My mom is the sentimental sort, My dad is not. When my grandma died she wanted to keep everything, My dad wanted to take it all to the dump. My mom made me come and pick a bunch of it up and keep it in my closets, so my dad wouldn’t see it. When my other grandma died, same story. My great aunt, same story.
Then my parents decided to move, and all the secrets she had hidden were exposed, and once again I got more boxes to move, cause my dad wasn’t going to take them with.
Now as I move I have an entire bedroom full of various boxes. Including 30 sealed boxes labled books. Some that are labed wolfman’s books, I know what those are, those are lots of hardy boys, star trek and sci paperbacks from when I was a kid. Some are labled wolfman sister’s books, those I know are my sisters black stallion and animally books and all the other books she read as a kid. Some boxes are labled Gramma one, gramma two, grampa one and so on. I assume some of those are Zane Grey books from my gramdpa. The rest are unknown to me, but one must be a set of old encylopedias guessing by the weight. Other boxes are labeled Frank’s books, and Marie’s books. I have no idea who Frank and Marie are, let alone why I have their books and what those boxes contain. I also have about 400 pounds of my own computer books and textbooks and reference books and the such.
I wish I was one of those people who liked to look through old books like treasure, but for me these days a book is a tool, it contains information not contained in my head. I did find one pretty cool old German grammer book produced by the Nazis, when I tripped and a box ripped open, but it uses a lot of the old script that I can’t read very well(and has a map with a really really big Deutschland )
My lower back is currently agreeing with my dad that the best treatment for excess books is a spash of gas and a match. But they will all go sealed in cardboard to a storage shed until I can afford a new place to live, then they will go back in a closet, most likely.(My mom would cry like crazy if I ever got rid of one damn book).
I too wish I was in your position.
You need to get a decent book dealer to come and look at them However, it can be like second-hand-car dealers. If there’s any secondhand bookshops around, ask them for suggestions. Other than that, it’ll be pot luck.
But basically, out of a pile that big, there ought to be a few decent finds. And they can also sort the saleable from the torch-worthy
(BTW, I recently saw a TV programme, one of the “rummage through stuff and auction it” ones, where they found a two-year-old Philip Pullman edition which went for £2000 - so don’t write anything off yet )
I used to have several years of Galaxy magazines, but my Sister tossed them.
Sorry this is no help to you. They were a great help to me growing up. Remember Willy Ley?
I’ll buy the Black Stallion books if you’re looking to sell. I loved them as a kid and want to get them for my granddaughter (who’s not old enough to read yet )
I have about 3500 books as of last count (there’s a reason for my user name ), but I don’t know how much they weigh. I’d have twice as many if I had the room for them.
I just sold off quite a few, maybe 15 or 20 boxes worth. (We were packing on the fly as the buyer made quite a few trips out to his van.) I still have a dozen boxes of keepers, including the first two I ever bought with my own money (a couple of Time-Life coffee-table books from the late 1950s).
Hang on to those books you have! Go through them later (when you are allowed to), or hire an appraiser. There’s probably someone on the board who’d go crazy for the chance to look at them.
I’d be willing to take the Hardy Boys books off your hands. My son would love them.
My email is in my profile, if you want to sell them (or even donate) to a cute little 8-year-old Cub Scout who loves to read.
Sorry everybody, I was just bitching, I didn’t mean to start a feeding frenzy. They are all currently buried behind 4 metric shitloads of stuff. But when(and if) I ever get a new job and a new place I will bump this thread.
As one can see: Books are made to be read, not hidden in boxes. Give 'em away to temp home shelters, libraries, schools, clubs.
I move often so I periodically sell my stuff to second hand book dealers. I give out books [most of which I urge people to pass on so others can read 'em as well]. I live in Africa where proper books stores are far and few between but have thriving second book stalls in markets. I like to believe that my books eventually make it to this market.
I hate large personal libraries in private homes; the ultimate show of extravagance: hundreds of books that are not being read.
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