Ayn Rand, born in 1905 as Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, was a Russian-born American writer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1925. Upon gaining permanent residency in 1929, she became a famous novelist and philosopher. Her analysis of the human condition and the role of reason in human affairs made her books of lasting influence on the popular consciousness.

First edition first issue inscribed copy of Ayn Rand’s first best selling novel.

Rand’s first best-seller The Fountainhead was published in 1943. Of Rand’s fiction, The Fountainhead is generally conceded to be her most important and enduring work, a passionate portrait of uncompromising individualism. In the decades since its debut, the film has gained the critical acceptance, even the acclaim, that initially evaded it.

Although Rand was a previously published novelist and had a successful Broadway play, she faced difficulty in finding a publisher she thought right for The Fountainhead. She let Macmillian Publishing go when they rejected her demand for better publicity (Branden, 1986), and when her agent criticized the novel, she fired him and handled submissions herself (Burns, 2009). After sifting through eleven more publishers, Rand finally released The Fountainhead with Bobbs-Merrill Company in 1943. The reception was instant, and The Fountainhead became a bestseller in two years.

The particular copy shown above is inscribed by Rand on the front free endpaper, “To Jack L. Warner – Thank you for your courage and for a magnificent picture – with my profound gratitude – Ayn Rand. January 7, 1949.” The recipient, Jack Warner, was the co-founder, president, and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios. His career spanned some 45 years, its duration surpassing that of any of the other seminal Hollywood studio moguls. Rand sold the film rights to Warner several years earlier with the contractual proviso that she would provide the screenplay, which would be unalterable. One of the finest association copies possible, linking the famed author with the legendary founder of Warner Brothers and producer of the iconic 1949 film adaptation of The Fountainhead starring Gary Cooper as Howard Roark.

Ayn Rand’s breakthrough novel The Fountainhead; inscribed by her to close friend and assistant Barbara Branden

The Fountainhead’s immediate and lasting popularity is likely due to Rand’s deft analysis of human ambition and the worth of individual expression in the modern age. Her protagonist, Howard Roark, whose character was thought to be inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, is a young architect fighting against convention. Cited by numerous architects as an inspiration, Ayn Rand said the theme of the book was “individualism versus collectivism, not within politics but within a man’s soul.” Rand chose architecture as the analogy of her heady themes because of the context of the ascent of modern architecture. It provided an appropriate mode to make relevant her beliefs that the individual is of supreme value, the “fountainhead” of creativity, and that selfishness, properly understood as ethical egoism, is a virtue. Some critics consider The Fountainhead to be Rand’s best novel (Merill, 1991). Indeed, philosopher Mark Kingwell described it as “Rand’s best work” (Kingwell, 2006).

The exceptional association copy above is inscribed by Rand to Barbara Branden, “To Barbara- for a very heroic achievement- with love- Ayn April 9, 1956.” Born in Winnipeg, Barbara Weidman met Nathaniel Branden because of their mutual interest in Ayn Rand’s works. They became personal friends of Rand in 1950, and when they married in 1953, Rand and her husband, Frank O’Connor, served as the matron of honor and best man. She earned her M.A. in philosophy, and authored a thesis on free will, under the direction of Sidney Hook at New York University.

Large format photograph of Ayn Rand; inscribed by her to Barbara Branden

Nathaniel and Barbara Branden became founding members of an Objectivist movement that sought to advance Rand’s ideas. Barbara and Nathaniel Branden co-wrote Who Is Ayn Rand? in 1962. Barbara Branden’s essay in the book was the first biography of Rand. When it was written, Rand considered Barbara Branden to be one of the most important proponents of Objectivism. After consultation with the Ayn Rand Institute of Irvine, California, the consensus is that this book was intended for Barbara Branden. In the spring of 1956, Barbara was studying at New York University, looking to earn a Master’s in Philosophy. She had just finished her Master’s Thesis, titled “Human Freedom and Human Mechanism,” which she read to a crowd in Ayn Rand’s presence. She submitted the thesis and earned her master’s in early spring of 1956. The inscription, “for a very heroic achievement,” is likely intended for her graduation.

First edition inscribed copy of Rand’s most influential novel.

“From 1943 until its publication in 1957, [Rand] worked on the book that many say is her masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. This novel describes how a genius named John Galt grows weary of supporting a society of ungrateful parasites and one day simply shrugs and walks away. He becomes an inspiration to like-minded men and women, all of whom eventually follow his example, until society, in its agony, calls them back to responsibility and respect. Again [as with Rand’s novel The Fountainhead in 1943] reviews were unsympathetic, and again people bought the book” (ANB).

The theme of Atlas Shrugged, as Rand described it, is “the role of man’s mind in existence.” The book explores a number of philosophical themes that Rand would subsequently develop into the philosophy of Objectivism. By 1984 more than five million copies of Atlas Shrugged had been sold, and in a 1991 Library of Congress survey Americans named it second only to the Bible as the book that had most influenced their lives. It is the basis for the trilogy of film adaptations subtitled Part I (2011), Part II (2012), and Part III (2014).

First Edition of For The New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand; signed by Rand

Following the publication of her two great novels, Rand turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays. In 1961, she published her now classic work For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. “Rand’s 1961 book For The New Intellectual outlines her philosophical system of Objectivism by means of excerpts from We The Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged She then opens the book with an essay on the cultural bankruptcy that has undermined the capitalistic system of the United States. The essay is directed at ‘the New Intellectuals’ needed to restore and defend a capitalist economy in the face of that cultural bankruptcy. Rand is very clear that neither pragmatic nor economic argument is what must be used. Instead, it is arguments for ‘a new morality of rational self-interest’ that will provide the foundation for a new capitalist culture” (Bostaph, Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 11:1,20).

Tenth Anniversary edition of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged

In 1967, the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Atlas Shrugged was released as a sign limited edition of 2000 numbered copies to commemorate the success and popularity of her best known work. See more of Ayn Rand’s influential works here.