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The library of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg served not only as a collection of books but as a window into her intellectual world and a testament to her extraordinary career. As one of the most influential legal minds of the 20th and 21st centuries, Ginsburg’s library was a reflection of her lifelong dedication to law,…
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One of the rarest and most significant books in American political history, The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution remains the single most influential text in promoting the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America. In 1787, Alexander Hamilton resolved to launch a measured defense and…
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Raptis Rare Books was recently featured in the July/August 2023 issue of The Magazine Antiques in the article: A Blueprint for Early America: Owen Biddle’s 1806 Book, The Young Carpenter’s Assistant by Benjamin Davidson and Pippa Biddle. Read the full article here.
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Born in the mid-1700s in relative poverty, Alexander Hamilton rose to prominence as one of America’s founding fathers and the first treasury secretary of the United States. He founded the nation’s financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, the New York Post newspaper, and he was the main author of the economic…
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Born on January in either 1705 or 1706, Benjamin Franklin is one of the most well known Founding Fathers in American history. A polymath, Franklin was well known for both his political and scientific contributions to colonial America. Along with these pursuits, he also established the first newspaper chain, the first public library in America,…
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Born in 1822, Ulysses S. Grant was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as Secretary of War. Later, as president,…
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In celebration of Juneteenth, we invite you to browse some of the rarest, earliest, and most important works of African American and Civil Rights leaders literature currently in our collection. January 1st, 1863: President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed in his famous Emancipation Proclamation, “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be…
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The first President of the United States, George Washington served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1787 convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He is popularly considered the driving force behind the nation’s establishment and came to be known as the “father of the…
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Widely considered one of the most influential American Presidents to date, Ronald Wilson Reagan remains one of the most iconic figures within the American Republican Party. As the leader of the modern conservative movement, Reagan altered the the political dynamic of the United States and his policies and beliefs have been frequently invoked by several…
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In celebration of Black History Month, we invite you to browse some of the rarest, earliest, and most important works of African American literature currently in our collection. The earliest book published by an African American, Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in 1773, three years before American…
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