For the bibliophiles in the house-- dang those books are heavy...
Longacre
Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭
I spent a few hours yesterday preparing a room at my house for painting. The room is rather large, and it is going to be the new bedroom for my two girls, complete with light pink walls (and in case you're wondering, yes, I do my own interior painting; I find it theraputic).
The unfortunate thing is that I use that room to house the Longacre Numismatic Library, and I needed to clear out my books, catalogs, and other numismatic paraphenalia to another open bedroom. For the bibliophiles in the house, have you ever had to move your library? I could not believe the time that it took to move the books, and my library isn't exactly the largest one in the world. Or do you just keep your library in the same room of the house, out of fear of having to move it?
I also definitely have a newfound respect for the book dealers at coin shows. I could not imagine carrying all of those books almost every single week.
The unfortunate thing is that I use that room to house the Longacre Numismatic Library, and I needed to clear out my books, catalogs, and other numismatic paraphenalia to another open bedroom. For the bibliophiles in the house, have you ever had to move your library? I could not believe the time that it took to move the books, and my library isn't exactly the largest one in the world. Or do you just keep your library in the same room of the house, out of fear of having to move it?
I also definitely have a newfound respect for the book dealers at coin shows. I could not imagine carrying all of those books almost every single week.
Always took candy from strangers
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
0
Comments
But on the anal retentive side, I now have a list of every book, CD and DVD that I own....
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
Three sections that are not subject to this attrition: numismatics, World War I history, and sequential art / illustration.
Sections that have been mercilessly cannibalized by others: English-language literature, modern trade paperbacks, and political science.
The time and energy it takes to organize more than one bookcase is surprising, especially when you have to put it back together in proper order.
Even changing bookcases can be a chore. This usually happens when the first bookcase comes apart (aka: breaking).
However, this is a small price to pay for having useful references at hand. A reference library sure beats the "bourse-floor" mentality.
Yes, I know it's easier to throw them away. But stop and think - does this help you in becoming smarter in your field of interest? If it wasn't for literature, very few people would know enough to pay anything above face value for old coins. This is further evidenced by the fact that there are millions of people who don't know anything about numismatics, even though everyone handles money each day.
In his extensive advertising promotions, Max Mehl proved there are millions of people who wanted to know if a certain coin has any extra monetary worth above face value.
The difference is that the learned ones (those of us here) are the ones who have read something about numismatics. Fact is, you're doing it right now.
Without numismatic literature, there would be no stories; as numismatic items can't talk. We wouldn't have the wonderful tales from the past to help continue our interest. The 1804 Dollar, 1913 Nickel, 1894-S Dime, (etc., etc.,) would certainly not be what they are today.
Just some food for thought when you throw out the next catalogue.
I am not sure why I have thousands of catalogs when most are available on-line.
Think about it , the same can be said for coins and even currency which can be repaced with electronics payments.
Just think of all they have done for you!