Rare books from Raptis Rare Books

New York: Ariel Books, 1962. First edition of L'Engle's Newbery award-winning novel. Octavo, original half blue cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Sam, Tesser Well Madeleine L'Engle." Near fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket that shows some light wear and a closed tear to the front panel. Without the Newbery Award-winning seal to the front panel. Jacket design by Ellen Raskin. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A very sharp example.

London: Bloomsbury Books, 2008. First British edition of this wizarding classic. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, "To Annie, J.K Rowling." With the author's hologram sticker on the top right corner. In fine condition without wear. No dust jacket was issued for this title. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers' attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. An introduction, notes, and illustrations are by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary is by Albus Dumbledore.

Stuttgart: Bluchert-Verlag, 1951. First German edition of the classic retelling of one of the most celebrated Disney films. Octavo, original illustrated boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. Boldly signed by Walt Disney on the half-title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Laid in is a business card of the publisher with a note referencing this was signed in 1953. Rare and desirable signed by Walt Disney. The twelfth Disney animated feature film, Cinderella was released on February 15th 1950 after two years in production. It became the greatest critical and commercial hit for the studio since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of 1937, and helped reverse the studio's fortunes. They were, at the time, $4 million in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy. The beloved Little Golden Books series of children's titles were the brainchild of Georges Duplaix, who in 1940 was head of Artists and Writers Guild Inc., a division of Western Publishing. With the idea of producing a… Read More

London: Siegle, Hill & Company, 1910. The Rubaiyat is one of the most popular poems of all time. A collection of quatrains composed in the eleventh century by Persian poet and philosopher Omar Khayyam, it was first published in English-language translation by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859. Since then, its melancholy tone and enigmatic philosophy of mourning the painful brevity of life while celebrating what pleasures we may find have made it an inspiration to countless people.

London: Bloomsbury, 1998. First edition, first issue of the second novel in Rowling's Harry Potter series. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Association copy, inscribed by J.K. Rowling on the dedication page, "Susie and Emily (a female Fred & George) with best wishes J.K. Rowling." The recipients, redhead twins Susie and Emily, were family friends of Bryony Evens, whom they accompanied to the Cheltenham Literary Festival where Rowling inscribed the present volume. The inscription refers to Harry Potter character Ron Weasley's elder twin brothers and fellow redheads, Fred and George. Bryony Evens was one of the first people to read the beginning chapters of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, the first to recognize the work's inherent value, and perhaps the most instrumental figure in getting the book published. Working at the time at Christopher Little Literary Agency, Evens was the first point of contact in receiving and sorting unsolicited manuscripts.… Read More

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1914-26. Signed limited edition of Rudyard Kipling's collected works. Octavo, 27 volumes. Bound in full morocco, gilt titles to the spine, gilt tooling and ruling to the spine, front and rear panels, raised bands, inner dentelles, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. One of 1,050 sets with volume 1 signed by Rudyard Kipling. In fine condition. An exceptional set. The works of Rudyard Kipling contains his poetry, novels, stories, travel writings, children’s tales, military tales and essays. Kipling in 1907 became the first English writer to receive the Nobel Prize.

Hollywood: Capitol Records, 1967. Rare Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, boldly signed by Paul McCartney, one of the most-admired and influential lyricists of the twentieth century. Quarto, signed by Paul McCartney on the front panel. Recording produced by George Martin. Cover by M C Productions and The Apple. Staged by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth. Photographed by Michael Cooper. Wax figures by Madame Tussauds. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable. Released on May 26, 1967, The Beatles' eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band spent 27 weeks at number one on the Record Retailer chart in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States. It was lauded by critics for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.… Read More

London: Bruce and Wyld, 1846. Set in the mid 17th century, Alexandre Dumas' masterpiece, The Three Musketeers, chronicles the adventures of the young, foolhardy, and brave d'Artagnan as he leaves his family in Gascony to join the Musketeers of the Guard in Paris. A military branch of the Royal Household of the French monarchy, the King's Musketeers furnished a company of light cavalry and formed the royal guard for the king while he was outside of the royal residences. As the story goes: once in Paris, d'Artagnan is appointed by King Louis XIII to Des Essart's company of the King's Guard and befriends three Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. He soon becomes involved in a plot of seduction, murder and revenge that ultimately results in his promotion to the Musketeers, although he is left heartbroken and filled with regret. First serialized from March to July of 1844 (four years before the beginning of the French Revolution), Dumas used the protagonist's… Read More

New York: The Philosophical Library, 1946. First edition of one of the most important spiritual books of the twentieth century, Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Preface by Walter Evans-Wentz. Uncommon in the original dust jacket. Autobiography of a Yogi introduces the reader to the life of Paramahansa Yogananda and his encounters with spiritual figures of both the Eastern and the Western world. The book begins with his childhood family life, to finding his guru, to becoming a monk and establishing his teachings of Kriya Yoga meditation. The book continues in 1920 when Yogananda accepts an invitation to speak in a religious congress in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He then travels across America lecturing and establishing his teachings in Los Angeles, California. In 1935, he returns to India for a yearlong visit. When he returns to America, he continues to establish his teachings, including writing this book. It is an introduction to the methods of attaining… Read More

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. First edition of the second book in Herbert's classic Dune series. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Frank Herbert on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, name to the front free endpaper. Jacket painting by Jack Gaughan. Jacket photograph by George Westbeau. Exceptionally rare signed. An epic of imperial intrigue, Dune Messiah carries on the monumental story begun in Dune, which won the Nebula and Hugo awards. Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides has become the most powerful emperor ever known, but is powerless to stop the lethal excesses of the religious juggernaut he has created. Although 61 billion people have perished, Paul's prescient visions indicate that this is far from the worst possible outcome for humanity. Motivated by this knowledge, Paul hopes to set humanity on a course that will not inevitably lead to stagnation and destruction, while at the same time acting as ruler of the empire and focal point of the Fremen religion.… Read More

London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1955-1956. Finely bound set of each title comprising the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards with gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, watered silk endleaves, all edges marbled, ribbons bound in, folding maps. The sets includes a first edition, first impression of The Return of the King; first edition, second impression of The Two Towers; first edition, fifth impression of The Fellowship of the Ring. In very good condition.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929. First edition, first issue of this early Hemingway classic, which established him among the American masters. Octavo, original black cloth. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "To Eleanor Havre from her friend Ernest Hemingway Paris October 18 1929." Near fine in a very good first state dust jacket with the misspelling "Katharine Barclay" in the blurb on the front flap. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield—weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936.

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956. First edition of Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Octavo, original half cloth, with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. From the library of PT Boat Captain William J. (Wild Bill) Barrett, from Great Barrington, Massachusetts with his name and date 2/1/56 on the front endpaper. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jack design by Phil Grushkin. Jacket photograph by Hank Walker. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book was written when Kennedy was the junior senator from Massachusetts, and it served as a clarion call to every American. The inspiring accounts of eight previous heroic acts by American patriots inspired the American public to remember the courage progress requires. Now, a half-century later, it remains a classic and a relevant testament to the national spirit that celebrates the most noble of human virtues. Kennedy relates these heroisms to sketches of American politicians who have risked their careers for principle. "A man does what he… Read More