Several resources are important when researching the books Marilyn Monroe owned. The first and most important resource is Christie’s Auction Catalogue from the 1999 auction of Marilyn Monroe’s items, which I own.
While the Christie’s catalogue has many photographs of the books, not every book is photographed (and not every book she owned was listed in this auction) so to supplement this catalogue I look at other auctions of her items, as well as photographs.
You can easily find public lists of Marilyn Monroe’s collection via search engines–however, I have found that these lists contain errors (including additions of books she did not own), and lack important bibliographic information. The Marilyn Monroe Bookshelf: An Annotated Bibliography project is ongoing, and has the most thorough and accurate information about each book.
Additionally, I am working on a verified booklist, in which each book is crosschecked with images from Marilyn Monroe’s bookshelves or auction listings. When completed, the verified booklist will be available to Pinup Bookclub members in the future.
The Vintage Book Club 