John Drury Rare Books was founded by David Edmunds in 1971. We have been a member of the ABA and ILAB for over 30 years. The firm has always specialised in antiquarian and rare books, pamphlets and broadsides mainly printed between about 1600 and 1900 in the human and social sciences. We usually also stock a small number of manuscripts and autograph letters in these same subject areas. Although most of our books tend to be in English, we also frequently have in stock material in other languages.

We work from home in rural Essex. Prearranged visits are welcome, and, with prudent timing, visitors can usually expect a half-decent working lunch. Our cottage is in East Anglia on the Essex / Suffolk border and there is a marvellous view of the Stour Estuary Nature Reserve.

Our Catalogues

We issue usually about five printed catalogues a year of books, pamphlets, broadsides & manuscripts in our subject range. These are free to customers. Items from all our printed catalogues that remain unsold after a period of a month or so after mailing to our active customers are then posted on our website.

Copies of all our recent catalogues are still available and will be sent on request. Please contact us for copies of printed catalogues.

Alternatively, as the cost of postage has increased hugely particularly this year, we are more than happy to add your name to our list of those people who prefer to receive catalogues by email. These are produced in a more workaday format, unillustrated, and with narrow margins and a slightly smaller and unform font, so as to get more items per screen page. Again, please contact us to be added to our email catalogue list.