We sell a lot of second-hand books, and the best ones come with something extra: a previous reader’s notes in the margin. Here’s why we think marginalia is a feature, not a flaw.

A conversation across time

A pencilled “yes!” beside a paragraph is a tiny act of connection with a stranger who read this before you. Books are one of the few objects designed to be passed on.

Reading is never solitary when someone has argued with the author in the margins first.

Sam, poetry corner

Our house rule

Write in pencil, write kindly, and never on a borrowed first edition. Beyond that — go ahead. A book with notes in it has been loved.

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Every staff pick on the front table carries a hand-written shelf-talker. Consider it our marginalia, left for you.