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 96-120 of 1170
New York : Dodd, Meade & Company, 1958.
First enlarged edition, early printing of the autobiography of the Russian-American aviation pioneer and designer of the first viable American helicopter. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece, illustrated with black and white photographs. In fine condition.
Read more
London : Cassell and Company Ltd., 1948-1961.
Rare complete first edition set of Churchill’s Post-War Speeches, each of which had a single print run and including The Unwritten Alliance, the last of Churchill’s books published during his lifetime. Octavo, five volumes, original publisher’s cloth. Each volume is near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An unusually sharp set. Churchill’s post-war speechesContinue reading "Winston Churchill’s Post-War Speeches: The Sinews of Peace, Europe Unite: Speeches 1947 & 1948, In The Balance: Speeches 1949 & 1950, Stemming the Tide: Speeches 1951 & 1952, The Unwritten Alliance: Speeches 1953-1959."
Read more
New York : Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926-1929.
First American edition of this first-hand, detailed account of French foreign policy, diplomacy, and the events leading to World War I. Octavo, the first three volumes out of four, original publisher’s cloth with gilt titles to the spines, facsimile signature of Raymond Poincaré stamped in gilt to the front panels, tissue-guarded frontispiece to volume one.Continue reading "The Memoirs of Raymond Poincaré 1912-1914."
Read more
New York : Regan Books, 1995.
First edition of Howard Stern’s second autobiography. Octavo, original publisher’s half-cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. Boldly signed and dated by Howard Stern in black felt tip in the year of publication. Additionally signed and dated three times in the year of publication by legendary designer Chip Kidd on the front panel of the book, theContinue reading "Howard Stern: Miss America."
Read more
Chicago : Henry Regnery Company, 1977.
First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original leather, gilt titles to the spine, all edges gilt, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Allen Stults with every good wish Ray.” The recipient Allen Stults was a close business partner of Ray Kroc and a member of the Board ofContinue reading "Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s."
Read more
New York : Basic Books, 1991.
First edition of this work by the Nobel Prize-winning economist. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with black and white photographs. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication, “To Harry and Helen Lipp with best wishes, Herbert A. Simon 3/15/91.” Near fine in a fine unclipped dust jacket. Jacket design by JanetContinue reading "Models of My Life."
Read more
New York : The Macmillan Company, 1951-1952.
First editions of each volume in Hoover’s memoirs. Octavo, three volumes, illustrated with black and white photographs. Boldly signed by Herbert Hoover on the front free endpaper of The Cabinet and the Presidency, “The good wishes of Herbert Hoover.” Years of Adventure and The Great Depression are first printings, The Cabinet and the Presidency isContinue reading "The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: Years of Adventure 1874-1920; The Cabinet and the Presidency 1920-1933; The Great Depression 1929-1941."
Read more
New York : The Penguin Press, 2004.
First edition of this landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, basis for the Award-winning Broadway play. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by Ron Chernow and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda (who starred in the Broadway adaptation) on the title page. Fine in a very good jacket. Jacket design by Gabriele Wilson.
Read more
New York : Simon and Schuster, 1986.
First edition of this biography on how six influential American statesmen shaped U.S. foreign policy and the global order during the Cold War. Octavo, original publisher’s half-cloth, illustrated with black and white photographs. Presentation copy, inscribed by Walter Isaacson on the front free endpaper, “To Norm Olean, Best wishes, Walter Isaacson.” Near fine in aContinue reading "The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made."
Read more
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons / David McKay Company, Inc., 1951 and 1956.
First edition of A King’s Story, King Edward’s classic autobiography. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth with coat of arms stamped in gilt to the front panel, top stain red, cartographic endpapers, frontispiece, illustrated with black and white photographs. Inscribed note by the Duke of Windsor on his official monogrammed stationary laid in, “To Harry Evans withContinue reading "A King’s Story: The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor and The Heart Has Its Reasons: The Memoirs of the Duchess of Windsor."
Read more
New York : Random House, 1989.
First limited edition of Nancy Reagan’s memoirs. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, illustrated, in the original publisher’s unopened shrink wrap. One of 300 numbered copies. Boldly signed by Nancy Reagan on the limitations page. In fine condition. Written in collaboration with William Novak.
Read more
New York : Henry Holt and Company, 1987.
First edition of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader’s autobiography. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by Lech Walesa on the half-title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Read more
London : John Murray, 2012.
First edition, early printing of this biography on bestselling travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, illustrated with photographs and maps. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Read more
New York : D. Appleton and Company, 1885.
Finely bound editions of Badeau’s important “eyewitness estimation of Grant’s performance during the war,” a continuation of Grant’s Personal Memoirs. Octavo, Vols. II and III of three volumes, original publisher’s cloth stamped in gilt and black. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper of Vol. III in the year of publication,Continue reading "Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, From April, 1861, to April, 1865."
Read more
London : Printed and published by Leonard & Virginia Woolf at The Hogarth Press, 1930.
Signed limited edition and first edition in book form of this meditation on the literary possibilities of illness. One of 250 numbered copies signed by Virginia Woolf in her characteristic purple ink on the limitation page, this is number 104. Octavo, original half vellum over green silk boards, marbled endpapers. Fine in the rare original dustContinue reading "On Being Ill."
Read more
Boston and New York : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916.
First trade edition of this travelogue chronicling the renowned naturalist’s 1867 journey on foot from Indiana to Florida. Octavo, original publisher’s green cloth with titles stamped in white, color pictorial cover label, top edge gilt, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of John Muir, illustrated with several plates from photographs and a map. In very good condition. EditedContinue reading "A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf."
Read more
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. First issue with “gve” for “give” at line 10 of p.135 in Vol. I, where MM4 and NN1 are cancels. Vol. I with Pottle’s misprints: upon repeatedContinue reading "The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Comprehending an Account of his Studies and Numerous Works, in Chronological Order…"
Read more
London : Cassell and Company Ltd, 1932.
First edition of this comprehensive and sympathetic biography of the renowned Scottish novelist, poet, and historian Sir Walter Scott. Octavo, bound in three quarters leather over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers, frontispiece portrait of Sir Walter Scott. In near fine condition.
Read more
New York : Grove Press, Inc., 1965.
First edition of one of TIME Magazine’s ten most important nonfiction books of the twentieth century. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery with 22 karat gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panel, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed byContinue reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X."
Read more
London : Faber and Faber Limited, 1984.
First edition of the second volume of Wells’s expansive autobiographical work, in which he reflects on the experiences, intellectual influences, and philosophical conclusions that shaped his life and career as one of the twentieth century’s most influential writers and social thinkers. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth. From the collection of British science fiction author Christopher PriestContinue reading "Experiment in Autobiography: Volume II Discoveries and Conclusions of a Very Ordinary Brain."
Read more
London : Jonathan Cape, 1951.
First British edition of this literary nature memoir exploring the practice and philosophy of falconry. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, red top stain, with black and white diagrams. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Camilla “Ylla” Koffler.
Read more
France : Carrere/Michel Lafon, 1985.
First edition of this autobiographical account of four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost. Quarto, written in French, original pictorial boards with Alain Prost on the front panel, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with photographs throughout. Boldly signed by Alain Prost on the title page. In near fine condition.
Read more
London : Thornton Butterworth Ltd, 1939.
First edition of this Churchill title, the last book he published before the outbreak of the Second World War. Octavo, bound in three quarters modern navy morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, top edge gilt. In fine condition.
Read more
London : Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1935.
First edition of Buchan’s fascinating biography of James Graham, first Marquess of Montrose. Octavo, bound in three-quarters morocco over marbled boards by Bayntun with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated with portraits andContinue reading "Montrose."
Read more
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
Americana
Biography and Autobiography
Biography and Autobiography
