Sell to Rarelight

Have a box of old letters, documents, photographs, or family papers you don't know what to do with?

I may be interested.

Rarelight Archives buys original historical material, especially items that contain enough information to uncover a story.

What I'm looking for

  • I'm especially interested in:
  • Personal letters and correspondence
  • Family papers and small archives
  • Diaries, journals, and handwritten manuscripts
  • Photographs with names, dates, locations, or other identifying information
  • Business and professional papers
  • Certificates, licenses, and official documents
  • Groups of related material belonging to one person, family, business, or organization
  • Unusual pieces of everyday history that have a story attached to them

Material from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is a particular interest, but age alone isn't what makes something interesting. A seemingly ordinary document can sometimes lead to an extraordinary story.

What I'm usually not looking for

I don't buy:

  • Modern financial records
  • Medical records
  • Large collections of unidentified family snapshots
  • Mass-produced memorabilia
  • Reproductions or facsimiles
  • Material with no clear connection to a person, place, event, or story

If you're unsure, ask. Strange boxes of paper are exactly how some of the best discoveries begin.

Selling a collection

You do not need to research or organize everything before contacting me.

If possible, send:

  • A few clear photographs
  • A general description of what you have
  • Any names, dates, locations, or businesses that appear repeatedly
  • An approximate idea of how much material there is

For larger groups, photographs of the collection as a whole are useful before photographing individual pieces.

I am happy to consider individual items, groups of related material, or boxes that have never been sorted.

A note about family papers

I take the history seriously.

When possible, I try to identify the people behind the material and preserve related documents together rather than separating everything into individual collectibles. Some collections eventually become research projects or stories published here at Rarelight.

If you have old papers that deserve another look, I'd be glad to see them.