Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - November - 2020 Issue

Important Works from Raptis Rare Books

Raptis Rare Books has issued a new catalogue of books for those who collect at the highest level. These are books that you know, important titles in literary history. There are also some ephemeral items, such as personal correspondence and manuscripts of great writers. Raptis provides a table of contents in their catalogues to make it easier to understand what sort of material is available. Here are the categories covered this time: Ancient History, Philosophy & Religion, Travel & Exploration, Americana, Science & Natural History, Modern History & World Leaders, Literature, Economic & Political Philosophy, Children's Literature, and Fine Art. Here are a few samples of what you will find.

 

In 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald was an unknown writer with a few short pieces to his name when he published his first novel, This Side of Paradise. It looks at the “Lost Generation” which emerged after the First World War. It combines failed romances, social climbing, and greed, issues that would become rampant during the Roaring 20s, and that would soon tear apart Fitzgerald's own life. It would not end well, despite Fitzgerald's literary success. This copy was inscribed by Fitzgerald in 1936, “For William Henneman – with best wishes – this old old book; the sight of it reminds me all too dramaticly [sic], that I'm almost forty.” We are not able to identify this William Henneman, but he must have had some good literary connections as we also found a record of a book inscribed to him in 1937 by John Steinbeck. Item 90472. Priced at $22,500.

 

This book was published almost five centuries ago, but it was still written much earlier, by about two millennia. It takes us back to ancient Greece and the fifth century B.C. The title is The Hystory, Writtone by Thucidides the Athenyan, of the Warre, Whiche was Betwene the Peloponesians and the Athenyans, better known as The History of the Peloponnesian War. This is the first edition in English, published in 1550. Thucydides was a Athenian, but was noted as being a true historian, not just a promoter of his side. Indeed, many consider him the first true historian, attempting to write historically and scientifically accurate accounts of the past. He wrote as the war between Athens and Sparta proceeded from 431-404 B.C. He believed a retelling of the past was essential as he thought, long before the expression came in vogue, that those who didn't learn from the past would be doomed to repeat it. Item 111546. $32,500.

 

This book has been printed in over 10 million copies, but this is the one-of-a-kind original. Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree is one of the most popular and acclaimed children's books ever written. It is also one of the more controversial, its exact meaning debated. It is the story of a young boy who befriends a tree. He climbs her branches, eats her apples, and has a wonderful time with his friend. The tree's greatest joy is in making her friend happy. As the years go by, the boy grows up, visits the tree less often, and then only because the tree continues to give him things, apples when he is hungry, her branches so he can build a house, her trunk for a boat. By the end, both are aged, the “boy” now a decrepit old man, the tree but a stump. The tree can no longer give to the “boy,” but he no longer can use those gifts anyway, other than the stump for a place to sit and rest. But, the tree is happy to still be able to do this. The story has received various interpretations. The tree seems to represent unselfish love, the boy quite the opposite, but what is the message (presuming there is one)? What Raptis has to offer is the true first, Silverstein's original manuscript. It is marked up with his drawings and corrections. One notable change is the ending, which he changed from “and the boy and the tree were happy” to just “and the tree was happy.” The boy is never satisfied. Item 116388. $125,000.

 

“Widely considered the greatest novel ever written” is an impressive introduction to this book. I wouldn't want to argue with that point of view. This is the first American edition of Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece, War and Peace. It is a lengthy and detailed look at Russia during the Napoleonic Wars, a nation struggling to survive an attack on its existence. Tolstoy presents a wide range of characters, a complexity you might think would make the book hard to follow, and yet they all have their place and weave understandably together. It truly is as great as Raptis says. This lengthy novel comes in six volumes. Item 115458. $8,800.

 

This next item is as short as the last one was long. It is not a book, rather, a birthday note. The writer was Vice-President and future President George H. W. Bush. The recipient was President Ronald Reagan. Addressed “Dear Mr. President” and dated Feb. 6, 1984, Bush writes, “Barb and I sing 'Happy Birthday to you' – with many happy returns! All Bushes join in – George.” Bush lost the primary election to Reagan in 1980, but accepted the latter's offer to be the vice-presidential nominee. Bush would succeed Reagan after winning the presidential election of 1988. Item 114005. $7,500.

 

Raptis Rare Books may be reached at 561-508-3479 or mail@raptisrarebooks.com. Their website is found at www.raptisrarebooks.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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