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Road to Serfdom was first published in Britain by Routledge in March 1944, during World War II, and due to the book’s popularity during this time of paper rationing, Hayek jokingly called it “that unobtainable book” (Ebenstein, 2003). Consequently, the first British copy, as here pictured, is quite rare. The title for Road to Serfdom…
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April 2nd is the birthday of author Hans Christian Anderson and each year, people around the world celebrate International Children’s Book Day in his honor. We would like to take a moment to talk about collecting children’s books in light of this special day. Children’s books are highly collectible. They’re immensely nostalgic for collectors, pleasantly…
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Gone with the wind which had swept through Georgia,” says Scarlett O’Hara in Chapter 24 of the romantic historical novel. She uses the title phrase as she wonders whether her home plantation “Tara” still stands or is gone. The title reflects the loss of a lifestyle that existed in the American South before the Civil…
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Carson McCullers published The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) when she was twenty-three. It follows deaf John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s mill town in the US state of Georgia. The narrative primarily centers around John’s acquaintances, and McCullers enriches it through a limited-omniscient tone that is highly episodic. Chapters…
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It’s winter here in Vermont, and our rolling hills and green mountain-sides are blanketed in soft snow. It looks sublime, and it inspires thoughts of wilderness adventure. We are reminded of those who have followed those kindled inspirations and trekked the great outdoors – Heinrich Harrer, Edmund S. Hilary – mountaineers of the early to…
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Most notable amongst the New Journalism movement is Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson became internationally famous for his publication of Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967), for which he spent a year living with the Angels to experience their lives and stories first hand. But his most popular work…
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This weekend we will be at the Santa Monica International Antiquarian Book Fair in Santa Monica. Book fairs are a fun and convenient way to meet like-minded book collectors and sellers, so please join us in Santa Monica! Over 90 quality exhibitors will offer for sale a wide variety of Antiquarian, Rare and First Edition…
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There are many reasons why a Twentieth-Century novel may be well-written and well-received, and few books exemplify these features as Ian Fleming’s James Bond series does. Fleming’s fourteen-book long series is critically respected, successful, and highly collectible. They are some of the most popular spy thrillers ever written, and they look wonderful as a set.…
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We love Christmas here at Raptis Rare Books. I have to admit, our Pandora Christmas station is already playing and it probably will not stop until after the New Year. There is just something so magical about the holidays. As the shopping season approaches though, its easy to get overwhelmed by the crowds at the…
Read More >J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy are some of the most iconic and sought after first editions books on the market today. We could wax long about Tolkien’s imaginative style or the ways in which the books have affected our culture or children’s fantasy writers after him, but much has…
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