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What We Buy

 

  • Antiquarian and Collectible Books:
    • We primarily buy and sell books as collectables and are not interested in books that have damage, torn pages, writing, etc. We are also not interested in recently published fiction, most paperback books, encyclopedias, or most other book sets.
    • Some rare books interest us no matter how worn or damaged they are (think Mark Twain, Charles Darwin, George Washington, etc.); when buying all other books we look for these specifics:
      • Books from the first half of the 20th Century (1950's or before), still in the dust jacket and looking nearly new.
      • Books from the last half of the 19th century (1850 to 1900) that are complete with little or no damage.
      • Any non-religious book from before 1850 regardless of condition and religious books from the same period that are complete with little or no damage.
      • Leather Bound Books, books in slipcases, unusually bound books, vanity/private/limited editions, and other "attractive" or "unusual" books that are undamaged.
      • Kansas Atlases (map books) from before 1930 and other atlases from before 1880. In any condition, including damaged.
      • Author Signed Books of all kinds in very good or better condition with a jacket in similar condition.
      • Any book, speech, or other published document in Manuscript (the typed or hand written original).
  • Paper Collectibles (Ephemera):
    • Letters, Diaries, and Journals.
      • Penned by interesting persons in interesting times (e.g. Someone famous or their assistant, a Topekan circa 1860, a former politician, a dust bowl farmer, a lover's war correspondence, an 1880’s travel log, etc.)
      • Groups, organizations, or municipality ledgers and records from before WWII (or slightly newer if attractively bound or listing a celebrity).
    • Local/Popular Print Advertising.
      • Collections and accumulations of posters, flyers, brochures, mailers, full-color magazine pages, etc. that advertise an event, liquor, tobacco, cars, gadgets, or even just bread (if the ad looks cool).
    • Magazines, Catalogs, Pulps and Comic Books.
      • We look for vintage/antique Kansas or uncommon magazine titles in better condition or "underground" magazines published at any time -- like those printed by college students, protesters, or fan groups for small distribution. We are not interested in very popular titles or pornography (like National Geographic, Life, Time, Playboy etc.)  
      • Catalogues (like Sears, Wards, or the local hardware store) must not be all greasy or torn-up and, preferably, from before WWII.
      • Pulp magazines, digests, and paperbacks must be complete with cover. We are generally not interested in fiction magazines published after 1970 though we would be happy to look at collections in exceptional condition.
      • We are mainly interested in super-hero, horror, and sci-fi comics from before 1985ish that are in bags with boars though we will buy newer comics (up to current) or comics in lower grades depending on the title (Batman, Spiderman, Superman, X-Men, etc).
    • Maps and Prints.
      • Folding, branded “gas station” maps from before 1970.
      • Other wall, school, and "Atlas" maps from before 1880.
      • Hand signed/numbered prints of any age.
      • Collections of prints from before 1940 (lithographs, block prints, collage books, etc.)
    • Post Cards
      • Depicting Topeka and the surrounding area.
      • Halloween and other secular holidays.
      • Real Photo (mostly from before 1920).
      • Whole collections and albums.
    • Posters
      • War Bond, Recruitment or related propaganda posters.
      • Travel/National Park posters and ads.
      • Film posters (from the theater) and lobby cards mostly from before 2000.
      • Concert, theater, and event posters and tickets from before 2000.
      • Political posters and other printed memorabilia for celebrity politicians and all Presidential campaigns.
    • Photographs
      • Period sepia tone, cabinet card, tintype, or glass plate photographs of any subject.
      • Identified photographs and/or negatives of architecture, events, wars, or disasters from before 1960. (Plus Vietnam, Iraq, or other U.S. combat deployment and Presidential campaign photo collections)

 

We do NOT buy antique objects, art, furniture (other than the occasional glass front bookcase), figurines, toys, memorabilia, coins, signed things (other than books), dolls, glass, china, jewellery, etc.

We WILL NOT make any purchase without photographing you and your valid ID.