Rediscovering Sarah de Laredo: Historian, Bibliographer, Woman

This article explores the life and work of Sarah de Laredo (1888–1969), a Jewish American-born woman who played a significant yet overlooked role in the British rare book trade in the early twentieth century. Despite lacking formal education, de Laredo demonstrated exceptional bibliographical and historical expertise, cataloging rare books and manuscripts for Maggs Brothers, leading antiquarian booksellers in London, and assisting King Manuel II of Portugal in his bibliographical endeavors. Her bibliographic labor, spanning cataloging, translation, paleography, and historical research, highlights the challenges women faced in a male-dominated profession and the ways in which their endeavors have been historically marginalized. By placing de Laredo within the broader discourse of feminist bibliography, this piece demonstrates how her work challenges traditional classifications in the field of bibliography and addresses the historical erasure of women’s labor in book history. Through biographical research and archival exploration, it reconstructs de Laredo’s career and challenges the assumption that women’s contributions to the field were anomalous rather than integral. The article ultimately underscores the need for a methodological shift in book history to fully recognize women’s bibliographic labor, giving voice to figures like de Laredo, whose scholarship and dedication have been overlooked for too long.