Sadly, from my perspective, you are generally correct in all your statements. My brother-in-law owns a rare book business and it is a very small market, getting smaller with each passing year. Having dealt with the "valued collections" of various types from beloveds who have died, I would postulate that for most of us our value in our collections far exceeds what anyone else would value them at. So many assessments are emotional and, in this age, even what was once widely valued is greatly discounted. It isn't always easy to accept, but I generally believe that when I'm gone most of what I own will be viewed as so much junk by whomever is left to dispose of it. Not trying to be a downer, but my view now is to enjoy and make use of your treasures. You enjoy them and the hope that someday someone else may is nothing you can control. Break out the special silver, china and crystal. Use it, you can't take it with you and it won't be appreciated 50 years from now. As for your plants, see if you can find people or institutions near you that may be interested. Many botanical gardens will only accept items with proven provenance. Even your prized collection could end up in the plant sale or compost pile. I had a botanical garden give a collection of over 200 plants 125 species I'd gathered "give" them to a board member who ran a nursery and landscaping business when they cancelled a project I'd been developing for them. On Sun, Mar 29, 2020, 6:28 PM Robert Lauf <boblauf@att.net> wrote: > This is a general problem we all face. When you go, assume the total > contents of your house has a negative value, i.e., someone will need to be > paid to haul it away. The value of arcane books continues to shrink as the > number of hobbyists shrinks (along with the number of people who can read > or want to). One university I know will only take donations of important > old books for its library if you wrap each volume in a $25 check to pay for > some grunt to catalog it in. News flash: after it is cataloged in, no one > will read it there anyway. University libraries are all nothing but > terminals now. > Whatever you spent on your collection of Depression glass, Hopi katchinas, > or whatever, should be mentally written off for the enjoyment it already > brought you, and if it yields anything at the end, consider it gravy. If > you had spent that money on opera tickets, you wouldn't expect anyone to > pay for your collection of ticket stubs. Start giving things away while > you can and realize that a book that someone else will open now and then is > doing the world more good than a book that is on your shelf and hasn't been > opened in ten years (and I have plenty of those!) > Just my opinion, based on an extensive collection of orchid books that > likely isn't worth much... > Bob LaufOak Ridge, TN > On Sunday, March 29, 2020, 08:58:01 PM EDT, SARAH-LISTS < > sarah-lists@suiattle.net> wrote: > > Hi Jim > I don’t have nearly as fine a collection as you do, but I do have my > mothers (a collector of garden books also) and my own libraries, with some > interesting titles among them As I’m getting up there, I’d also thought of > donating them to the horticultural library here. I do know however that > many books would probably end up in the libraries book sale :( > > Have you come up with any other ideas as to what you might do with your > collection? > > Thanks > Sarah > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Mar 29, 2020, at 13:38, Jim McKenney via pbs < > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > > > > The future of books and independent book sellers has been on my mind a > lot lately., mostly because of a shocking event in the recent past. I've > been lucky enough to have built a fine personal library of garden books. > Highlights include several well known titles from the time of Elizabeth and > Shakespeare, all seventeen volumes of the pre- WWI Present Day Gardening > Series. a just-about-full complete run of the Carl Foerster- Camillo > Schneider Gartenschoenheit, 1920-1944 (lacking a few sheets from the last > years published during WWII), most of the Lily Yearbooks of the Royal > Horticultural Society, first edition Jekylls, and hundreds of other titles > important in their day. I'll be eighty in a few years, and one recent event > has me wondering about the fate of my library. In the past I was dismayed > when local "arboretums" were gifted notable collections of plants from > local amateur collectors. The dismay came later when new curators decided > to trash the collections. I'll never give my plants to such an > organization. But these organizations keep libraries, and books don't > harbor disease or require watering, heating or much of anything else but > space. And so for years I've toyed with the idea of donating my library to > such an organization. But no longer: one of our local arboretums recently > deaccessioned their library on short notice; After the select few (not I) > were given first choice, JohnQPublic was invited in to squabble among > themselves for the remainders (at a very reasonable cost per book).This is > the age we now live in: these organizations can make more money hosting > weddings and holiday extravaganzas, so those are the sort of things which > get priority - while the books get kicked out. But my books will not be > among them. > > Jim McKenney > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…