Toonce's thread on the Harvard Classics got me thinking again about coveted old volumes of books. I have shelves of my favourites that I just can't part with and that I do go back and read from time to time.
I also have a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1972 that my father and his wife gave to me when they retired to the Caribbean. This includes the Yearbooks from the follow 4 years.
Now as an oddity it is fascinating to pick up ad read as a historical snap shot from that time. But it's become somewhat of a boat anchor to keep and in fact I don't even have it on display any longer... it is relegated to a spare bedroom closet.
But what to do with it. The idea of throwing out/destroying books pains me to my very soul. I just can't do it. But who in their right mind would take this from me if I were to donate it? Would a school want it, it being so out of date? A library? Some collector - should I try and sell it?
Any ideas?
I would try to sell it and/or look at local colleges/universities about a donation. Their history/social sciences folks might be interested.
University libraries are also digitizing a lot of older material like this, so maybe ask them if they're interested in digitizing, and if so, whether or not they'll give you a copy afterwards.