Search Results: Art and Architecture from Raptis Rare Books

November 13, 1710. The French nobility was a privileged social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on June 23, 1790 during the French Revolution. Families of the French nobility could have two origins as to their principle of nobility: The families of immemorial nobility and the ennobled families. Sources differ about the actual number of French families of noble origin, but agree that it was proportionally among the smallest noble classes in Europe. Before Louis XIV imposed his will on the nobility, the great families of France often claimed a fundamental right to rebel against unacceptable royal abuse. The Wars of Religion, the Fronde, the civil unrest during the minority of Charles VIII and the regencies of Anne of Austria and Marie de Medici are all linked to these perceived loss of rights at the hand of a centralizing royal power.

Chicago: People's Publishing Co, [c. 1890]. 19th century American map of the state of Florida. One page, the map shows a detailed view of the stated divided by county and includes an inset of the North-western portion of Florida. In near fine condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 21.5 inches by 17.25 inches. Historical records indicate that Paleo-Indians entered Florida at least 14,000 years ago, by the 16th century, the primary Native American tribes included the Apalachee of the Florida Panhandle, the Timucua of northern and central Florida, the Ais of the central Atlantic coast, and the Calusa of southwest Florida, with many smaller groups throughout what is now Florida. Florida was the first region of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans. The earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon who spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2, 1513 and named it La Florida in recognition of the verdant… Read More

1928. Rare collection of six Winnie-The-Pooh prints specially bound with an autograph note signed by both A. A. Milne and Ernest Shepard. Quarto, bound in hand-made paper wrappers, the collection includes six mounted Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations extracted from issues of Home Chat magazine which were produced by Shepard exclusively for Home Chat in 1928 and never appeared in any of the Pooh books. With a mounted note signed by Milne and Shepard. The prints are titled: Christopher Robin has a Little Something at Eleven; What Christopher Robin does in the Mornings; Christopher Robin gives Extract of Malt all round; Christopher Robin's Green Braces; Christopher Robin at the Enchanted Place; Christopher Robin organises an "Exposition". In near fine condition. A unique example.

New York-Berlin-Zurich: Scalo Verlag, 1995.

1923. Extremely rare original photograph boldly signed "Albert Einstein Jersusalem 1923" during his only trip to Palestine in 1923. Einstein's return voyage from his tour of Japan and China took him via the Red Sea and Suez Canal which allowed him to accept the invitation of Arthur Ruppin, the director of the Palestine office of the Zionist Organization in Jaffa to visit the region for twelve days. Einstein arrived in Port Said on February 1, 1923, and from there he traveled to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Jaffa and Haifa. The photographer, Zvi Oron, began his career in Warsaw and the United States before opening a studio in Tel Aviv in 1919. In 1930 he moved to Jerusalem and opened a studio of Jaffa Street working in the service of press clients and the British Government. He was well regarded for his candid images that captured daily life in the British Mandate. The Zionist archive holds over 1,300 of his negatives. Double matted and framed, the entire piece measures 19.75 inches by 15.5 inches. An… Read More

1923. Etch bust of Albert Einstein done by well-known artist Hermann Struck. Signed by both Einstein and Struck, numbered 49/150. In fine condition. Double matted and framed, the entire piece measures 12.25 inches by 15 inches. An exceptional piece. Hermann Struck was a German Jewish artist known for his etchings. In 1908, Struck published "Die Kunst des Radierens" ("The Art of Etching"), which became a seminal work on the subject. His students included Marc Chagall, Lovis Corinth, Jacob Steinhardt, Lesser Ury and Max Liebermann. Struck did commissioned portraits of Albert Einstein, Ibsen, Nietzsche, Freud, Herzl, Oscar Wilde among others.

1923. Lithograph portrait of "the father of modern physics", Albert Einstein by well-known artist Hermann Struck. Signed by Einstein, "Albert Einstein 1923" and Struck, "Herman Struck 138/150". In fine condition. Matted and framed, the entire piece measures 19.75 inches by 15.5 inches. An exceptional piece. Hermann Struck was a German Jewish artist known for his etchings. In 1908, Struck published "Die Kunst des Radierens" ("The Art of Etching"), which became a seminal work on the subject. His students included Marc Chagall, Lovis Corinth, Jacob Steinhardt, Lesser Ury and Max Liebermann. Struck did commissioned portraits of Albert Einstein, Ibsen, Nietzsche, Freud, Herzl, Oscar Wilde among others.

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Paris: Mercure de France, 1913. First edition of Apollinaire's first collection of poems, signed by him and Pablo Picasso. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, patterned endpapers, frontispiece portrait of the poet by Pablo Picasso. Association copy, inscribed by both Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso on front free endpaper, "A A P.N. Roinard son admirateur Guillaume Apollinaire" and "et pour Robert Valancay Picasso Paris Janvier 1940 et I." Apollinaire has also made five corrections to the text in ink on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189. The recipient of Apollinaire's inscription, Paul-Napoleon Roinard, was a French libertarian painter and poet whom Apollinaire befriended in 1903 and considered "one of the most powerful precursors of the new poetry." Apollinaire dedicated his poem Le Brasier (included in the present volume on p. 129) to Roinard. The recipient of Picasso's inscription, Robert Valancay, was a poet, translator and literary critic who worked… Read More

Rare original Alfred Hitchcock self-portrait, inscribed by the great director, "To Adrienne from Alfred Hitchcock." In near fine condition. The entire piece measures 14 inches by 11 inches. Rare and desirable. Often referred to as "The Master of Suspense", English film director and producer Alfred Hitchcock pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a recognizable directorial style. His stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. In addition, he framed shots to maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative forms of film editing. His most successful films include Rebecca (1940), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960).

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1980. First edition of this classic work which features images such luminaries as Maria Callas, Gertrude Stein, and Marilyn Monroe shot by photographers such as Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, and Richard Avedon. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, boldly inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, "Lydia- I am so happy you like my book- So So much Love- Diana 1980." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Written with Christopher Hemphill. Legendary fashion maven Diana Vreeland at the urging of her editor Jackie authored a classic volume in the 1980s on the quality of "allure" in fashion and in life. Throughout Allure, Vreeland lends her famous knack for turning a phrase to an astonishing array of fashion, celebrity, and fine art photographs.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1980. Legendary fashion maven Diana Vreeland at the urging of her editor Jackie authored a classic volume in the 1980s on the quality of "allure" in fashion and in life. Throughout Allure, Vreeland lends her famous knack for turning a phrase to an astonishing array of fashion, celebrity, and fine art photographs.

Halle: Johann Justinus Gebauer, 1752. Rare 18th century engraved map of North and Central America by famed French cartographer Guillaume Delisle. One page, hand-colored, the engraved map shows North and Central America including California, Nova Mexico, Florida, and Greenlandia, decorative cartouches. In near fine condition. French cartographer Guillaume Delisle gained fame in the late 17th and early 18th century or his popular and accurate maps of Europe and the newly explored Americas. His 1718 Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississippi is an example of French cartography at its height. It was widely circulated in Europe and remained in print for years, either copied exactly or used as a base map.

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1985. First paperback printing of this photographic study of America in the eighties. Quarto original wrappers. Boldly signed by Andy Warhol on the front panel. In fine condition. Designed by Barbara Richter.

New York: The Eakins Press Foundation, 1976. First edition, one of only 2000 copies, with 213 photogravure plates. Oblong folio, original blue-gray cloth. In fine condition. Signed by Lee Friedlander.

New York: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1969. First edition of this classic work. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by the Vincent Scully on the title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Uncommon signed.

Brussels: Lithographed by H. Ode, 1825. Rare hand-colored lithograph map of South Florida, the Keys and the Bahamas from renowned 19th century Belgian cartographer Philippe Vandermaelen's Atlas Universel. One page, the map displays South Florida and the Bahamas including major cities as of 1825 with numerous Native American trails and roads recorded and an inset text regarding the flora and fauna of the Everglades. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 29 inches by 27 inches.

c. 2100 B.C.E. Rare ancient Sumerian Cuneiform tablet recording religious offerings made to several deities including Nin-lil, Enlil, Nanaya, Inanna, and Nanna. Clay, Third Dynasty of Ur, the tablet measures 1.75 inches by 2.25 inches and documents the offerings of sheep issued by Enlil-zishagl, a well-known official involved in many other similar texts that date to the reign of King Shu-Suen of Ur. Housed in a custom acrylic and wood mount. The earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, Sumer emerged during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium B.C.E. It was one of the first civilizations in the world, along with ancient Egypt, the Caral-Supe civilization, the Indus Valley civilization, the Minoan civilization, and ancient China. Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, Sumerian farmers grew an abundance of grain and other crops, the surplus from which enabled them to form urban settlements. The most important… Read More

London: Bailey Litchfield/Matthew Miller Dunbar Ltd, 1972. First edition of the transcript of David Bailey's documentary film 'Warhol' which was banned upon release due to its alleged explicit content. Folio, original illustrated wrappers, illustrated with photographs. Boldly signed by Andy Warhol on the title page. In very good condition. Arguably the first celebrity photographer, fashion photographer David Bailey directed and produced three documentaries between 1968 and 1971: Beaton, Warhol and Visconti. A study of Warhol and his factory, his Warhol documentary was banned upon release due to its purported explicit content.

New York: Random House, 1979. First edition of Warhol's Portraits of the 1970s. Quarto, original half cloth, with Warhol's triple self-portrait, with 112 color illustrations of the artist's portraits. Boldly signed by Andy Warhol on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Essay by Robert Rosenblum. Edited by David Whitney.