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.
Showing items 72-96 of 1128
Paris : Gallimard, 1963.
First edition of Simone de Beauvoir’s autobiographical memoir covering the years after World War II. Octavo, original publisher’s wrappers. In near fine condition, signature to the front free endpaper.
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New York : McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.
First edition of Simon Wiesenthal’s classic autobiography. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by Simon Wiesenthal on the title page. Ticket to a Wiesenthal lecture attached to the front free endpaper, near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Edited by Joseph Wechsberg. Jacket design by Leonard Leoni. Jacket photo by Lester Krauss.Continue reading "Murderers Among Us: The Wiesenthal Memoirs."
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New Haven : Yale University Press, 1988.
First edition of this collection of essays. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the editor on the title page, “For Justice Ginsburg – with deepest respect, admiration, & gratitude, In sisterhood, Elizabeth Ann Bartlett.” From the library of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Arguably the most famous Supreme Court Justice in American history, lawyer and juristContinue reading "Sarah Grimké: Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and Other Essays."
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Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1950.
First edition, advance review copy of Lewis’ great biography of American Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant, with the publisher’s review slip laid in. Octavo, original cloth. From the library of Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Herbert Donald with three drafts of a review of the book by Donald’s mentor and the director of his dissertationContinue reading "Captain Sam Grant."
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New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1928.
First edition of Earhart’s classic dramatic chronicle. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 61 black-and-white photographic plates, illustrated endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by Amelia Earhart on the verso of the frontispiece, “For Earnestine Fishbaugh. Amelia Earhart.” The recipient, Earnestine Fishbaugh was the daughter of noted Hollywood physician, Dr. Ernest C. Fishbaugh. Accompanied by a laid in note fromContinue reading "20 Hrs. and 40 Min. Our Flight in the Friendship. The American Girl, First Across the Atlantic by Air, Tells Her Story."
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New York : Scribners, 1999.
First edition of George H. W. Bush’s life and letters. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Signed by both George Bush and his chief of staff John Sununu on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by John Fontana. Jacket photograph by Alexanders of Houston.
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London : Rupert Hart-Davis, 1949.
First edition of Keynes’ intellectual, literary and reflective history. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, frontispiece photograph of Keynes, Bertrand Russell and Lytton Strachey at Garsington. In very good condition. Introduced by David Garnett.
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New York : Scribner, 2017.
First trade paperback edition, second printing of this collection of life stories of Afghan women. Octavo, original publisher’s pictorial wrappers. Boldly signed on a Laura Bush bookplate affixed to the verso of the front cover by Laura Bush in black felt tip. As First Lady of the United States alongside her husband George W. Bush,Continue reading "We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope."
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New York : G.W. Carleton & Co., Publishers, 1867.
First edition of this record of personal recollections during the Civil War. Octavo, original publisher’s green cloth with gilt titles to the spine, floral detailing stamped in blind to the front and rear panels, frontispiece, with black and white illustrations and decorations. In very good condition.
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Sixteenth century edition of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Latin work on the downfalls of powerful or famous historical and biblical figures. Duodecimo, written in Italian, bound in full vellum, woodcut chapter decorations. Translated and expanded by Giuseppe Betussi of Bassano. In very good condition with light toning and soiling.
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New York : Simon & Schuster, 1990.
First edition of the 40th President of the United States’ memoir. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “To Winnie- With Best Wishes. Ronald Reagan Feb. 9- 1991” and signed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa. Lech Wałęsa is a Polish labor leader and statesman whoContinue reading "An American Life."
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New York : Armistad, 2007.
First edition of this early Obama biography. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by Barack Obama in person in Keene, New Hampshire in full on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine dust jacket. We have never seen another full signature in this title.
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New York : Doubleday, Page & Company, 1909.
First Doubleday printing of Tarbell’s collected Billy Brown stories, first published by McClure in 1907. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
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London : John Blake, 2009.
First edition of the legendary tennis champion’s biography. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, illustrated with color photographs. Boldly signed by Rafael Nadal on the half-title page and inscribed by biographer Tom Oldfield on the title page, “To Nain, Happy Easter! Love, Tom.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
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New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001.
First edition of the author’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to fellow author Peter Matthiessen, “For Peter Thank you! with warm regards Louis Menand.” From the library of National Book Award-winning author Peter Matthiessen with his bookplate to the front free endpaper. TheContinue reading "The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America."
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London : Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, 1791.
First edition, first issue of both volumes of the most celebrated biography in the English language, which was published on May 16, 1791 in a print run of only 1,750 copies. Quarto, bound in full calf, gilt titles to the spine, morocco spine labels. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Johnson, engraved by J. Heath after the Sir Joshua ReynoldsContinue reading "The Life of Johnson."
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London : Temple Press Limited, 1961.
First edition of the racing legend’s autobiography. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated throughout. Boldly signed by Stirling Moss, who contributed the foreword. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Michael Turner. In collaboration with Marcello Giambertone.
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New York : Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1965.
First edition, second printing of Reagan’s early autobiography. Octavo, original black cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Best wishes Ronald Reagan.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design Ned Glattauer. An exceptional example.
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Surrey : Colour Library International, 1981.
First edition of this work regarding Mother Teresa. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Lengthily inscribed by Mother Teresa in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “My dear Sisters, Let us love Jesus with undivided love and others as He loves each one of us. God bless you, M. Teresa mc, 6/7/81.” Near fineContinue reading "For the Brotherhood of Man, Under the Fatherhood of God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Her Missionaries of Charity & Her Co-Workers."
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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
First edition of the account of the year following the death of the author’s husband. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Joan Didion on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson.
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New York : Crown Publishers, 2006.
First edition of Obama’s second book. Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To John and Rosemary- All the best! Barack Obama.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket photograph by Deborah Feingold.
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New York : William Morrow and Company, 1982.
First edition of this glorious love story. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by the author on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Honi Werner. Translated by Catherine Hutter.
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New York : Harcourt, Brace & World, 1948.
Early printing of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Very good in a very good price-clipped dust jacket, bookplate to the front free endpaper.
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New York : Albert and Charles Boni, Inc, 1932.
First edition of this historical account on the friendship between writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and magician Harry Houdini. Octavo, original publisher’s orange cloth, top stain green, frontispiece of Conan Doyle and Houdini. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Oscar S. Teale With every good wish from Bernard M.L.Continue reading "Houdini and Conan Doyle."
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Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
![Opera Dim Giovanni Boccaccio Soprai Casi Degli Huomini Illustri. [Giovanni Boccaccio’s Work on the Cases of Illustrious Men].](https://raptis.bvbeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RRB-146548-scaled-1.jpg)
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
