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April 2nd is the birthday of author Hans Christian Anderson and each year, people around the world celebrate International Children’s Book Day in his honor. We would like to take a moment to talk about collecting children’s books in light of this special day. Children’s books are highly collectible. They’re immensely nostalgic for collectors, pleasantly…
It’s winter here in Vermont, and our rolling hills and green mountain-sides are blanketed in soft snow. It looks sublime, and it inspires thoughts of wilderness adventure. We are reminded of those who have followed those kindled inspirations and trekked the great outdoors – Heinrich Harrer, Edmund S. Hilary – mountaineers of the early to…
There are many reasons why a Twentieth-Century novel may be well-written and well-received, and few books exemplify these features as Ian Fleming’s James Bond series does. Fleming’s fourteen-book long series is critically respected, successful, and highly collectible. They are some of the most popular spy thrillers ever written, and they look wonderful as a set.…
We love Christmas here at Raptis Rare Books. I have to admit, our Pandora Christmas station is already playing and it probably will not stop until after the New Year. There is just something so magical about the holidays. As the shopping season approaches though, its easy to get overwhelmed by the crowds at the…
In 1984, Robert Pirsig wrote an afterword to later editions of his now classic book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I want to take a moment to include an excerpt here from that afterword and then write a few thoughts of my own. This book has a lot to say about Ancient Greek…
When it comes to building a personal library or collection, sometimes people’s choices on what to collect are shaped by the style of the homes they live in, the bookshelves they build, or the ones that were already built into the home. If you are a new collector, this might be the case. Those who…
Yesterday, September 13th, was the men’s tennis US Open finals. As you may know, the winner was Spain’s Rafael Nadal with his first ever US Open win. In doing so, he joined Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, and Roger Federer in the exclusive society of those who have won each…
The Pritzker Prize for Architecture was recently awarded to Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the architectural firm SANAA. This international prize, which is awarded annually to a living architect for significant achievement, was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago, and is often referred to as “architecture’s Nobel” and “the profession’s highest honor,”. At…
Holbrook Jackson (who was a famous bibliophile) once said, ‘Your library is your portrait.’ I like this quote because the books one collects can tell others more about who you are than your physical appearance. Here are a few other quotes about libraries and some beautiful photos of some extraordinary libraries. Libraries are not made;…
In my humble opinion, Irving Penn was a masterful and innovative photographer. He captured the world in very different ways and gave us new ways of looking at ordinary things. His photography books have become quite desirable for collectors. Here I have highlighted some of his books as well as some of the photos that…
I was going to write a few thoughts on collecting photography books, but I believe that Mike Johnston on photo.net summarized it extremely well. If you are new to collecting or to collecting photography books, this is a wonderful article to read and I have copied part of it here: Photography books are arguably one…
This is not the question. As far back as human history can record, man has been collecting things. Perhaps it started when someone collected a tooth from every animal they had hunted and made a necklace from it. Perhaps that attracted the attention of the ladies… and so the collecting gene has been passed down…
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