History, Law, and Politics

Brandt, Charles [Al Pacino]

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa.

Hanover, NH : Steerforth Press, 2004.

First edition of “the best Mafia book I ever read, and believe me, I read them all” (Steven Van Zandt), basis for the 2019 Martin Scorsese starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Brenda, Darryl tells me you’reContinue reading "I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa."

Earhart, Amelia

The Fun of It.

New York : Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1932.

Early printing of Earhart’s account of her childhood, her fascination with aviation, and her life through her 1932 flight across the Atlantic. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated throughout. Signed by Amelia Earhart on the front free endpaper. Very good in a very good dust jacket, small bookplate to the rear pastedown. Accompanied by two pieces ofContinue reading "The Fun of It."

Van der Hooght, Everardo

Biblia Hebraica, Secundum Ultimam Editionem Jos. Athiae, a Johanne Leusden, Denuo Recognitum, Recensita Variisque Notis Latinis Illustrata, ab Everardo Van Der Hooght. Editio Prima Americana, Sine Punctis Masorethicis.

Philadelphia : Printed by William Fry for Thomas Dobson, 1814.

Very rare first edition of the first Hebrew Bible published in America. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in full contemporary calf, including half-titles and front and rear blanks, as well as scarce publisher’s notice in volume one (not found in all examples); Van der Hooght’s four leaf Preface bound in at front of second volume, moroccoContinue reading "Biblia Hebraica, Secundum Ultimam Editionem Jos. Athiae, a Johanne Leusden, Denuo Recognitum, Recensita Variisque Notis Latinis Illustrata, ab Everardo Van Der Hooght. Editio Prima Americana, Sine Punctis Masorethicis."

Bird, Kai and Martin J. Sherwin

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

New York : Vintage Books, 2006.

Later printing of this Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers, illustrated. Boldly signed by Kai Bird. In near fine condition. Cover design by Stephanie Kloss.

Frank, Philipp [Albert Einstein]

Einstein: His Life And Times.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1947.

First edition of this classic work by Frank, a famed contemporary of Einstein. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the subject in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “A. Einstein 47.” Translated from a German manuscript by George Rosen. Edited and Revised by Shuichi Kusaka. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. RareContinue reading "Einstein: His Life And Times."

Grant, Ulysses S.; Hamilton Fish; Leonard Wood; Joseph Wheeler

Ulysses S. Grant, Hamilton Fish, Leonard Wood and Joseph Wheeler Autographs.

: N.p., [1874-1902].

Autographs of President Ulysses S. Grant, Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, and United States Army Generals Leonard Wood and Joseph Wheeler. Octavo, one page. Signed by Grant, “U. S. Grant.” Additionally signed and dated by Wheeler (“Joseph Wheeler Genl. USA. Apl. 11. 1902″), Wood (Leonard Wood Army Genl USA June 30th 1902”), and Fish (“HamiltonContinue reading "Ulysses S. Grant, Hamilton Fish, Leonard Wood and Joseph Wheeler Autographs."

Einstein, Albert

Albert Einstein Signed Photograph.

1952.

Rare original black and white silver gelatin photograph of Albert Einstein. Signed “A Einstein 52.” Full-length group portrait showing Albert Einstein standing with Hadassah National President Rebecca Beldner Shulman and others at his Princeton home in June of 1952 during a celebration marking the commencement of building of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem.Continue reading "Albert Einstein Signed Photograph."

Rhode, Deborah L. [Ruth Bader Ginsburg]

Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality.

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1997.

First edition of this analysis of sex and gender-based inequality in the United States. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Ruth, Who has taught me so much about these issues – and so much else. With deepest admiration and respect, Deborah.” From the library ofContinue reading "Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality."

Kennedy, John F

The National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Annual Award Dinner [John F. Kennedy Signed Program].

1961.

The National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Annual Award Dinner held at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on December 5, 1961, boldly signed by President John F. Kennedy and college Hall of Famer Marshall Goldberg below. President John F. Kennedy gave the address at the annual awards dinner for the National Football FoundationContinue reading "The National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Annual Award Dinner [John F. Kennedy Signed Program]."

[Roosevelt, Franklin D.]

Traitors Three.

.

Rare original broadside printing of this anti-Franklin D. Roosevelt and anti-New Deal poem. Duodecimo, original paper. In good condition with some toning.

Kammen, Michael [Ruth Bader Ginsburg]

A Machine That Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.

Early printing of this analysis of the United States’ relationship with its constitution. Octavo, original half cloth, frontispiece of ‘Washington Giving the Laws to America’ by J. P. Elven, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, “March, 1987, To Judge Ginsburg, From the “boys in the back room” – Jay, Mark, & David.”Continue reading "A Machine That Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture."

Thomas, Keith

Religion and the Decline of Magic.

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.

First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Diane Large.

Reiser, Anton. [Albert Einstein]

Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait.

New York : Albert & Charles Boni, 1930.

First edition, early printing of this Einstein biography written by Rudolf Kayser, a German literary historian and husband to Albert Einstein’s stepdaughter Ilse under the pseudonym Anton Reiser. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. In near fine condition.

Hofstadter, Richard

The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1965.

First edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian’s pivotal volume of  essays, including the title work that expresses his alarm at “the arena of uncommonly angry minds” that dominates the nation’s politics, manufacturing a “vast and sinister conspiracy… as the motive force in historical events… Time is forever just running out.” Octavo, original cloth. Near fineContinue reading "The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays."

La Guardia, Fiorello H

My Choice for President.

New York : N.p., c. 1940.

Rare printing of the Mayor of New York’s radio address in support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Duodecimo, original pictorial wrappers. In near fine condition with an ownership signature to the front panel.

Vesalius, Andreas; Illustrated by Jan Stephan van Calcar

Andreae Vesalii Bruxellensis Icones Anatomicae.

New York and Munich : Printed by the Bremer Presse for the New York Academy of Medicine and the University of Munich, 1934.

The Bremer Press edition and final edition of the Fabrica and Epitome, printed from the original Vesalian woodblocks which were subsequently destroyed in the bombing of Munich in 1943. Folio, original publisher’s half pigskin over cloth with gilt titles to the front panel, illustrated with two woodcut title-pages by Jos. Lehnacker, leaf with woodcut portraitContinue reading "Andreae Vesalii Bruxellensis Icones Anatomicae."

Mandela, Nelson

I Am Prepared to Die.

Kent : A.G. Bishop & Sons, Ltd, c. 1965.

Rare first edition of Mandela’s Rivonia Speech. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Boldly signed and dated on the front panel, “Mandela 15.3.06.” In near fine condition. Uncommon signed.

The Political History of Palestine Under British Administration.

Jerusalem : [Memorandum by His Britannic Majesty's Government Presented in July 1947, to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine], 1947.

Scarce printing of this political history. Thin octavo, original publisher’s wrappers. In good condition with toning throughout, rubbing to the extremities, institutional stamps to the first leaf, rear free endpaper, and rear flyleaf, publisher’s wrappers laid down on card.

Pistone, Joe and Charles Brandt

Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business.

Philadelphia : Running Press, 2007.

First edition of this account of the FBI agent’s undercover operation. Octavo, original boards, illustrated with black and white photographs. Presentation copy, inscribed by Joe Pistone (Donnie Brasco) on the half-title page, “Art Happy Birthday Best Joe P.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon signed and inscribed.

Pagels, Elaine

The Gnostic Gospels.

New York : Random House, 1979.

First edition of the author’s groundbreaking work. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the half-title page. Near fine in a very  good price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by R.D. Scudellari.

Grant, Ulysses S; James G. Blaine; P.H. Sheridan; George B. McClellan; Elizabeth B. Custer

The Great War Library “Shoulder Strap” Set of Civil War Memoirs Including: Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, McClellan’s Own Story, and Tenting on the Plains: or Gen. Custer in Kansas and Texas.

New York : Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885-1891.

Rare Shoulder Strap set of five Civil War histories printed by Twain’s publishing house in its short-lived but impressive decade of operation. Octavo, eight volumes bound in full tan sheep skin with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, red and black spine labels, all edges marbled, marbled endpapers,Continue reading "The Great War Library “Shoulder Strap” Set of Civil War Memoirs Including: Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, McClellan’s Own Story, and Tenting on the Plains: or Gen. Custer in Kansas and Texas."

Fager, Chuck

Eating Dr. King’s Dinner: A Memoir of the Movement 1963-1966.

Fayetteville, North Carolina : Kimo Press, 2005.

First edition of  this personal memoir of Civil Rights activism. Octavo, original wrappers. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the title page, “Durham NC, 2023 For James, The narrative here concludes in early 1966. Chuck Fager. But fifty-plus years later, the story & the courageous black struggle goes on, in some ways asContinue reading "Eating Dr. King’s Dinner: A Memoir of the Movement 1963-1966."

Malkiel, Burton G

A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 1973.

First edition of this Wall Street classic. Octavo, original cloth. Lengthily signed by the author on the front free endpaper with a transcription from the book as follows, “In this book I take you on a random walk down Wall Street, providing a guided tour of the complexities of finance. Burt Malkiel.” Near fine inContinue reading "A Random Walk Down Wall Street."

Palestine. Department of Migration. Annual Report 1934.

Jerusalem : Printing and Stationary Office, 1935.

Scarce printing of the Palestine Department of Migration Annual Report for 1934. Thin quarto, original wrappers, illustrated with tables. In very good condition with toning to the wrappers, first and last few leaves, bookplate of Yitzhak Gruenbaum in Hebrew to the front pastedown, institutional stamps to the front panel and title page, tape evidence toContinue reading "Palestine. Department of Migration. Annual Report 1934."