Ben Rapaport
For the past 50 years, Ben Rapaport has been known internationally as an avid pipe smoker, antique pipe collector, and tobacco bibliophile. He was inducted into the International Academy of the Pipe in 1985, into the Confrérie des Maîtres Pipiers de Saint-Claude, France, in 1989, and was the recipient of the prestigious “Doctor of Pipes” achievement award from the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club in 2004.
He is the author of A Tobacco Source Book (1972); A Complete Guide to Collecting Antique Pipes (1979, 1998).
The Global Guide to Tobacco Literature (1989);
Museum of Tobacco History and Art Guide Book (1996);
Collecting Antique Meerschaums: Miniature to Majestic Sculpture, 1850-1925 (1999);
The European Porcelain Tobacco Pipe (2014);
Tobacco and Smoking Among The Blue and Gray (2014), available through the author, and Briar Books Press.
His sixth book, The Arts of an Addiction: Qing Dynasty Opium Pipes and Accessories (2005) was his first writing venture on a non-tobacco topic.
He is a popular lecturer at pipe clubs, his articles on pipe and tobacco history appeared regularly in Pipes & Tobaccos magazine during until Spring 2019, when is ceased publication, and his articles occasionally appeared in CIGAR magazine until Spring 2011 when it ceased to be published. Achievements and affiliations include: member, Pipe Smoker’s Hall of Fame (1973); Consultant, Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, University of Alabama (2001). As a certified personal property appraiser, Ben has conducted formal valuations of pipe collections for several museums and for private collectors.
Additionally, for the past 30-odd years, Ben has operated a special niche, mail-order business, selling rare, out-of-print, and in-print books in English and in several foreign languages on all manner of pipes and tobacco. He has prepared a "Recommended Reading List" for those interested in a rather complete bibliography of books on these two topics.
Ben Rapaport can be reached by E-mail at ben70gray@gmail.com .
The following articles are available here on Pipedia. We will be adding more to this collection, so check back soon!
- A Reading List for the Pipe Smoker and Pipe Collector (Fall 2018)
- “A Few Good Men”, an article for Pipes and Tobacco Magazine (November, 2003). Bragge is a major focus. It is available here by permission: A Few Good Men
by Ben Rapaport. A related article appears in Pipes & Tobaccos magazine, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2015 "Writers’ Blocks. A survey of pipe and tobacco literature through time."
- An Historical Review of Reviews: Chronicling A Century of Magazines for the Pipe-Smoking Maven, by Ben Rapaport
- Museums With Interest In Tobacco, Compiled by Ben Rapaport (Winter 2018-2019)
Off site links
- You might enjoy listening to Brian Levine's interview with Ben on the Pipes Magazine Radio Show
- TobaccoPipeArtistory on Blogspot.com
- The Tobacco Pipe Artistory on FaceBook