The 19th Century Shop offers the highest quality rare books and manuscripts of all ages in science, literature, Americana, history, exploration, economics, philosophy, and other fields of human endeavor. Books from our stock now reside in the collections of many important institutions, leading figures in science and commerce, and world leaders such as President Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mikhail Gorbachev, Yitzhak Rabin, Tony Blair, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and the Sultan of Brunei. Our books have often been purchased as state gifts by Presidents George H. W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

In recent years we have placed with our clients a wide range of great books including the first editions of Machiavelli's Il Principe, Copernicus's De Revolutionibus, the King James Bible, Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, John Smith's True Relation of Virginia, Shakespeare's Poems and several Shakespeare Folios, the Bill of Rights, several copies of The Federalist, Ricardo's annotated copy of Malthus's Political Economy, Poe's annotated copies of two of his books, Hawthorne's corrected proof sheets for The Scarlet Letter, Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and Einstein's own annotated copy of the theory of special relativity.

We also specialize in important historical and literary manuscripts. Among the manuscripts we have placed in recent years have been the only Poe short story in private hands, a 1492 letter by Ferdinand and Isabella concerning the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, important letters by Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, a substantial portion of the first draft of Thoreau’s first book, leaves of the original manuscript of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and a chapter from Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, and a draft manuscript of Whitman's “Song of Myself” written in preparation for the first edition of Leaves of Grass.

Long-term professional relationships and expert consultation are hallmarks of our business. We urge you to contact us to explore the possibility of building a collection or finding a special gift.

We are willing to pay the highest prices for fine material; we regularly travel across the country and around the world to meet with clients and to buy fine books and collections. Please call or write if we may be of assistance, or send us an email (click on name below).

Stephan Loewentheil
Thomas L. Edsall