Rare books from Raptis Rare Books

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974. First edition of the author's first collection of children's poetry. Stated first edition on the copyright page. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by Shel Silverstein with an original poem on the front free endpapers to the children of his editor and publicist William Cole, "For Alex and Rossa and Billy, I hope that this book ain't so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a (The superfluous 's' has been scribbled out with footnote "Bill Cole's Incessant Editorial Meddling") of Billy and Alex Rossa (Not a bad rhyme for three such difficult names and if you don't read Spanish, Learn it!) Love, Shel Silverstein." American editor and anthologist William Rossa Cole edited over 50 anthologies of verse for children and adults throughout his career which included tenures at Knopf, Simon & Schuster and Viking, where he had his own imprint. He is thanked by Silverstein at the end of Where the Sidewalk Ends… Read More

Boston: Dana Estes, n.d. Victor Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. His best-known works are the novels Les Miserables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He produced more than 4,000 drawings, and also earned respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.

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 illustrated boards, without a dust jacket as issued. In fine condition. Only 500 copies of the first printing were published, 300 of which were distributed directly to libraries. An exceptional example, easily one of the nicest examples extant. The first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday when he receives a letter of… Read More

Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922. First edition of Joyce's masterpiece, one of 750 numbered copies printed on handmade paper from a total edition of 1000 copies, this is number number 276. Thick quarto, original blue and white wrappers. In near fine condition, square and tight with a touch of rubbing to the crown and foot of the spine. Housed in a custom slipcase. An exceptional example. Ulysses was published in Paris by Shakespeare & Company, 1922. It was a struggle for the author to find a publisher, a comic irony considering that Ulysses is "[u]niversally hailed as the most influential work of modern times" (Grolier Joyce 69). Ulysses was an immediate success. The first printing sold out, and "within a year Joyce had become a well-known literary figure. Ulysses was explosive in its impact on the literary world of 1922" (de Grazia, 27). Even so, the book faced difficulties in global reception. It was banned in the U.K. and was prosecuted for the obscenity in the Nausicaa episode (Ellmann,… Read More

London: London: Chapman and Hall, 1846.

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.

Boston: George H. Richmond & Co, 1892. Finely bound complete set of the Cabinet edition of the Works of Victor Hugo, one of 1000 numbered sets produced. Octavo, 40 volumes bound in three quarters morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in three compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt with others untrimmed, illustrated with tissue-guarded engravings including frontispieces to each volume. In near fine condition. From the library of A.J. Morgan with his bookplate. An exceptional set.     Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925.

New York: The Vanguard Press, 1938. Unlike the majority of Geisel's books, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins was written in prose rather than rhyming and metered verse. Geisel, who collected hats, got the idea for the story on a commuter train from New York to New England, while he was sitting behind a businessman wearing a hat; the passenger was so stiff and formal that Geisel idly wondered what would happen if he took the man's hat and threw it out the window. Geisel concluded that the man was so "stuffy" that he would just grow a new one. The book received positive reviews from critics. The New York Times reviewer called the book "a lovely bit of tomfoolery which keeps up the suspense and surprise until the end." Booklist, which had criticized Geisel's previous book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, for containing only enough material for one comic strip, praised The 500 Hats as "a brand-new idea, developed into a complete tale, not too long,… Read More

London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1937.

New York/ Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. First edition, review copy of the author's masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Eric Payton Frank Herbert." Very good in a very good dust jacket. Review slip pasted on the front free endpaper, and with copy number 1753 stamped to the title page. Jacket art by John Schoenherr. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed. Dune was awarded the first Nebula award for best science fiction novel, shared the Hugo award, and "became one of the most famous of all science fiction novels" (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction). Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream. A… Read More

London: Heinemann, 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird became an immediate bestseller and won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The New Yorker declared it "skilled, unpretentious, and totally ingenious". It has gone on to become of the best-loved classics of all time and has been translated into more than forty languages selling more than forty million copies worldwide. Made into the Academy Award-winning film, directed by Robert Mulligan, starring Gregory Peck. It went on to win three Oscars: Best Actor for Gregory Peck, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, and Best Screenplay for Horton Foote. It was nominated for five more Oscars including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Mary Badham, the actress who played Scout. In 1995, the film was listed in the National Film Registry. In 2003, the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the greatest movie hero of the 20th century. In 2007 the film ranked twenty-fifth on the AFI's 10th anniversary list of the greatest American… Read More

Meriden, Conn: Ralston Society, 1940. Early printing of this classic bestseller, which has sold over 100 million copies. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Napoleon Hill on the front free endpaper. In very good condition, contemporary ownership inscription to the front free endpaper. Think and Grow Rich was written in 1937 by Napoleon Hill, promoted as a personal development and self-improvement book. Hill writes that he was inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and (later) philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. While the book's title and much of the text concerns increased income, the author insists that the philosophy taught in the book can help people succeed in any line of work, to do and be anything they can imagine. First published during the Great Depression, at the time of Hill's death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold more than 20 million copies, and by 2015 over 100 million copies had been sold worldwide. It remains the biggest seller of Napoleon Hill's books.… Read More

Cleveland and New York: World Publishing, 1965. First edition of the author's classic Christmas story and later filmed for television, which was later honored with both an Emmy and Peabody Award. Small quarto, original boards. Boldly signed by Charles Schulz on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket with light rubbing, small name to the half-title page. Rare and desirable signed. Schulz's beloved cartoons have won him the National Cartoonists Society's Humor Comic Strip Award in 1962, the Reuben Award for 1955 and 1964, the Society's Elzie Segar Award in 1980, and the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. Interestingly, his cartoons have also awarded him an abundance of equally colorful honors and recognitions. In 1996, Schulz was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, adjacent to Walt Disney's. And for his interest in sports he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993 and then the Figure Skating Hall of… Read More

London: Bloomsbury, 1997-2007.