Marshall Rare Books
Marshall Rare Books
Rare and important books, manuscripts and paintings, offered from the heart of the Cotswolds for over fifty years.
About us
Established in 1972, Marshall Rare Books is a family business specialising in rare and important books, manuscripts and paintings from the 15th to the 20th century.
Bruce Marshall started the business on the West Coast of Scotland, beginning as a purveyor of maps and atlases, eventually branching out into books on navigation and natural history, and further afield.
In 1987, Marshall Rare Books moved to the Cotswolds, where they are currently based, still offering a wide range of material on everything from navigational instruments to demonology. Today the business is run by Bruce and his daughter Clare, who became a partner in the business in 2022.
Our website showcases a selection of books and manuscripts in our stock, but not everything makes its way onto the website. Subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to get copies of our latest catalogues, and if you are looking for something in particular, the best way to find it is to get in touch.
We also advise on library development and buy rare books in most fields.
Bruce and Clare Marshall of Marshall Rare Books
Meet our team
Marshall Rare Books is a long-standing family business, where every book is sourced, researched, and packaged by the people whose name is above the door.
Bruce Marshall with Jeremy Paxman
Bruce Marshall
Bruce has been in the book trade for over 50 years. During that time, he has amassed an enormous wealth of knowledge on works on paper, their historical significance, and their value and importance. He is also a fixture in the antiquarian book community, well known to dealers and customers alike.
Bruce has a passion for aesthetically interesting early scientific works, especially if they are related to navigation or natural history. He is also particularly interested in the Kelmscott Press, having collected a full set of the works including the Froissart leaves on three separate occasions.
In 2022, the ABA awarded Bruce with a commemorative pin for 50 years in the book trade.
He is also a keen golfer (he wrote Golfers of a Past Era; A Series of Photography after J. H. Wilson with his father-in-law in 1977) and a Sherlock Holmes fanatic.
Clare Marshall with Stephen Fry
Clare Marshall
Clare spent five years as a book specialist for two London auction houses before joining the family business full time in 2019.
Since joining her father at Marshall Rare Books she has broadened our range of stock based on her passions and expertise, producing catalogues dedicated to Witchcraft and Demonology, Dinosaurs, and Trevor Lloyd’s Bookbinding Collection. In 2022 she was made partner of Marshall Rare Books.
She is heavily involved in the antiquarian book trade community, organising early careers events at ABA book fairs, and judging the ABA Book Collecting Prize.
Clare also has a personal collection of books related to costume designs (which was her bachelor’s degree), and she regularly gives talks on the history of witchcraft and the witch trials at museums and institutions.
From the archive
A few of the catalogues we have issued over the years, from the early lists of B. Marshall Ltd to the fair lists of more recent decades. Our current catalogues can be downloaded from the Catalogues page.
A catalogue from 1974
1974 vs 2023
A book fair list from 2014
A book fair list from 2015
Bruce wearing his ABA 50-year badge
The Antiquarian Booksellers Association 50-year badge
Memberships
We are members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the Antiquarian Booksellers Association and the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association.
