A mid-century modern bookshop overlooking Manhattan Beach Pier

Independent booksellers · Since 1997

Books with a past.Chosen for their future.

Rare, out-of-print, and unusual books—thoughtfully described and waiting to be found again.

The pleasure is inthe discovery.

The best bookshops invite you to wander. Epilonian is a carefully built collection of books with character—scholarly, beautiful, peculiar, overlooked, and sometimes impossible to categorize.

Browse slowly, follow your curiosity, or write to Ann when you are looking for something particular.

Machines& Making

Begin with a machine, a material, or a practical question. Wander from workshop manuals to aviation, railways, industrial design, mining, automobiles, and the sea.

Wander this shelf

Recently shelved

One copy, one listing. When a book is gone, it may not pass this way again.

1 / 10
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots

Margaret Swain$25
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

Some of These Days: The Autobiography of Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker; Dorothy Giles$16
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

Alicia Austin: A Collection of Limited Edition Fine Art Prints 1990

Alicia Austin$18
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

Oaks of California

Bruce M. Pavlik; Pamela C. Muick; Sharon G. Johnson; Marjorie Popper$18
View book ↗

History

Plants Used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California

V. K. Chesnut$18
View book ↗

History

Indian Uses of Native Plants

Edith Van Allen Murphey$22
View book ↗

Mathematics

The Riemann Approach to Integration: Local Geometric Theory

Washek F. Pfeffer$30
View book ↗

History

Oregon Estuaries

Oregon Division of State Lands; Stanley F. Hamilton$14
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

Speaking in Cloth: 6 Quilters, 6 Voices

Ann Johnston; Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer$22
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

The California Quail

A. Starker Leopold$38
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films: Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror (3 Volumes, Complete)

Walt Lee; Bill Warren$42
View book ↗

Literature

Peckerneck Country: The Selected Poems of Walt Curtis

Walt Curtis; John Gogol (introduction)$42
View book ↗

History

Lynching in America: Targeting Black Veterans

Equal Justice Initiative; Bryan Stevenson (foreword)$15
View book ↗

History

Tales of Del Norte County

Ralph L. Hughes$20
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2

Rick Ridgeway; Edward M. Kennedy (introduction); James W. Whittaker (prelude)$15
View book ↗

History

Early Days of the Olympic Peninsula in Photographs, From The Collection Of Bert Kellogg: Indians

Bert Kellogg (collection); Elbert R. Whattam; Paul J. Martin$18
View book ↗

History

Le Viandier de Taillevent: 14th Century Cookery. Based on the Vatican Library Manuscript

Taillevent (Guillaume Tirel); James Prescott (translator)$45
View book ↗

History

The Medieval Gourmet

Samira Umm' al Harith (editor)$22
View book ↗

History

The Best of A Watched Pot

Yseult of Broceliande (editor)$28
View book ↗

History

The "Libro de Cozina" of Master Ruperto de Nola, 1529 Edition: Full English Translation with Commentary

Ruperto de Nola; Vincent F. Cuenca (translator)$38
View book ↗

History

Iron Dream of Camelot: The Society for Creative Anachronism Inc. From a Backyard Paean to Chivalry To an International Neo-Monarchist Authoritarian Cult

Michael Woodford$95
View book ↗

History

The Thirty Year Journal of Acedemic Papers

Genevive Marie Etienette de Montange (Stephanie Ray-Solum) [Editor]; Laurellen de Brandevin [Cover Artist]; Daniel C. Phelps [Contributor]$34
View book ↗

History

A Feast from the Far Reaches: Being a Compendium of Recipes Compiled for a Twelfth Night Banquet Held in Caid on January 16, AS XVI (1982)

Bjo of Griffin (Bjo Trimble); Eden of Summerhawk (Linda Lee Hill); Cariadoc of the Bow (David Friedman) [Contributor]; Fraser of Summerhawk [Illustrator]$40
View book ↗

History

Two Kingdom of the West Publications: Combat Standards Manual, Insert to The Page, April/May A.S. XXV/1991; and West Kingdom Art and Science III, Arts and Sciences Publication No. 3, A.S. XXVII

Society for Creative Anachronism, Kingdom of the West; Ellis O'Boirne (Lee Forgue) [Editor]; Edward of Effingham [Cover Artist]$28
View book ↗

History

Outlandish Arts and Sciences, Volume II Numbers 3 and 4 (January and March 1978): Early Tudor Female Costume; Byzantine and Barbarian Costume; A Celtic Script; Tengwar for English; Gothic Capitals; Wide Bodied X-Chairs; A 14th Century Liturgical Script

Ray Moseley (Sir Raymond the Quiet); Rodema de Rohan; Katrine de Baillie du Chat$22
View book ↗

Literature

Chronicles of Dragonspire, Complete Set: Our First War Story; An SCA Wedding; An S.C.A. Divorce; Freaking the Mundanes; A Peculiar Sense of Propriety; Barony; Baron Butthead; with Unka Folo's Stories and Stuff

Orlando Ambrosius (F. L. Watkins); Daemon de Folo [Editor]$30
View book ↗

History

The Compleat Anachronist, Numbers 17-39 (January 1985 - September 1988), Twelve Issues: Falconry; Royal Castle Building; Saints of the Middle Ages; Heraldry; Arms and Armour III and IV; Gardens; Fabrics; Weapons and Armour II; Medieval Abbey Life II; Witchcraft in the Middle Ages; Costume Studies II

Jan Chapman; Sandra Fulton Eccli; Illtyd iz Naitemneshoi Dollina; Arval Benicoeur; Marten Broker; Barok Baran; Deirdre Ui Mhaille; Mairi-Kathleen nic Lauren; David Anthony Counts; Margaret of Shaftesbury; Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys; Audelindis de Rheims; Caterina da Monticello; Alexandre le BonHomme [Editor]$85
View book ↗

History

The Compleat Anachronist, Numbers 6-16 (May 1983 - November 1984), Ten Issues: The Cavalier Issue; Pure Air and Fire Indeed a Horse; Leathercraft for Common Usage; Thus We Mak Ayn Mysterie; Illumination in Gaul and France; Traditional Ballads; Come Into My Chamber; Costuming to a T; Deer Abbey; A Compleat Herbal

Trobere Oakseed; Gwynfreya ab Llewllyn ap Morganwyn; Merewyn Sigrudsdottir; Tsivia bas Tamara v'Amberview; Bruce Blackistone; Angelina Nicollette; Margaret of Shaftesbury; James FitzGibbon; Nige of the Cleftlands [Series Coordinator]$75
View book ↗

History

The Compleat Anachronist, Numbers 1-4 (July 1982 - January 1983): Medieval and Renaissance Eyeglasses; Selections from The Hammer, Parts I and II; Indoor Games, or How to While Away a Siege

Einar Lutemaker (Al Kuhfeld); Margaret of Shaftesbury (Mary Kuhfeld); Polidor Haraldsson (Brian Flax); Guy de Montferrat de la Meslaye (James Schovanek) [Editor]; Nige of the Cleftlands [Series Coordinator]$65
View book ↗

History

1868-1993: 125 Jahre Pfarrkirche und Pfarrgemeinde Ensdorf (Saar). Festschrift zur Hundertjahrfeier 1868-1968 and Chronik der letzten 25 Jahre 1968-1993

Katholisches Pfarramt Ensdorf [Editor]$28
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

Peter Shelton: sixtyslippers (MATRIX/Berkeley 177)

Peter Shelton; Jacquelynn Baas; Constance Lewallen$12
View book ↗

History

A. Lincoln: Railsplitter to Rushmore

Andrew James Wulf; Louise Taper; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum$18
View book ↗

Sheet Music

Zwei Sonatinen fur Klavier (Two Sonatinas for Piano)

Peter Heilbut$14
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

American Artist, Volume 30, Number 1, Issue 291, January 1966: Ivan Albright, Franklin Booth, Lewis Brown, 11th Annual Buyer's Guide

Norman Kent [Editor]; Margarita Walker Dulac; John Jellico; Joan Hess Michel; Edgar A. Whitney$12
View book ↗

Literature

A Separate Peace: Moods & Setting. A Photographic Essay with Excerpts from the Novel by John Knowles '45

Thomas Hinkle [Editor]; Bradford Herzog [Photographer]; John Knowles$40
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

The Pilot's Mind and His Memory

James E. Crane; Tony LeVier (foreword)$12
View book ↗

General Non-Fiction

Marine Life: Pacific Tidal Regions. 24 Subjects in Full Color

Dan H. Ryan$19
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

Porzellanmalerei - Moderne Techniken / Porcelain Painting - Modern Techniques: Zeichnungen, Entwurfe, Beispiele / Drawings, Designs, Examples

Susanne Reisser$18
View book ↗

History

Our Island

Walter C. Teater$32
View book ↗

Art & Architecture

Un Estilo Inconfundible / A Unique Style: Arte en Porcelana / Porcelain Art, Volumen I

Manuel Filipe Pereira$36

A bookseller’s eye, not an algorithm.

Epilonian Books is an independent bookselling business in Southern California. The collection reflects decades of looking closely, reading widely, and recognizing the books worth keeping in circulation.

  • Every book individually described
  • Careful packing and personal service
  • Questions welcomed before you buy
Start a conversation

Tell us what has been escaping you.

Write to Ann