About the press
Books that want to be read twice.
Marginalia started in a back room of a bookshop with a second-hand press and a stubborn belief in the short, strange book.
A note from the editors
12 March 2027
Dear readers,
Sixteen years ago we borrowed a second-hand press, found a room at the back of a bookshop and promised ourselves one thing: to publish only books we would want to read twice. We have mostly kept that promise.
We learned that good books are rarely loud. They are the translator who spent a year on one paragraph, the designer who chose the paper by touch and the printer who refused to hurry the ink. None of this is glamorous. All of it is what readers remember.
This year we are publishing eleven books, no more. If you have written something strange and true, send it to us, even if it is only half finished.
Anna & Tom
Founding editors
The ledger
How the press grew.
One book at a time, since 2008.
The Quarterly reaches 4,200
Subscribers in 31 countries, each with a letter from the editors.
A second press
A restored Heidelberg joins the original so we can print covers in colour.
The first translated shortlist
The Night Ferry is shortlisted for a national translation award.
The shop opens
A bookshop at the front, the press in the back and one door between them.
Founded
One press, one room and a rule about only publishing books we would read twice.
The record
Small, and still here.
Come and visit
The press room is open on the first Saturday.
Watch a book being printed, set a line of type yourself and leave with a broadside.
What you get
- A reply from a person who has read the book
- Free postage worldwide on subscriptions
- Gift wrapping on every order
- No obligation, no minimum order