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One of the most influential economic treatises of the twentieth century and Austrian-American economist Ludwig von Mises’ single most important work, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, first appeared 70 years ago, in September of 1949. Human Action was first published by the Yale University Press in 1949 and later that same year in London…
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American entrepreneur, animator, and film producer Walt Disney is arguably the most important figure in the history of animation. A national cultural icon, his innovative spirit and vision revolutionized the genre of animated cartoons, making them a major part of mainstream popular entertainment. Born in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood, Disney began his animation career in 1919…
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Prolific American author Toni Morrison published 11 novels, 9 works of non-fiction, 5 children’s novels and received over 30 awards throughout the course of her career including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988, the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by Barack Obama, in 2012. Born on February…
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American novelist and social activist James Baldwin was born today, August 2nd, in Harlem in 1924. The literary master’s deeply personal and provocative stories examined both the African American and homosexual experience when neither identity was accepted by American culture. His works would come to galvanize the nation and give a passionate voice to the…
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Saturday July 20th marks the centenary of the birth of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Born in Auckland, New Zealand on July 20th 1919, Edmund Percival Hillary made his first climb at the age of twenty, reaching the summit of Mount Olliver in the Canterbury Region of…
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First published by Joannis Oporini in 1543, Sixteenth century Flemish anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius’ On the Fabric of the Human Body remains the most important and influential book in the study of human anatomy and “one of the most beautiful scientific books ever printed”(Grolier). Vesalius studied medicine at the University of Paris and received…
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Raptis Rare Books was recently featured in the May 2019 issue of Modern Luxury Palm Beach. View the full issue here and view the rare inscribed first edition of The Babe Ruth Story featured here.
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March 2019 marks the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Vonnegut’s most powerful novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade, A Duty-Dance With Death. Published 50 years ago this month, on March 31st 1969, Vonnegut’s science fiction-infused anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five became his first bestseller and made the 47-year old writer a celebrity. The story centres on…
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Although he is now best known for his award-winning songwriting, Canadian musical artist Leonard Cohen had a successful career as a poet and novelist throughout the 1950s and 60s, before the release of his first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, in 1967. Cohen published his first poems in 1954 as a student at McGill University…
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