Biography and Autobiography
Rare Biography & Autobiography Books for Sale Online
If you are looking for rare or first edition biography or autobiography books look no further than Raptis Rare Books. Browse through our entire collection of rare biographies and autobiographies below, view details about individual books and contact us to ask a question or find out more information.
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Leonard Bernstein's assistant and editor Jack Gottlieb's personal copy of the December 1997 Sotheby's auction catalog of the estate of Leonard Bernstein
[BERNSTEIN, Leonard; Jack Gottlieb].
A Legend: Property from the Estate of Leonard Bernstein Sotheby’s December 1997 Catalog.
New York: Sotheby's, Inc, 1997.
Leonard Bernstein's assistant and editor Jack Gottlieb's personal copy of the December 1997 Sotheby's auction catalog of the estate of Leonard Bernstein. Quarto, original pictorial wrappers. With Gottlieb's notes throughout including the hammer price for each lot that sold in the auction. He has also marked the page that has a lengthy quote from him describing a French provincial walnut style folding table in the catalog, "In the inner sanctum - the staging area for super-human accomplishment - stood that table, where the Maestro marked up his performing scores in crystal-clear intricate detail, like a a fine jeweler polishing precious…
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 135684
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"ONE OF THE HEROIC FIGURES OF OUR TIME" (ROBERT F. KENNEDY): FIRST EDITION OF CESAR CHAVEZ, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LA CAUSA; INSCRIBED BY CHÁVEZ
[CHAVEZ, Cesar] Jacques E. Levy.
Cesar Chavez. Autobiography of La Causa.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1975.
First edition of this biography of the famous labor activist. Octavo, original cloth, photographic endpapers, illustrated with 33 pages of photographs. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by Chavez on the half-title page, "To Marian Schroeder personal best wishes on this Christmas season Peace Cesar Chavez 12/15/78 LA PAZ." Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Judith Kazdym Leeds. Jacket photograph by Jacques E. Levy.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 126731
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Capture of Jefferson Davis Collection
[DAVIS, Jefferson].
Capture of Jefferson Davis Collection.
Fine collection of pieces related to the capture of Jefferson Davis near Irwinville, Georgia on May 10, 1865. The collection includes an original carte-de-visite of Davis's captor, Colonel B.J. Pritchard; a calling card signed by Pritchard; a cabinet card of "The Only Photo in the Word of the Exact Spot where Hon. Jefferson Davis, President of Confederacy, was captured May 10th, 1865, by Fourth Michigan Cavalry, near Irwinville, Irwin county, Ga. Taken and copyrighted December 31st 1894, by J.H. Harris, Tifton, Berrien county, Ga."; a first edition of Edwin M. Stanton's Letter of the Secretary of War, Communicating, In compliance…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 132583
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Rare Civil War Pocket Diary Kept by Assistant Surgeon Robert P. Davis, 84th Indiana Regiment
[DAVIS, Robert P.] .
Pocket Diary of Assistant Surgeon Robert P. Davis, 84th Indiana Regiment.
[1863].
The Civil War pocket diary of Assistant Surgeon Robert P. Davis, 84th Indiana Regiment. 16mo, original wrappers, the diary is printed with blank three days per page, entries have been recorded intermittently beginning on January 1, 1863 and include brief accounts of skirmishes at Resaca, Hooker's rescue of the Indiana Regiment and reports of duties and the diarist's own illness: May 27: “I am on duty at the Hospital handing instruments for amputation.” The next day: “At same duty as yesterday.” June 1: the sick and wounded are moved to a more permanent hospital and their field tents are moved…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 132395
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Rare first edition of Charles Goepp's Kossuth and America; from the Library of Congress
[GOEPP, Charles].
E Pluribus Unum. A Political Tract on Kossuth and America.
Philadelphia: Published by F. W. Thomas, 1852.
Rare first edition of Goepp's criticism of Kossuth. Octavo, bound in full cloth. Deaccessioned from the Library of Congress with the library's bookplate and stamp to the pastedown. In good condition. Rare.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 131558
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First edition of Henry N. Hudson's A Chaplain's Campaign with Gen. Butler
[HUDSON, Henry].
A Chaplain’s Campaign with Gen. Butler.
New-York: Printed For The Author, 1865.
First edition of Henry Hudson's account of his imprisonment after publishing his hostile criticism of Butler's military policy in the New York Evening Post. Octavo, modern cloth. Hudson served during the Civil War from 1862 to 1865 as chaplain of the 1st New York Volunteer Engineers, as well as war correspondent for the New York Evening Post. In very good condition.
Price: $175.00 Item Number: 139497
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The Autumn 1964 issue of Horizon; containing the first appearance of Kipling's India
[KIPLING, Rudyard].
Horizon: Kipling’s India.
New York: American Heritage Publishing Co. Inc., 1964.
First appearance of Kipling's India. Quarto, bound in full cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. The Autumn, 1964. Volume VI, Number 4 issue of Horizon. In near fine condition.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 126118
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"My sympathies are with the suffragettes": Rare English parlor game book containing numerous early 20th century signatures
[MACKENZIE, Poppy].
The Truth About My Friends.
London: Dow & Lester, n.d.
Small parlor game book belonging to Poppy Mackenzie, each page with tipped-in printed slip lifting to reveal a self-criticism or "truth" (one of them being "My sympathies are with the suffragettes"), below which the participants have signed their name. In good condition.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 135645
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First edition of Frederic Cushman Newhall's With General Sheridan in Lee's Last Campaign
[NEWHALL, Frederic Cushman]. [Philip Sheridan].
With General Sheridan in Lee’s Last Campaign.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1866.
First edition of Frederic Cushman Newhall's Civil War memoir. Octavo, original cloth, tissue-guarded frontispiece, folding map. In good condition. Ownership name. Rare.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 132434
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Rare 1940s Westover Schoolgirl Scrapbook
[PRINCE, Marie].
1940s Westover Schoolgirl Scrapbook.
Rare scrapbook from the collection of Marie Prince, documenting her tenure at The Westover preparatory school for girls in the early 1940s. Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco, the scrapbook contains several letters, notes, and large format photographs. In near fine condition.
Price: $2,250.00 Item Number: 116294
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First edition of The Congressional Medal of Honor: The Names, The Deeds; signed by 30 recipients of the Medal of Honor and with 10 additional signed postcards
[RUDOLPH, Donald; Robert E. Simanek; John F. Baker; Ray Davis; Francis S. Currey; Charles A. MacGillivary; et al].
The Congressional Medal of Honor: The Names, The Deeds.
Forest Ranch, California: Sharp & Dunnigan Publications, 1984.
First edition of the complete record of recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, from the Civil War through Vietnam. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, signed by 30 recipients of the Medal of Honor on the half-title page and opposite the half-title including Joe Foss, Donald Rudolph, Robert E. Simanek, John F. Baker, Jr., Ray Davis, Francis S. Currey, Charles A. MacGillivary, James R. Hendrix, William Charette, Rodolfo P. Hernández, Joseph C. Rodriguez, Harvey C. Barnum, Jr., and Roger Donlon. Accompanied by 10 additional postcards signed by honorees including Lee Mize, William Westmoreland, Roy Benavidez, and others, as well as…
Price: $2,600.00 Item Number: 142565
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"As you may have seen by the newspapers, I am about to raise a Coloured Regiment in Massachusetts. This I cannot but regard as perhaps the most important corps to be organized during the whole war": First edition of Robert Gould Shaw's Memorial
[SHAW, Robert Gould; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Harriet Beecher Stowe; James Russell Lowell; et al].
Memorial.
Cambridge: University Press, 1864.
First edition of this scarce volume dedicated to the commander of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Robert Gould Shaw, with contributions by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Edwin M. Stanton, and James Russell Lowell and with extracts from Colonel Shaw's letters. Octavo, original publisher's half leather over red boards with gilt titles to the spine, tipped in tissue-guarded oval carte-de-visite frontispiece of Shaw. In very good condition. Scarce, with only a handful of copies having appeared at auction in the last century.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 126433
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First edition of the Report of General George B. McClellan on the Organization of the Army of the Potomac
[STANTON, Edward M.; George B. McClellan].
Letter of The Secretary of War, Transmitting Report on the Organization of the Army of the Potomac, and of Its Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, Under the Command of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, From July 26, 1861, to November 7, 1862.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1864.
First edition of Stanton's official report on the organization and campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 132804
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Rare 1949 Carnegie Institute of Technology Yearbook; containing one of only a few photographs of Warhol in his early years
[WARHOL, Andy].
The Thistle: Andy Warhol 1949 Carnegie Institute of Technology Yearbook.
Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1949.
1949 Carnegie Institute of Technology Yearbook featuring a rare photograph of Andy Warhol as a college senior. Folio, original boards, illustrated. Warhol is pictured as a member of Modern Dance club. The yearbook also includes a photograph of Philip Pearlstein, a fellow graduating senior. In near fine condition. Very rare, containing one of only a few photographs of Warhol in his early years.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 134091
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Rare Original Harpo press kit from Oprah's 1993 sensational primetime interview with Michael Jackson
[WINFREY, Oprah; Michael Jackson].
Michael Jackson Talks to Oprah: 90 Prime-Time Minutes with the King of Pop Live!
Los Angeles: Harpo, 1993.
Original Harpo press kit from Oprah's 1993 sensational primetime interview with Michael Jackson. Quarto, the kit contains a press release and biographies of Oprah and Michael Jackson. From the collection of Bill Zwecker. A member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Zwecker was a longtime entertainment and celebrity journalist. A Chicago native and second-generation newspaper star (his late mother, Peg Zwecker, was the fashion editor of the Sun-Times and Chicago Daily News), Zwecker began his journalism career in the 1980s and has since interviewed some of the most renowned celebrities across a breadth of industries. He has been a frequent…
Price: $150.00 Item Number: 140126
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“A man's alter ego is nothing more than his favorite image of himself”: First Edition of Catch Me If You Can; Signed by Frank Abagnale and Steven Spielberg
ABAGNALE, Frank W. [Steven Spielberg].
Catch Me If You Can.
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1980.
First edition of the bestselling true story of the world's most sought-after con man, basis for the Steven Spielberg film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Octavo, original black cloth. Boldly inscribed by Frank W. Abagnale on the front free endpaper and Steven Spielberg on the front pastedown. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. With Abagnale's business card laid in. Rare.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 145775
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"History will treat me right": First Edition of Ralph David Abernathy's And the Walls Came Tumbling Down; Signed by Him
ABERNATHY, Ralph David.
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989.
First edition of this work which "brings alive the history of the civil rights era. . . . Abernathy’s storytelling is gripping” (New York Times). Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Signed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, "God Bless You Ralph David Abernanthy10-16-89." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by One Plus One Studio.
Price: $850.00 Item Number: 117368
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First Edition of Henry Adams' The Education of Henry Adams: an Autobiography
ADAMS, Henry.
The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918.
First edition of this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, with the date of 1918 to the title page. Octavo, original cloth, gilt topstain. In near fine condition. First printings are scarce, especially in this condition.
Price: $950.00 Item Number: 119824
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Rare First Edition of The Education of Henry Adams; One of only 40 Examples
ADAMS, Henry.
The Education of Henry Adams.
Washington: Privately Printed, 1907.
Rare first edition, one of only 40 copies printed of this classic work. The text of Education was not made commercially available until 1918, following the author's death, when it was published by Houghton Mifflin. In 1919 it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Modern Library named it as the best non-fiction book published in English since 1900. BAL 32; Reese Narratives of Personal Experience 2 ("certainly one of the great American biographies"). In near fine condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 140067
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Albert Alberg's Gustavus Vasa and His Stirring Times; finely bound in full period calf
ALBERG, Albert.
Gustavus Vasa and His Stirring Times.
London: W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co, c. 1885.
Finely bound example of Alberg's biography of Gustav I of Sweden. Octavo, bound in full polished calf by Relfe Brothers of London with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated. In very good condition. Period ownership inscription.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 139738
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First Edition of Buzz Aldrin's No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon; Signed by Him
ALDRIN, Buzz.
No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon.
Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2016.
First edition of this work which "recounts life lessons learned from his historic Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969 and beyond” (Kirkus Reviews.) Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by Buzz Aldrin on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Cover design by Jonathan Halling. Cover illustration by Jamie Noguchi. Written with Ken Abraham.
Price: $500.00 Item Number: 136203
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First Edition of Buzz Aldrin's Men From Earth; Inscribed by Him and co-author Malcolm McConnell
ALDRIN, Buzz and Malcolm McConnell.
Men From Earth.
New York: Bantam Books, 1989.
First edition of Aldrin's autobiography. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by Buzz Aldrin on the half-title page, :To Bob Best Wishes Buzz Aldrin" and by the co-author opposite the title page, "To Bob - Best regards Malcolm McConnell." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by One Plus Studio. Written with Malcolm McConnell.
Price: $500.00 Item Number: 144989
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First Edition of Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey; Signed by Ali and Photographer Howard L. Bingham in the year of publication
ALI, Muhammad.
Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
First edition of this photographic record of Muhammad Ali's career. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated with numerous photographs by Howard L. Bingham of or concerning Muhammad Ali. Signed by both Muhammad Ali and photographer Howard L. Bingham on the title page in the year of publication, "Howard L. Bingham 10-5-93" and "Muhammad Ali 10-5-93." Introductions by Muhammad and Lonni Ali, Bill & Camille Cosby, Jim Murray, Gordon Parks, George Plimpton, Alvin F. Poussaint, Budd Schulberg, Ralph Wiley, and A.S. "Doc" Young. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Barry Littman.
Price: $850.00 Item Number: 144185
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First edition of Edward Allcard's Temptress Returns; from the library of adventurer and explorer Steve Fossett
ALLCARD, Edward C.
Temptress Returns.
London: Putnam & Co., Ltd, 1952.
First edition of English yachtsman Edward C. Allcard’s detailed account of his second solo trip across the Atlantic aboard the yawl Temptress. Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers, frontispiece, illustrated. From the library of James Stephen “Steve” Fossett with his bookplate to the pastedown. American businessman and record-setting aviator Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in 2002 in his 10-story high balloon Spirit of Freedom. He completed the 2002 trip in 13 days, 8 hours, and 33 minutes and set records for both the Longest Distance Flown Solo in a Balloon and Fastest Balloon…
Price: $50.00 Item Number: 115755
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First edition of Stewart Alsop's The Center: People and Power in Political Washington; inscribed by him to fellow journalist William Safire
ALSOP, Stewart.
The Center: People and Power in Political Washington.
New York, Evanston, and London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1968.
First edition of American journalist Stewart Alsop's vivid portrait of political Washington. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Dear Helene - Bill tells me you even got through the Supreme Court... which is more than I could ever do Best, Stew Alsop." The recipient, William Safire, was an important American author, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign in the 1960 Presidential race, and again in 1968. Following Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a presidential speechwriter for both Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. He was a…
Price: $225.00 Item Number: 135146
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"Here, at home inside a Jane Austen novel, I passed my college weekends, carving Sunday roasts and getting the station wagon serviced, explaining the double finesse in bridge, lacing up ice skates, sharing by radio the fall of Paris and the night bombings of London. . . having fallen not just in love but into a family": First Edition of Roger Angell's autobiography; Signed by Him
ANGELL, Roger.
Let Me Finish.
New York: Harcourt, 2006.
First edition of Angell's autobiography of his early years growing up in New York. Octavo, original boards. Inscribed by Roger Angell on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Cooley Design Lab.
Price: $225.00 Item Number: 7412
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First Edition of A Song Flung Up to Heaven; Inscribed by Maya Angelou
ANGELOU, Maya.
A Song Flung Up To Heaven.
New York: Random House, 2002.
First edition of the final volume in Angelou's autobiography series. Octavo, original half cloth. Warmly inscribed by Maya Angelou. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Andy Carpenter. Jacket photograph by Dwight Carter.
Price: $150.00 Item Number: 3251
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"Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between": First Edition, First Issue of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
ANGELOU, Maya.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
New York: Random House, 1969.
First edition with the topstain red of Angelou's critically acclaimed first book. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Janet Halverson. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,100.00 Item Number: 144542
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Louis Armstrong's Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans; lengthily inscribed by him
ARMSTRONG, Louis.
Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans.
New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1954.
First edition, second printing of the autobiography of one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz, Louis "Pops" Armstrong. Octavo, original half cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the musician on the half-title page, "To Josh: The Old Dixie Jazz-hound from New Orleans!! Your friend, Louis Armstrong ("Satchmo")." The recipient, Joshua B. Glassel was a fellow Dixieland jazz musician and friend of Armstrong's in New Orleans. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. With Glassel's ownership signature to the half-title page.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 137133
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William Attwood's Making It Through Middle Age; inscribed by him
ATTWOOD, William.
Making it Through Middle Age: Notes While in Transit.
New York: Atheneum, 1982.
First edition, second printing of this work by the award-winning journalist. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Muriel Nasser.
Price: $25.00 Item Number: 142304
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Octave Aubry's Ecrits de Napoleon; finely bound in full crushed red morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe
AUBRY, Octave. [Napoleon Bonaparte].
Ecrits de Napoleon.
Paris: Editions Buchet / Chastel, 1969.
Finely bound example of Octave Aubry's Ecrits de Napoleon. Octavo, bound in full crushed red morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt central vignette to the front panel, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. A beautiful example.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 130509
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Col. I Winslow Ayer's The Great Treason Plot in the North During the War
AYER, I. Winslow.
The Great Treason Plot in the North During the War. Most Dangerous, Perfidious, Extensive and Startling Plot Ever Devised! Imminent Hidden Perils of the Republic. Astounding Developments Never Before Published.
Chicago: U.S. Publishing Co, n.d..
Early printing of Ayer's Civil War account. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. In good condition.
Price: $125.00 Item Number: 132537
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"Every history that has been written since has derived all its light from this, and followed its guidance in every question of importance": Rare first edition, first issue of Francis Bacon's The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh
BACON, Sir Francis.
The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh.
London: Printed by Stansby for Matthew Lownes and William Barret, 1622.
Scarce first edition, first issue of Sir Francis Bacon's influential history of the reign of King Henry VII with "Highnesse" at the conclusion of the dedication and “souldiers” (3, line 12) (Pforzheimer 32; STC 1159). Quarto, bound in three quarters calf over marbled boards with tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, all edges red, woodcut frontispiece portrait of Henry VII, elaborate architectural borders to the title page, woodcut headpieces and initials. From the library of book collector Frederick Spiegelberg with his bookplate to the pastedown. In near fine condition,…
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 114526
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Rare first edition of the first volume in Adam Badeau's important Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, From April, 1861, to April, 1865
BADEAU, Adam.
Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, From April, 1861, to April, 1865.
New York: Appleton and Company, 1868.
First edition of the first volume in Badeau's important “eyewitness estimation of Grant’s performance during the war", the second and third volumes of which were published several years later. Octavo, original cloth, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Grant, illustrated with 17 maps, one folding. In very good condition. Period ownership inscriptions. Rare.
Price: $650.00 Item Number: 135243
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First edition of Shackleton Baileys Cicero; FROM THE LIBRARY OF ENGLISH CLASSICIST BERNARD KNOX WITH HIS OWNERSHIP SIGNATURE
BAILEY, D. R. Shackleton. [Bernard Knox].
Cicero.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.
First American edition of Baileys classic work on Cicero. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece. From the library of Bernard Knox with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper. English classicist, author, and critic Bernard MacGregor Walker Knox was the first director of the Center for Hellenic Studies. In 1992 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Knox for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities. In near fine condition.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 134285