I came across some boxes of books while going through things in the garage, looking for the next load of donations for the charity trucks that are making their rounds next week. They were part of the overflow when we moved my dad from the old shack where we grew up, and they’ve been here and there wherever I have been since then, but they’ve never made it to his new home. Realistically, he probably doesn’t even know they’re missing. He only has a few thousand books. Seriously, one time when we moved houses when I was younger, the weight of his books broke the axle on the moving truck. And that was in the 70s. One can (and he has) accumulated quite alot more books since then.
I’m torn as to what to keep and what not to keep, because I’ve decided not to reunite them. Bad daughter.
It’s not every day that one comes across graded readings and exercises in old Icelandic, and stacks of quarterly journals of classical philology, but alas, I know not what to do with these, so they are in the giant give-away pile.
I’m not sure what these are, but gosh, there is a full set and they’re dated 1854. Sämmtliche Schriften. By Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Is it philosophy Language Philosophy of language I’m keeping these because they’re gorgeous, if nothing else.
I like the weary looks of these as well, so they stay, next to the Sämmtliche Schriften set.
My dad the linguist. He specialized in ancient classics — mainly Greek and Latin. This Latin course is a shambles, but it’s date is 1868, so I can’t help but keep it as well. Actually, I am keeping most of the Greek and Latin books. I love them, even though I can only stumble through them at less than a snail’s pace, and all I can do is pronounce the words, with very little understanding of their meaning at all.
Some of the other keepers include religion, philosophy, calligraphy, and poetry. The Four Books has an English interlinear translation, so that may be interesting if I ever get to it. I feel guilty about the Korean, Chinese, Japanese, German, and French books that are in the give-away pile, though. They could be treasures, for all I know. I just hope someone who cares will come across them in a thrift store one day and be blessed by their great fortune in such a find.
There are three huge bound volumes of the Illustrated London News, circa 1970s. I feel tremendously guilty about these, because I left boxes and boxes more of these when I sold the old school (another story for another time, but I once owned a 1910 red brick school building). I had limited time and space available for that move, so I had to decide what to leave behind, and sadly, they were amongst the abandoned. Vintage stuff of possible value to collectors, but I had to make a choice, so they were left behind. Not that I want those remaining. I’ll be putting an ad on Craigslist, to see if there’s any interest, and if nobody responds, they join the give-aways.
The same goes for these. An entire box of vintage classical 45s. They’re translucent red, and oh, so pretty! But what does one do with 45s these days, other than admire them while thinking nostalgically of days gone by. I am feeling so guilty right now.
