Search Results: Authors starting with L from Raptis Rare Books

London: For R. Phillips by T. Davison, 1799. First edition in English of "an original source of the first class for American history at the close of the 18th century" (Larned). Quarto, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, gilt tooling to the front and rear panels, marbled endpapers, with three engraved folding maps of North America and six folding tables. In near fine condition. An exceptional example of this landmark work. First editions are rare. The observations of this distinguished author, made during a three years' residence, extend to the political constitution of the country, the manners, etc., of the inhabitants, its physical state and natural history. The translator appears to have executed his task faithfully, and to be well acquainted with the country described. His notes frequently increase the information, and sometimes correct the errors of the original" (Sabin). The work became a standard source book for the history of America at the close of… Read More

Surrey, England: Foreign Affairs Publishing Company, 1983. First edition of Chile: The Crime of Resistance. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page in the year of publication to Henry Kissinger, "A Henri Kissingers Secretaire d'Etat hommage respectueux, Suzanne Labin le Paris 12.3.83." A nice association linking Labin, a provocative anti-Communist French analyst and Kissinger, a pro-Pinochet supporter. Labin portrays a Chile that vindicates Kissinger's policies -- Allende was the oppressor and Pinochet a beacon of progress according to Labin. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1955. First edition of the biography of the founder of the American birth-control movement. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers. Association copy, inscribed by Margaret Sanger on the half-title page in the year of publication, "For Alice Adams one of our Planned Parenthood Mother of four lovely children my congratulations and admiration Margaret Sanger April 17 55."The recipient Alice Adams was a novelist and short story writer. Her first novel was Careless Love and after began publishing stories in The New Yorker. She wrote eleven novels, including the bestseller Superior Women. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some rubbing to the extremities. An exceptional association. Noted feminist and activist Sanger began addressing the issue of reproductive rights in The Woman Rebel, her periodical that introduced the term "birth control." In 1916, she founded the American Birth Control League, forerunner of the Planned Parenthood Federation of… Read More

London: Printed For Joseph Booker, 1809. Rare Royal binding of this very uncommon title. Octavo, bound in full contemporary straight grain morocco by Charles Meyer of London for the Royal Family, gilt titles and Greek key ruling to they spine, elaborate gilt ruling and botanical scrolling to the front and rear panels, gilt central initial 'A' beneath a royal crown to the front panel (likely for Princess Amelia, the youngest daughter of George III), gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, yellow watered silk endleaves and doublures decorated in gilt, all edges gilt, ribbon bound in. Charles Meyer was the bookbinder to George III and his family. With Meyer's bookseller's and binder's ticket which reads, "C. Meyer, Bookseller & Binder to the Queen and Princesses." In near fine condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Rare. Princess Amelia was the fifteenth and last child and sixth daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Amelia died of… Read More

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1946. First edition. Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page in the year of publication, "To Hortense Shyab Harold Lamb June 11, 1946." Near fine in a very good dust jacket.

London: Michael Joseph, 1953. First edition of Lamming's masterpiece. Octavo, original gray cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Signed by the author, "With the compliments of George Lamming.

New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1953. First American edition of the author's first novel, which was championed by eminent figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, inscription to the front free endpaper. Jacket design by Leo Manso. Endpapers and frontispiece by Denis Williams. Introduction by Richard Wright.

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1934. Early printing of Landau's biography of his time in the British Secret Service. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Captain Henry Landau." Near fine in a good dust jacket with some wear and tear. Uncommon signed. Henry Landau was a South African World War I volunteer who served with the British Army's Royal Field Artillery when he was recruited into what is now known as the SIS (MI6). He was notable for handling one of the most effective espionage networks of the First World War, La Dame Blanche.

London: Stanley Paul, 1988. First edition of the autobiography of the two-time Master's champion. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by Bernhard Langer on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Written with Bill Elliot. This is Bernhard Langer's own account of his rise to fame as an internationally renowned golfer. Born in Germany, where almost no golf is played, Langer succeeded in beating the odds and triumphing in his early struggles with nerves to become one of the most admired players on the circuit. The book begins with Langer's first major triumphs, his famous 1985 Masters win at Augusta, then goes back to his childhood to trace the beginnings of his interest in the game. He recalls his experiences as a young golfer on the European Tour, when he was the only German playing and how he cured himself of the "yips" that threatened to end his career. He describes the highs and lows of touring the US, his dealings with his fellow pros, and above… Read More

New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1959. First edition of this entertaining history of clothing and its impact on the human condition. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. The dedication copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To John Steinbeck-whose interest in the book when half written encouraged me to complete it. And to Elaine Steinbeck with love to you both Lawrence Lagner Nov 5/ 1959." From the library of John Steinbeck. With an introduction by James Laver. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Lawrence Langner was a playwright, author, and producer who also pursued a career as a patent attorney. He founded the Guild Theatre, where he supervised over 200 productions. Elaine Steinbeck was an actress in the theatre and met Langner at that time. They continued to be in similar circles after her marriage to Steinbeck. The Importance of Wearing Clothes is an erudite and entertaining history of clothing and its impact on the human condition.

Los Angeles: Alcon Entertainment, 2017. First edition of the the complete behind-the-scenes story of the sequel to Blade Runner, one of the most influential science-fiction movies ever made. Oblong quarto, original pictorial boards, illustrated. 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 contributor to numerous national news and entertainment programs including Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Showbiz Tonight, Extra, and the Today Show. Introduction by Deniz Villeneuve. In fine condition.

New York: Cameron & Kahn, 1954. First American edition of Ring Lardner Jr.'s witty Candide-like satire. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Ring Lardner on the title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. In The Ecstasy of Owen Muir, a new-comer from America, Ring Lardner, Jr., finds his targets with deadly discretion. His hero, Owen, young, upper middle class, searches for truth in living , from his first pacifist failure, through the Army, into business, to marriage and conversion to Roman Catholicism. He is not stupid, just intelligently over-insistent on principles: imagining that if you knock with a good will it will be opened to you, he is surprised to find a world of revolving doors. He is subjected to every kind of contemporary double-talk, especially the Roman Catholic kind, as he marries a Catholic girl and embraces his new faith so thoroughly that he loses her. It is not the Church Mr. Lardner mocks but its worldly tailors, cutting heavenly cloth to earthly patterns, and the Church… Read More

Berlin: Seven Seas Publishers, 1966. Paperback edition of Ring Lardner Jr.'s witty Candide-like satire. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. The recipient, Vera Caspary was a novelist, most well known for Laura, which was scripted by Lardner for the film, which starred Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. In good condition. In The Ecstasy of Owen Muir, a new-comer from America, Ring Lardner, Jr., finds his targets with deadly discretion. His hero, Owen, young, upper middle class, searches for truth in living , from his first pacifist failure, through the Army, into business, to marriage and conversion to Roman Catholicism. He is not stupid, just intelligently over-insistent on principles: imagining that if you knock with a good will it will be opened to you, he is surprised to find a world of revolving doors. He is subjected to every kind of contemporary double-talk, especially the Roman Catholic kind, as he marries a Catholic girl and embraces his new faith so thoroughly that he loses her. It is not the… Read More

London: Maclehose Press, 2008-2009. "Crime fiction has seldom needed to salute and mourn such a stellar talent as Larsson’s in the same breath...it has the most original character in crime fiction since Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley" (Sunday Times). Basis for Swedish film adaptations beginning with the 2009 film starring Noomi Rapace. A Hollywood adaptation of the book, directed by David Fincher, was released in December 2011 starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

London: Maclehose Press, 2008-2009. Crime fiction has seldom needed to salute and mourn such a stellar talent as Larsson’s in the same breath...it has the most original character in crime fiction since Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley" (Sunday Times). Basis for Swedish film adaptations beginning with the 2009 film starring Noomi Rapace. A Hollywood adaptation of the book, directed by David Fincher, was released in December 2011 starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

London, New York, New Haven: GeorAllen & Unwin Ltd.; Harper & Brothers; Yale University Press, 1919-1941. English political theorist, economist, and professor Harold Joseph Laski served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and and was a professor at the London School of Economics from 1926 to 1950. Initially a promoter of pluralism, Laski shifted to a Marxist emphasis after 1930 which angered Labour leaders and came under attack by Winston Churchill in the 1945 general election. One of Britain's most influential intellectual spokesman for socialism in the interwar years, Laski's teachings greatly inspired many aspiring leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru. Laski was an inspiration for Ellsworth Toohey, the antagonist in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead (1943). The posthumously published Journals of Ayn Rand, edited by David Harriman, include a detailed description of Rand attending a New York lecture by Laski, as part of gathering material for her novel,… Read More

New York: Random House, 1960. First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, name. An exceptional example.

New York: Random House, 1965. First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Warmly Inscribed by both Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine bright jacket without the fading usually encountered with the spine. Anyone can whistle is a play written by the same author of the West Side Story, and it was performed on Broadway in 1964, Carnegie Hall concert in 1995, and the New York City Center Encores in 2010. The New York Times wrote that Laurents' "book lacks the fantasy that would make the idea work, and his staging has not improved matters. Mr. Sondheim has written several pleasing songs but not enough of them to give the musical wings. The performers yell rather than talk and run rather than walk. The dancing is the cream." And Steven Suskin wrote, the "fascinating extended musical scenes, with extended choral work, ... immediately marked Sondheim as the most distinctive theatre composer of his time. The first act sanity sequence ... and the… Read More

London: Laurie & Whittle, 1794. Rare Hand-Colored 18th Century Laurie & Whittle Map of La Guaira. One page, the map details the town of La Guaira, Venezuela. In near fine condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 7.25 inches by 7.5 inches. Rare and desirable with fine hand-coloring. Early in 1794, Robert Laurie and James Whittle succeeded to the business carried on by Robert Sayer at the Golden Buck in Fleet Street, London as publishers of engravings, maps, charts, and nautical works. Major charts published by the firm included James Cook's Survey of the South Coast of Newfoundland (1776) and the Surveys of St. George's Channel, (1777). Laurie retired from business in 1812, and the firm continued as Whittle & Laurie, but the business was run by his son, Richard Holmes Laurie, who, on the death of Whittle in 1818, became the sole proprietor. L. S. De la Rochette and John Purdy were the hydrographers to the firm.

London: Laurie & Whittle, 1794. Rare hand-colored map of Puerto Cavello, one of the earliest obtainable English language maps to focus on this region. One page, the map displays a town plan, charting of the harbor, forts and surrounding islands. In near fine condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 16 inches by 12.5 inches. A handsome example. Early in 1794, Robert Laurie and James Whittle succeeded to the business carried on by Robert Sayer at the Golden Buck in Fleet Street, London as publishers of engravings, maps, charts, and nautical works. Major charts published by the firm included James Cook's Survey of the South Coast of Newfoundland (1776) and the Surveys of St. George's Channel, (1777). Laurie retired from business in 1812, and the firm continued as Whittle & Laurie, but the business was run by his son, Richard Holmes Laurie, who, on the death of Whittle in 1818, became the sole proprietor. L. S. De la Rochette and John Purdy were the hydrographers to the firm.