Raptis Rare Books

First edition of Beresford's homage to the legendary man of letters. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece. In near fine condition. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of Moore's supernatural thriller. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket photograph by Hans Wendler. Author photograph by Jerry Bauer. Cold Heaven relays a tale of hypnotic intrigue, moving from the Riviera to the coast of California near Carmel, in which elements of the bizarre, the inexplicable, the supernatural, and the eccentricities of ordinary life are mingled. The novel was adapted into the film of the same name in 1991, directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Theresa Russell, Mark Harmon, and James Russo.

First edition of Stewart's homage to Rudyard Kipling. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a good dust jacket. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of this pamphlet, which is the exhibition booklet. Octavo, original wrappers. In fine condition.

First edition of Thurston's work on Kipling in Sussex. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. In good condition. Rudyard Kipling resided in East Sussex, England from 1902 until his death in 1936 at Bateman's, a 17th century house located in Burwash. In 1900, Kipling was the most famous author in England, and was earning £5,000 per year; the cost of Bateman's, £9,300, was thus entirely affordable. Kipling wrote some of his finest works at the house including: "Ifâ"", "The Glory of the Garden", and Puck of Pook's Hill, named after the hill visible from the house. The house's setting and the wider local area features in many of his stories. Kipling's poem "The Land" is inspired by the Bateman's estate.

First edition of this novel by the author of Appointment in Samarra. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Muriel Nassar. Lovey Lewis's efforts to join the adult world were aided by matters she could not foresee or control - her father's financial ineptitude, his early death, her mother's aberrations. At seventeen she completed the process by her impetuous marriage to Sky Childs, all-American (football), wealthy and worthless. . . . The main events of the story take place in the second half, the downhill side of the hectic 1920's, a period about which the author has frequently written before with equal authority and conviction. This is one of John O'Hara's shortest novels, . . . but its brevity is a matter of method rather than of content. It is a long full-bodied story deliberately foreshortened, presented primarily through key scenes, with the connecting links sketched in briefly or suggested to the imagination. The characters are seldom described; it is through what they do and say that the reader comes to know them, and also, in some cases with reluctance, to believe them.

First edition, first printing of this inspiring play by England's 37-year Poet Laureate. Octavo, original red cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Graphic House Associates. Author photograph by Keystone Pictures, Inc. Indentured at fourteen to a merchant ship, John Masefield learned from a very young age to love the sea and his fellow men. 'A Play of St. George' demonstrates Masefield's infatuation with humanity, pairing the exciting action of a dangerous duel with the thought-provoking struggle of a desperate choice.

First edition of this collection of essays. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.

Early printing of this collection of three plays by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition. One of the most significant plays of the twentieth century, Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape is still as startlingly fresh and innovative as it was when it was first published nearly a hundred years ago. Primal working man Yank feels at home in the harsh but familiar environment of a ship's engine room, but a chance encounter with a wealthy socialite turns his world upside down and throws everything he knows into question.

First edition of this tribute to Nabokov. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Edited by Peter Quennell. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.

First edition of the sequel to The Bridges of Madison County. Duodecimo, original publisher's boards. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Leisha Israel. Author photograph by Linda Solomon. The story relates what happened to Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson following their passionate and ill-fated love affair in The Bridges of Madison County. Kincaid initially finds himself with just memories of a lonely existence and of Francesca Johnson, for whom he felt a great passion. Pushed by these memories and desiring to give meaning to his life, Kincaid takes to the road again. A Thousand Country Roads explores his development as he explores himself and the world around him on his journey.

First edition of Lucile and William Carpenter's work on Kipling's life in Vermont, his travels around the world, and school days. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of renowned musician, musical director, and rock star Mark Rivera's revealing memoir. Octavo, original boards, illustrated. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Brigid Pearson. Best known as Billy Joel's saxophonist, as well as Musical Director for Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, Mark Rivera has shared the stage with some of rock 'n' roll's greatest performers, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Simon & Garfunkel, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Tony Bennett, Joe Walsh, Hall & Oates, and Peter Gabriel. "Mark Rivera is one of the most accomplished support musicians in rock history. Sideman takes readers behind the scenes of his incredible journey. I couldn't put it down" (Andy Greene).

First edition of Dobree's fresh approach to Kipling's philosophy, poetry, and verse. Octavo, original cloth. Good in a very good dust jacket. Stamp to the title page, lacking the front free endpaper, tape remnants. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of this work by the Nobel Prize-winning economist. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket, name to the front free endpaper. In this work James Tobin discusses two major issues of macroeconomics: the strength of automatic market forces in maintaining full employment equilibrium and the efficacy of government fiscal and monetary policies in stabilizing the economy.

First edition, early printing of this early twentieth-century social novel exploring education, reform, and the shaping of modern character. Octavo, original publisher's green cloth. In very good condition. H. G. Wells, a prolific English writer whose output spanned social commentary, politics, history, and science fiction, frequently used fiction as a vehicle for reformist ideas. Joan and Peter (1918) exemplifies this approach, presenting a recognizably Wellsian narrative in which questions of religion, education, love, and tragedy unfold against the turbulent backdrop of early twentieth-century England. Structured around the upbringing of two orphaned siblings, the novel becomes an extended critique of contemporary educational systems, class hierarchies, and the intellectual shortcomings Wells believed had contributed to the catastrophe of the First World War. Blending domestic realism with didactic reflection, the work serves both as an intimate family story and as a broader meditation on social reconstruction and the urgent need for rational, scientifically informed reform in the modern world.

First edition of Greenlaw's autobiography. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Linda GreenlawÂon the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. After 17 years at sea, Linda Greenlaw decided it was time to take a break from being a swordboat captain, the career that would earn her a prominent role in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm and a portrayal in the subsequent film. Greenlaw decided to move back home, to a tiny island seven miles off the Maine coast. There, she would pursue a simpler life as a lobsterman, find a husband, and settle down. But all doesn't go as planned. The lobsters refuse to crawl out from under their rocks and into the traps she and her father have painstakingly set. Fellow islanders draw her into bizarre intrigues, and the eligible bachelors prove even more elusive than the lobsters. But just when she thinks things can't get worse, something happens that forces her to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about life, luck, and lobsters. Filled with nautical detail and the dramas of small-town life, The Lobster Chronicles is a celebration of family and community. Greenlaw proves once again that fishermen are the best storytellers around.

First edition of the great biographer's lively and absorbing study of the life and work of Rudyard Kipling. Quarto, original cloth, marbled endpapers, illustrated. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of this classic play by the Nobel Prize-winning author. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition. The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza is a play by George Bernard Shaw. It is a satirical comedy about several political philosophies which are expounded by the characters, often in lengthy monologues. The plot follows the fictional English King Magnus as he spars with, and ultimately outwits, Prime Minister Proteus and his cabinet, who seek to strip the monarchy of its remaining political influence. Magnus opposes the corporation "Breakages, Limited", which controls politicians and impedes technical progress.

First edition of this action-suspense novel from the author of Jaws. Octavo, original publisher's half-cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket logo and design by Alex Gotfryd. Jacket illustration by William Maughan. Peter Benchley (1940â"2006) was an American novelist and journalist best known for his bestselling novel Jaws (1974), which helped redefine the modern thriller and was later adapted into Steven Spielbergâs influential 1975 film. Although his early success was tied to depictions of dangerous sea creatures, his later career reflected a shift toward marine conservation advocacy, as he became increasingly concerned with the protection of ocean ecosystems. The Deep (1976) by Peter Benchley is a suspense novel following a young couple who, while scuba diving off the coast of Bermuda, discover a sunken ship containing both valuable artifacts and a cache of dangerous contraband. As they become entangled in a high-stakes conflict with criminals seeking to recover the hidden treasure, the narrative blends elements of thriller and maritime exploration.

First edition of Brown's candid work on the genius of Rudyard Kipling. Octavo, original boards, illustrated with 5 portriats. Foreword by Frank Swinnerton. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in good condition. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of this complex novel. Octavo, original publisher's cloth, top stain red. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with a small closed tear to the rear panel. Author photograph by Halsman. Transparent Things (1972) is the penultimate novel of Vladimir Nabokov â" written between 1969 and 1972, when he was seventy-three years old and living in his celebrated suite at the Montreux Palace Hotel in Switzerland â" and one of the most formally concentrated and metaphysically haunting works of his late period. The novel follows Hugh Person, a somnambulant American editor, whose four visits to Switzerland over two decades are narrated by an ethereal presence â" the ghost of a novelist known only as R. â" who haunts Person as an author haunts his characters, threading together the deaths of fathers, the accidental killing of a wife, a prison sentence, and a final return to the Alpine landscape charged with memory and loss. The book's central preoccupation â" the permeability of the boundary between the living and the dead, the way the past persists within and beneath the surfaces of the present â" is announced on its celebrated opening page, where the narrator instructs the reader to let the transparent thing reveal the thicker, more opaque past it contains. Written as the sixteenth of Nabokov's seventeen novels, Transparent Things offered a sharp contrast to its predecessor Ada â" short, austere, and built around a bumbling and inept protagonist rather than a brilliantly gifted one.

First edition of Amis' study of great English author, Rudyard Kipling. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers, frontispiece portrait of Kipling, with 114 illustrations. In near fine condition. Cover illustration by Avril Broadley. English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Rudyard Kipling's major works include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901) and many short stories and poems. Kipling was born in India, which inspired much of his work and his innovative stories for children have become timeless classics. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907.

First edition of the last volume in the Official Catalogue of the National Gallery, this volume featuring illustrations comprising the British, French, and Spanish Schools of art. Octavo, original wrappers, illustrated with nearly four hundred reproductions. In very good condition with some toning and light rubbing to the extremities. Accompanied by original dry mounted plates from 'Thesaurus Austriacus' on Strathmore notecards and envelopes by DesignsKTB. The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824 by financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. In 1936 Mellon wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to offer his gift of paintings and sculpture for a new museum in Washington, DC, that he would build and finance with his own funds. Roosevelt endorsed Mellonâs offer, and Congress accepted his gift in 1937. At the National Galleryâs dedication, President Roosevelt referred to the Gallery as âa living institution . . . dedicated forever . . . to the use and enjoyment of the people of the United States.â.

First edition of this New York Times best selling magical realism novel. Octavo, original boards. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design and illustration by Kelly Blair. â[Salman] Rushdie is our Scheherazade, inexhaustibly enfolding story within story and unfolding tale after tale with such irrepressible delight that it comes as a shock to remember that, like her, he has lived the life of a storyteller in immediate peril. . . . This book is a fantasy, a fairytaleâ"and a brilliant reflection of and serious meditation on the choices and agonies of our life in this world. . . . I like to think how many readers are going to admire the courage of this book, revel in its fierce colors, its boisterousness, humor and tremendous pizzazz, and take delight in its generosity of spirit" (Ursula K. Le Guin, The Guardian).

Advanced reading copy of the first edition of Michael Blake's second novel. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers. In very good condition. Airman Mortensen is a tense, character-driven war novel that follows a young American airman whose wartime experience is shaped less by heroics than by confusion, fear, and moral pressure. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the story focuses on the psychological impact of military life, as Mortensen struggles with isolation, authority, and the quiet weight of survival. Michael Blake is the author of Dances with Wolves, basis for the Academy Award-winning film.

Signet edition mass-market paperback of one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. Duodecimo, original publisher's pictorial wrappers. In near fine condition. âFrom 1943 until its publication in 1957, [Rand] worked on the book that many say is her masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. This novel describes how a genius named John Galt grows weary of supporting a society of ungrateful parasites and one day simply shrugs and walks away. He becomes an inspiration to like-minded men and women, all of whom eventually follow his example, until society, in its agony, calls them back to responsibility and respect. Again [as with Randâs novel The Fountainhead in 1943] reviews were unsympathetic, and again people bought the bookâ (ANB). The theme of Atlas Shrugged, as Rand described it, is "the role of man's mind in existence." The book explores a number of philosophical themes that Rand would subsequently develop into the philosophy of Objectivism. By 1984 more than five million copies of Atlas Shrugged had been sold, and in a 1991 Library of Congress survey Americans named it second only to the Bible as the book that had most influenced their lives. It is the basis for the trilogy of film adaptations subtitled Part I (2011), Part II (2012), and Part III (2014).

First American edition of Nooteboom's mysterious tale. Octavo, original half cloth. Translated from the Dutch by Ina Rilke. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket painting by Claude Verlinde. Jacket photograph by Simone Sassen. With lyrical, precise, sardonic prose braided with myth and symbol, Nooteboom's The Following Story follows the tale of a proud, spiritual man who has a mysterious experience in which he wakes up in a different city from where he fell asleep. "Nooteboom is one of the greatest modern novelists" (A.S. Bryant).

First Edition, First Printing. Octavo. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a small closed tear to the back panel. The second volume in the Nobel Prize winning author's autobiography.

Later edition of this work by the French poet and novelist. Octavo, bound in full crushed levant morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, ornamentation by Paul Zenker, original wrappers bound in. In very good condition.