alt Hacker NewsI just helped clean up the estate of an uncle of mine that died. He'd collected an absolutely massive amount of books during his lifetime. Besides that he played the violin and had collected an equally impressive amount of music books.
I managed to save some of the rare works but I could find absolutely no takers for the bulk of the books, at any price or even for free. That generation is leaving behind an enormous amount of paper and it is mostly going to waste. Very frustrating, if I had had the space I would have been happy to take all of it. I would have read some and I would have tried to find a new home for the remainder but that takes time and the housing company only gave us two weeks to vacate the place, which was much too little time even for proper cataloging. Fortunately he had already organized things to the point that it was obvious which ones were the precious ones.
And the violin got a good home. The guy lived like a monk, the whole flat was just paper and shelves, and a tiny spot for a bed. You could have made the pictures in this article in his flat as well (I didn't make any, it was too sad of an occasion).
My own books I keep giving away on the promise that whoever gets the book will read it and pass it on. That way they stay alive for a little bit longer. Some books I keep buying again just so I can have the pleasure of giving them away once more. Douglas Adams' hhgttg is probably the record holder.
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It's a shame. I'd happily take good books (low cost or free) but storage and shelf space is the problem.
I used to imagine running some kind of second hand book business (non profit) when I retire. Sad that these days it may not be feasible.
Here in Australia one of the charities runs huge book fairs every few months where vast amounts of literature are loosely organized in to subject sections. It's all volunteer labor and I believe the proceeds go to homeless people and victims of domestic violence. I have acquired some awesome old maps this way as well as rare and interesting works. Unless aggressively digitized, most of the data will become unobtainium at some point. One learns to respect previous standards of writing, editing, illustration, design, publishing and printing. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
Sorry for your loss. It's sad that his collection didn't get the full attention it deserved.
> "the housing company only gave us two weeks to vacate the place"
It's a very good idea for a collector to own a place to keep the stuff.
The British book collection mentioned in the article is housed in a former youth hostel in the countryside. That kind of place can be surprisingly affordable to buy... But of course it's the renovations and upkeep that truly test the collector's wallet and dedication.