Ship of Fools: Unusual old books

Thread: Unusual old books Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :

Hi folks

I gave up a lectureship (physics / engineering) a while back, and am almost at the 'OK, now I can bear to sort the deceased's wardrobe' stage.

I had a *lot* of books - something I guess is common on the ship. Those which are old friends I'm going to keep for now, though I'm not sure I'll ever work again in the field.

But I also have a lot of old textbooks which generally I scored when others retired / were downsized / walked out in disgust [Smile]

. In my office they often came in handy for the odd proof etc. Old textbooks in my field are often clear and comprehensive - new ones either with all the maths removed, or using funky nomenclature which bigs-up the author at the reader's expense - but at home they're a space luxury I can't afford.

What to do with nice, old, non-core books you need to rehouse? My local Oxfam bookstore has gone from being an interesting suburban outpost of Hay-on-Wye (weird old stock, weird old customers) to, post-refit, something like a remainder bookshop full of recent paperbacks no-one much wants to read. I guess there's a cost-benefit analysis involved somewhere. I've talked it over with the manager and I suspect they'd pulp my books.

So...what to do?

Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :

I'm afraid scientific books are a difficult area to sell - people either want the really old ones for antiquarian interest, or modern ones, and the ones that are just that bit out of date tend to be unloved and unwanted.
There's nowhere in Hay-on-Wye at the moment that specialises in scientific books - Mark Westwood used to, but he moved to somewhere in the Lake District.
I hope this helps.

Posted by Pottage (# 9529) on :

I might be able to help there. My inlaws live in Sedbergh and no trip to see them is complete without a visit to Westwoods.

You could give the shop a ring and see if they are interested, details on their website

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

I know that most used book shops around here have a specific "no text books" policy.

Maybe you could use your retirement to get really good at paper mache sculpting. Or carve secret compartments into select volumes to hide your Zombie Apocalypse booze stash.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Old textbooks are difficult to shift because there are quite often new editions, and nobody wants the previous ones. If they are more than two years old your chances are probably fairly slim.

I used to be able to pass mine on if I did so fairly quickly, and approached an academic bookshop that had a secondhand department which would potentially buy such things. If you have such a place locally they would probably be your best bet and will give you an honest valuation.

Otherwise, you might consider a charity. There are charities that would love to have older textbooks for the developing world.

Posted by Vulpior (# 12744) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
There are charities that would love to have older textbooks for the developing world.

[TANGENT] You're right, of course, but it's disappointing that our second-best is good enough. Even in subjects where the material has not been superseded, why should students in the developing world miss out on the latest material in the field?[/TANGENT]

Posted by Clotilde (# 17600) on :

I think its always worth checking out on Abebooks to see if there is anyone selling some of your titles, and maybe contacting them to see if they want more...

Do you know about the Ranfurly Library scheme. It provides books to areas where they are needed.

Here is a link to the scheme

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

Birthday gifts:
Sometimes, when a friend or aquaintance has a birthday (or other somesuch event), and I want to give them a gift, I will find a dull boring old book, and carve out a 'secret chamber' within the pages. I stuff the hollow with sweeties or something, but the idea is that the recipient can use the book as a secret hiding place in his or her bookshelf. Obviously you won't be doing this with all your books, but it might be a useful way to dispose of some of the more uninteresting ones.

Posted by M. (# 3291) on :

Are they too out of date to go into a free distribution for students?

M.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Vulpior:

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
There are charities that would love to have older textbooks for the developing world.
[TANGENT] You're right, of course, but it's disappointing that our second-best is good enough. Even in subjects where the material has not been superseded, why should students in the developing world miss out on the latest material in the field?[/TANGENT]

Yes - but it is not a choice between the latest books and older ones, it is a choice between none and the older ones.

Specialist books are difficult to get rid of*. Maybe you should turn them into a coffee table? Or just keep them as memories of your life, in a cabinet on the wall.

*They are expensive because their readership is small, and most of the readership want the latest versions, so the readership for old editions is even smaller, maybe none.

Posted by chive (# 208) on :

Try putting them on freecycle. I've got rid of lots of old books that way, books I didn't imagine anyone would want. But then looking at the ads on freecycle, people will offer and take almost anything.

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :

There's also BookCrossings. (.org?) Basically, you release the books into the wild, for people to find. I haven't used it, but IIRC other Shipmates have.

There are groups that accept books to send to prison libraries.

Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :

Offer them for sale on Amazon?

I frequently buy out-of-print specialist books that I really want to read on Amazon. I recently bought an out-of-print maths textbook which I'd been after for years - The Fascination of Groups. I don't know how long the seller had had it up, but this happy buyer came along eventually.

Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :

I'd suggest Amazon, if you're technical enough to register them on there.

I'd advise against charity shops, because I've just started working for one, and I'm surprised at how many books they send to be recycled, i.e. pulped. They don't like anything that's too specialised, too old or too tatty, even if the contents might be of interest to someone. Even novels that are in excellent condition are discarded if they're the wrong size, or are in hardback editions.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

I know that Oxfam does send the tat to be pulped, but I've seen some interesting old stuff in their specialist bookshops, and I know that they have a place at Canterbury which assesses the stuff which does look interesting. It might be an idea to have a look at what the shops have on offer, and talk to them to see how keen they are on pulping. Ours certainly does keep hardback fiction, new though, while older hardbacks are visible in Sevenoaks.
My sister and I disposed of my father's collection through a specialist auction house (Dominic Winter, near Cirencester), but apart from being a long way from you, when I checked his website, physics and engineering didn't seem to be his sort of thing.
Then I found this with the search term Old engineering books so there may be other places as well.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

Making a not unreasonable deduction from your name, mark_in_manchester, there's a couple of possibilities in Manchester. First, might Blackwell's take on your second hand books? It's a while since I've been, but I remember quite a lot of second-hand university texts there.

Secondly, there's Sharston Books, an amazing place with books on virtually any subject you can think of. (Imagine Gormenghast's library uprooted, and set down in south Manchester!)

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Another site I have bought from is Green Metropolis where I have had some rather odd books. There might be someone who really wants them, and has put in a request there.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

quote:
Originally posted by mark_in_manchester:
Hi folks

I gave up a lectureship...
So...what to do?

I shall always keep my Bibles and my expensive textbooks from university as well as those of my wife's not to mention the three-volume dictionary my daughter got for winning her school system spelling bee. If the girl ever gets a large house, everything else except for my first edition of
Three Men in a Boat will be hers!

That said, I am addicted to e-books: I hope to have my first novel published on Kindle or Nook before the end of the year even though I failed to win National Novel Writing Month in 2013...

Posted by Horseman Bree (# 5290) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Vulpior:

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
There are charities that would love to have older textbooks for the developing world.
[TANGENT] You're right, of course, but it's disappointing that our second-best is good enough. Even in subjects where the material has not been superseded, why should students in the developing world miss out on the latest material in the field?[/TANGENT]

Why should the students who are already disadvantaged be forced to miss out just because someone (who IS advantaged) is dismissive of anything that isn't the absolute newest?

Basic physics, for instance, doesn't change much, even at Uni level. I can't think of anything an undergrad might study that would be affected by a non-updated edition, beyond something in computing (possibly). Same for Math.

Even if there was some detail, that can be added quite easily by the lecturer.

Would you prefer that the engineering students of that country should not have access to the information?

Posted by Clotilde (# 17600) on :

Of the printing of books there seems no end...

It is difficult to dispose of carefully, and yet I often think there are people out there who want these books.

Oxfam are doing a good job...

Posted by Fredegund (# 17952) on :

Is it worth trying the Students' Union to see whether they do book sales? As had been said, the sciences don't date that quickly - have just had to spend a small fortune on Chemistry for Lothar I and would have been delighted to find older editions.

Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :

Thanks for all your thoughts, folks.

quote:
Secondly, there's Sharston Books, an amazing place with books on virtually any subject you can think of. (Imagine Gormenghast's library uprooted, and set down in south Manchester!)

Thanks A. Yes, they came to mind. I've bought all sorts of weird shite there in the past, and not been for a long time. Maybe it would be fun to try to do a deal for a credit note. I would have liked to generate some charitable income - it bugs me that Oxfam *used* to cater for this kind of thing in the past, and I bought a lot from them - but hey, I know I'm not the average consumer.

You're all right - undergrad physics / maths / engineering (outside IT) doesn't change. Or rather, as the students one finds oneself teaching know less and less, one finds oneself leaving more and more of the latter chapters of old textbooks untouched, or saved for the 'MSc' cohorts...

cheers
Mark

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

Would Jane's Fighting Ships (1942) count as unusual? I inherited from my Dad who bought it brand new when he was Gunnery Officer aboard the USS New Mexico in the Pacific Theater during the last war. I passed it along to my nephew a couple of years ago and he is fast becoming a minor expert on that era in 20th Century history.

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Would Jane's Fighting Ships (1942) count as unusual?

No! Doesn't everyone read it?

Though you are more likely to see the 1946 edition as it had some censorship lifted so makes a better summary of the ships used in the war, and so has been republished since. Same goes for the aircraft book.

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

Mark in Manchester

Why not try Oxfam, what may be happening is that they are creaming those off to sell on the internet. I have bought some really unusual stuff that way which otherwise would cost me double, via Amazon.

Jengie

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