Books We Buy

Marginalia Rare Books purchases books that fit within our areas of expertise, and we welcome submissions of material for review via email. Because we do not have an open shop, we can only review books in person when we have determined that they may be a fit for our inventory; in that case, we are happy to make an appointment with those local to the LA area to vet the material and make an offer in person. For those who are offering material from further away, we will gladly make arrangements to receive the book to our shop for final review and payment.

Ideally, material offered to us should fit some of the following parameters:

  • First edition books, ephemeral material (broadsides, pamphlets, booklets) and manuscript materials (diaries, ledgers, commonplace books, collections of letters, wills and land grants) that are dated before 1920.

  • Material with content by, for, or about women, LGBTQ+ peoples, people with disabilities, and BIPOC peoples.

  • Material that documents the contributions and experiences of these communities across education, employment (including sex work), sexuality and gender identity (including early erotic books), activism, science and medicine, social history, childhood, etiquette, marriage and family, religion and religious communities among others. 

To submit material for review, please email us:

A List

  • Author

  • Title

  • Date on the title page

Or Images

  • Binding (spine, boards, joints)

  • Title page (front and back)

  • Any damage

  • Any signs of ownership (bookplates, signatures, marginal annotations)

We ask for your patience as we review your submissions and do research. Inquiries will typically be answered within one business week except during busy book fair and other travel periods.  When possible, if a book falls outside of our parameters, we will refer you to colleagues with potential interest for their inventories.

Because we are a small company, we regret that we cannot assist with or respond to inquiries for general research assistance or to gratify curiosity about books in private possession.