We've gone through several successive down-sizing exercises and the books survived until the last one before we moved to France. I had collected what you might call a professional library of specialised books on music and music theory, including hundreds of music scores--they occupied an entire wall in my office at University College Dublin. I'd purchased many from antiquarian dealers in Britain, Ireland, Germany and France and I turned to some of these dealers when it came time to face the music (so to speak) and reduce the stock. How sad it was to me to learn from all I contacted that there is zero market for any of these materials--including some rare 17th- and 18th century music treatises.
More difficult were the thousands of pages of music I had transcribed myself from partbooks of 17th- and 18th-century music publications, and of transcriptions of early polyphony from many manuscript sources dating from the 12th through 15th centuries. I could find not a single library interested in acquiring these unique resources. (They ended up in black rubbish bags, destined for the skip.) I did, however, donate most of the books to the Library at UCD that I had overseen--but I imagine many were subsequently discarded.
The more personal items we retained--many boxes of family papers and the photographic legacy of my grandfather (many hundreds of glass plate negatives), also favourite books, art books and cookbooks.
In all of our many moves, this was the most painful. Whenever I think about it, I try to shut out the thoughts and move on to something else.
What a challenge to deal with -- you are right to think about it one year out before your move.
We also have many books, but I do go through mine from time to time and have avoided collecting too many. My husband, though, has hundreds and hundreds, and many are big format books: art, photography, and BDs. They are starting to just pile up on the floor of his secondary work office.
So in a word, yes, I do feel overwhelmed by our accumulated stuff. I hope it will be liberating for you to clear things out when you make the move, although it could be painful as well.
We are our own worst enemies. We had a potter around Whitstable in Kent yesterday to blow the cobwebs away and I bought two more second hand books. 🤷♀️
Oh Caroline. I held back from commenting as I’ve been through the pain too many times. I adore books and they’ve been a very important part of my life. They’re an extension of me but twice in my life I’ve donated ~3k books and each time it felt like donating a limb ;)
I empathize! Getting rid of books was one of the most challenging parts of our move.
Hoping you have brought some with you on your sojourn to France. Bonne Année in Paris - it’s especially magical at this time of the year.
Ah, I feel your pain--you're not alone!
We've gone through several successive down-sizing exercises and the books survived until the last one before we moved to France. I had collected what you might call a professional library of specialised books on music and music theory, including hundreds of music scores--they occupied an entire wall in my office at University College Dublin. I'd purchased many from antiquarian dealers in Britain, Ireland, Germany and France and I turned to some of these dealers when it came time to face the music (so to speak) and reduce the stock. How sad it was to me to learn from all I contacted that there is zero market for any of these materials--including some rare 17th- and 18th century music treatises.
More difficult were the thousands of pages of music I had transcribed myself from partbooks of 17th- and 18th-century music publications, and of transcriptions of early polyphony from many manuscript sources dating from the 12th through 15th centuries. I could find not a single library interested in acquiring these unique resources. (They ended up in black rubbish bags, destined for the skip.) I did, however, donate most of the books to the Library at UCD that I had overseen--but I imagine many were subsequently discarded.
The more personal items we retained--many boxes of family papers and the photographic legacy of my grandfather (many hundreds of glass plate negatives), also favourite books, art books and cookbooks.
In all of our many moves, this was the most painful. Whenever I think about it, I try to shut out the thoughts and move on to something else.
To have to discard books is heartbreaking, and such specialised ones at that. I feel your pain too John.
What a challenge to deal with -- you are right to think about it one year out before your move.
We also have many books, but I do go through mine from time to time and have avoided collecting too many. My husband, though, has hundreds and hundreds, and many are big format books: art, photography, and BDs. They are starting to just pile up on the floor of his secondary work office.
So in a word, yes, I do feel overwhelmed by our accumulated stuff. I hope it will be liberating for you to clear things out when you make the move, although it could be painful as well.
We are our own worst enemies. We had a potter around Whitstable in Kent yesterday to blow the cobwebs away and I bought two more second hand books. 🤷♀️
Oh Caroline. I held back from commenting as I’ve been through the pain too many times. I adore books and they’ve been a very important part of my life. They’re an extension of me but twice in my life I’ve donated ~3k books and each time it felt like donating a limb ;)
Fab article.
Merci
Judy