It is one of the strangest stories in the history of modern literature. A novel rejected by every commercial publisher who saw it. A novel prosecuted for obscenity in the United States before it had even been issued as a book. A novel barred from entry into the United Kingdom by His Majesty’s Customs for…
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It is one of the great near-misses in modern publishing history. In 1953 a forty-one-year-old schoolmaster named William Golding finished a short, strange novel about a group of English boys stranded on a tropical island after a plane crash, and sent the manuscript out to find a publisher. More than twenty London houses read it.…
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There is a particular category of rare book that transcends the ordinary parameters of the collecting field. These are not simply early printings of significant texts they are the physical embodiments of cultural turning points, volumes whose first appearances in the world marked moments from which literature, science, and intellectual history did not return. To…
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Some books exist in multiple registers simultaneously. There is The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam as a text — the collection of quatrains composed in eleventh-century Persia by the mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyám, rendered into English verse by Edward FitzGerald in 1859, and subsequently translated, illustrated, printed, and bound in more editions than any comparable…
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The Nobel Prize in Literature is the most consequential recognition in the literary world. Awarded annually by the Swedish Academy since 1901, it has conferred its authority on writers whose work has, in the Academy’s enduring phrase, been of the greatest benefit to mankind — a formulation capacious enough to encompass poets, novelists, essayists, and…
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In the spring of 2026, PBS’s Emmy Award-winning Made With Love series turned its attention to a question that has rarely felt more timely: in a country marking the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, what does it still mean to make something by hand? The result was a special episode, Celebrating America 250: Made With Love,…
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On May 14, 2026, Raptis Rare Books and Churchill Cigar Company had the extraordinary privilege of hosting legendary musician, musical director, and rock icon Mark Rivera for an unforgettable evening centered around his memoir, Sideman: In Pursuit of the Next Gig. The event brought together music lovers, book collectors, cigar aficionados, and members of the…
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May 18, 2026 BY VALERIE STAGGS FLORIDA WEEKLY CORRESPONDENT Inside Raptis Rare Book Store on Worth Avenue, stacks of FOX News Commentator Dana Perino’s new book, “Purple State,” sit waiting for the hundreds of eager fans in line at the author’s recent book signing. The books’ bright pink and purple covers brought a splash…
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In April 2026, the CBS affiliate WBZ-TV turned its cameras on a subject that might seem, at first glance, an unlikely candidate for a lifestyle feature: a modest workshop in Charlestown, Massachusetts, where books are still sewn, rounded, backed, and tooled entirely by hand. The segment, produced for the station’s New England Living series and reported by…
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Raptis Rare Books was recently featured in the May 10, 2026 issue of Florida Weekly: Celebrating 250 Years of America – Florida Weekly History comes to life this season on Worth Avenue, where Raptis Rare Books will mark the 250th anniversary of the United States with a remarkable exhibition of founding-era treasures. Set within the gallery’s…
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Jodie Wagner Palm Beach Daily News May 12, 2026, 3:36 p.m. ET Musician Mark Rivera will hold a book signing for his memoir, “Sideman: In Pursuit of the Next Gig” on May 14 in Palm Beach. The event will take place at Raptis Rare Books, followed by a free live performance at Churchill Cigar Company.…
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Meet renowned musician, musical director and rock star Mark Rivera for an evening promoting his book Sideman: in Pursuit of the Next Gig. 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…
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The following article appeared in the Palm Beach Daily News on May 1, 2026: Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier will present copies of his new book, “The Case for America,” May 8 at Raptis Rare Books in Palm Beach. Jodie Wagner Palm Beach Daily News May 1, 2026, 11:05 a.m. ET Fox News anchor…
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There is a moment every collector remembers. It might happen in a dusty antiquarian shop, at an auction preview, or while turning the pages of a catalogue. You pick up a book — really pick it up, feel the weight of the binding, study the title page — and something shifts. You are no longer…
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Meet Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor and #1 bestselling author Bret Baier at an exclusive book signing event celebrating the launch of his highly anticipated new book The Case For America. In this timely and thought-provoking work, Baier examines whether the founders’ ideals can still unite the country 250 years after the Declaration of…
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Harcourt Bindery in Charlestown Helps Give Books New Life. The ancient art form of bookbinding is still practiced by hand at a small shop in Charlestown, Massachusetts. CBS News April 19, 2026 The Harcourt Bindery was recently featured in a segment on CBS News with lifestyle reporter Rachel Holt.
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Palm Beach Daily News Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News Tue, April 14, 2026 at 5:09 AM EDT Antiquarian bookstore Raptis Rare Books will host a book-signing in Palm Beach with FOX News host and former White House press secretary Dana Perino on April 17. The event will run from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at…
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When Little, Brown published Infinite Jest on February 1, 1996, it arrived already mythologized — a 1,079-page novel with nearly 400 endnotes, written by a thirty-three-year-old from central Illinois who had spent four years on a book his editors privately feared was either genius or magnificent self-indulgence. Three decades later, that question has been settled. Infinite…
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Meet #1 bestselling author, Fox News host, and former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino as she introduces her debut novel, Purple State—a smart, politically and romantically charged story where red meets blue and love is never black and white. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and guests will have the…
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Published in 1689, John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government challenged the idea of divine monarchy and introduced a revolutionary concept: that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed. Before this work, kings ruled by divine right, with power believed to come from God. Locke rejected that foundation entirely. He argued that individuals…
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In 1776, two revolutions entered the world through the printed page. One declared political independence in North America through the publication of the Declaration of Independence. The other introduced a radically new framework for understanding economic life: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. While the political…
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In 1831, Victor Hugo changed the course of literature—and architecture—with a single novel: Notre-Dame de Paris, better known to English readers as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. That year, the world first encountered two of literature’s most unforgettable figures: Quasimodo, the cathedral’s tormented bell-ringer, and Esméralda, the captivating dancer whose fate became tragically intertwined with his.…
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In an era defined by data—by texts sent in milliseconds, videos streamed across continents, and algorithms shaping daily life—it is easy to forget that the digital age rests on a theoretical foundation laid in the mid-twentieth century. Few works have shaped modern computing and telecommunications as profoundly as The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Originally published…
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In February of 1798, as the young American republic stood in a period of mounting political anxiety, Elkanah Watson sent a small book to Mount Vernon. Inside, on the front pastedown, he had written simply: “From the Author to General Washington.” On the facing leaf, he added a longer, more personal message: “New York, Feb.…
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