense. Theodore Roosevelt July 23rd…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 116342
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First Edition of Orville J. Victor's The History, Civil, Political & Military of the Southern Rebellion
VICTOR, Orville J.
The History, Civil, Political & Military of the Southern Rebellion, From its Incipient Stages to its Close.
New York: James D. Torrey, Publisher, [1861].
Complete first edition set of one of the earliest histories of the American Civil War. Octavo, four volumes, original publisher's full pebbled morocco decorated in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated with steel engraved plates, additional vignette title pages. frontispieces, and maps. In good condition. A rare complete set, we have never seen another one.
Price: $2,800.00 Item Number: 133063
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Rare example of Johnson's Civil War era Map of the state of Florida
JOHNSON, Alvin Jewett and Ross C. Browning.
Johnson’s Map of Florida.
New York: A.J. Johnson, c. 1861.
Rare 19th century example of Johnson's famed Civil War era map of the state of Florida. One page, the hand-colored lithographic map depicts the state in full with color coding according to county in the midst of the American Civil War with references to towns, railroads, villages, depots, swamps, the territories of Native American tribes, forts and battle sites related to the Seminole Wars, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, Indian Hunting Grounds between Fort Poinsett and Key Biscayne Bay, Tampa Bay and the Okefenokee Swamp. Additionally notes the course of a proposed canal route leading from Tampa to the Atlantic and…
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 138533
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RARE 1885 PROPERTY DEED SIGNED BY FAMED ABOLITIONIST FREDERICK DOUGLASS AS RECORDER OF DEEDS FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.
DOUGLASS, Frederick.
Frederick Douglass Signed Property Deed.
Washington, D.C: March 23, 1885.
Rare real estate document signed by famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass as Recorder of Deeds for Washington, D.C. One page, partially printed, the property deed agreement is signed by Douglass, “Fredk. Douglass” as Recorder of Deeds, certifying a deed transferring a plot of land in Washington, DC, from Joseph C.G. Kennedy to Thomas D. Bond. Following the Civil War, Douglass received numerous political appointments from Republican presidents including positions as United States Marshal of Washington, D.C. (1877-81), and later ambassador to the Republic of Haiti (1889-91). He was nominated Recorder of Deeds for Washington, D.C. by President James Garfield and confirmed by the Senate on May 7,…
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 141500
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First edition of James Thomson Callender's The American Annual Register, or, Historical Memoirs of the United States for the Year 1796
CALLENDER, James Thomson.
The American Annual Register, or, Historical Memoirs of the United States, for the Year 1796.
Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Bioren & Madan, January 19, 1797.
First edition, first issue in book form of Callender's searing exposé. Octavo, bound in three quarter contemporary calf over marbled boards, morocco spine label lettered in gilt. In very good condition. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco slipcase. Ownership inscriptions. The first printing of this work is exceedingly scarce as it was quickly exhausted and reissued in the same year as The History of the United States For 1796.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 125974
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Rare 1791 American Military Commission signed by President George Washington
WASHINGTON, George.
George Washington Signed Military Commission.
March 4, 1791.
United States military commission signed by George Washington as the first president of the United States of America on March 4th 1791. One page, partially printed, the commission appoints Jonathan Cass "a Captain in the Second Regiment in the Service of the United States." Signed by George Washington, "Go Washington" as the first President of the United States and countersigned by Henry Knox as the first Secretary of War. The appointee, Revolutionary War soldier Jonathan Cass responded to the April 1775 Lexington Alarm and served with George Washington at Bunker Hill. He was subsequently appointed as an officer in the…
Price: $28,000.00 Item Number: 143534
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Rare collection of Rough Riders Photographs and Documents; Twice signed and inscribed by Theodore Roosevelt
ROOSEVELT, Theodore.
Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders Era Document Collection.
c. 1898.
Rare collection of original signed documents and photographs taken during President Theodore Roosevelt's days as Colonel of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, or Rough Riders. The collection includes an original mounted photograph of Roosevelt in full uniform with his campaign hat; two cabinet card photographs of Albert S. Johnson, a member of the Cavalry; an endorsement dated September 7, 1998 which reads in part, "This officer did not serve in Cuba but remained in Florida with the squadron left behind" signed, "T. Roosevelt" which is affixed to the verso of of Albert S. Johnson's 5 September 1898 application for 60-days leave;…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 95371
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Rare Early American Map of Wall Street; detailing lots owned by early new York City mayor and chief justice Abraham de Peyster
LUDLAM, Stephen [Wall Street].
Early American Wall Street Survey Map.
April 8, 1817.
Rare 1817 hand-colored copy of an original map of early 18th century Wall Street attached to a Deed of Partition between Col. Abraham de Peyster and Samuel Bayard dated January 3rd 1718, copied on April 8th 1817 by Stephen Ludlam, City Surveyor. One page, the hand-colored map details the intersection of Wall Street, Broad Street, and Kip Street (now Nassau Street) and includes the Presbyterian Church, the original City Hall, and 23 partitioned lots each labeled as owned by Abraham DePeyster or Samuel Bayard. Born in 1657 in New Amsterdam, wealthy merchant and ship owner Abraham de Peyster received numerous…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 139509
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"let those who are really inclinable to buy, come forward, like men that are in earnest, and say what they will give": Rare Autograph Letter Signed by George Washington as the First President of the United States of America
WASHINGTON, George.
George Washington Autograph Letter Signed.
January 24, 1790.
Rare autograph letter signed by George Washington as the first President of the United States. Quarto, one page, the letter reads in full, "New York Jany 24th 1790 Sir Capt. Burnett delivered me your letter of the 18th and is so obliging as to take charge of this answer - It is my sincere opinion that the land mentioned in it is worth what I asked for it--to wit four dollars per acre and once would have sold for it; but if, in the present scarcity of cash it rather fetch that sum, let those who are really inclinable to…
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 141583
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“The Body of Benjamin FRANKLIN Printer, Like the Covering of an Old Book Its contents torn out and stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies Here, Food for Worms": Scarce first edition of Nathaniel Ames' 1771 Almanack, containing the first known printing of Benjamin Franklin's famous epitaph
AMES, Nathaniel. [Benjamin Franklin].
An Astronomical Diary or Almanack, for the Year of Our Lord Christ 1771.
Boston: Printed and Sold by the Printers and Booksellers, [1770].
First edition of Nathaniel Ames' 1771 Almanack, containing the first known printing of "the most famous of American epitaphs" (Mark Van Doren). 12mo, original wrappers stitched as issued. In very good condition. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco slipcase. An exceptional example of this scarce early almanac.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 125283
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"Where liberty dwells there is my country": Rare copperplate-printed toile fragment from the popular eighteenth-century English pattern "The Apotheosis of Franklin and Washington"
[WASHINGTON; GEORGE; BENJAMIN FRANKLIN],.
The Apotheosis of Franklin and Washington Printed Textile.
c. 1785-1790.
Rare copperplate-printed toile fragment from the popular eighteenth-century English pattern "The Apotheosis of Franklin and Washington." The fragment features a copper-plate printed portrait of Benjamin Franklin in academic robes and his famous cap after the famed 1777 portrait of him by Jean-Baptiste holding the ends of a banner reading "Where liberty dwells there is my country." The fragment has been framed within a patterned textile border. In near fine condition. The piece measures 13.75 inches by 11.25 inches. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $2,200.00 Item Number: 139191
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"The first full-sized marble statue in New England": Fine terracotta pedestrian statue of George Washington, after Sir Francis Chantrey's Washington as a Roman Senator, 1826
CHANTREY, Sir Francis. [George Washington].
Washington as a Roman Senator, 1826. [Sir Francis Chantrey George Washington Terracotta Pedestrian Statue].
c. 1850.
Fine terracotta statue of President George Washington, after Sir Francis Chantrey's Washington as a Roman Senator, 1826. Terracotta. In 1818, the Washington Monument Association commissioned Francis Chantrey to sculpt a pedestrian statue of George Washington in white marble. Unveiled in Doric Hall of the Massachusetts State House in November 1827, it was the first sculpture to be placed in the then new State House and the first full-sized marble statue in New England. In fine condition. The statue measures 14.75 inches in height.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 123164
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Rare 17th century map of Florida published by French cartographer Alain Manesson Mallet
MALLET, Allain Manesson.
Floride. Das Landt Florida. [17th Century Map of Florida].
Frankfurt: Allain M. Mallet, c. 1686.
Rare 17the century copper engraved map of Florida from Allain Manesson Mallet's Description De L' Univers, Contenant Les Differents Systemes Du Monde, Les Cartes generales & particulieres.' One page, hand-colored, the copper-engraved map shows Canada or Nouvelle France, the Appalachians, Florida (Tegesta), the Gulf of Mexico, and Cuba. In fine condition. An exceptional example.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 138207
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First edition of William Dennison Bickham's Rosecrans' Campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps
BICKHAM, William Dennison.
Rosecrans’ Campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps, of the Army of the Cumberland: A Narrative of Personal Observations, with a Appendix, Consisting of Official Reports of the Battle of Stone River.
Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co, Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co..
First edition of William Dennison Bickham's Civil War memoir. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. In good condition. Ex-library.
Price: $100.00 Item Number: 132443
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Rare original printing of The Gazette of the United States, issued on July 29, 1789
Gazette of the United States. No. XXXI. Wednesday, July 29, 1789.
New York: John Fenno, July 29, 1789.
Rare original printing of the Gazette of the United States, issued during the presidency of George Washington on July 29, 1789. Folio, one page, folded, this issue includes a the following articles, many continued from previous issues: Sketch of the Political State of America, Original Specimens of Eloquence, Foreign and Domestic Miscellaneous Articles, and Sketches of Proceedings of Congress approved by G. Washington, President of the United States. In near fine condition.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 116728