These camels will walk many miles to bring books to rural villages.
By Karen Wright
The words "burning books" (even if they are bad books and might deserve it) bring chills to my spine; shades of Fahrenheit 451, the bookseller's nightmare! I won't pretend that there aren't books that I have wanted to burn in my lifetime as a bookseller, whether because they were really bad books or because they had been on my shelves way too long. But, I was somewhat distressed by the article last month on the dealer who was burning excess books. I understand why he felt he had to do it, but I think there are other options. As a book dealer myself, with tons of books that I would love to see go away, I thought maybe I should do a bit of research on places we booksellers could donate our excess books. As it turns out, there are many, many great organizations in place, here and overseas, that want a lot of our old books. I'll tell you about a few of them.
A couple of years ago, after our trip to Costa Rica, I sent three boxes of books to a lending library in San Jose, C.R. They appreciated them greatly and the postage was not too bad. However, with the ludicrous new overseas postage costs that just went into effect, we would need to take into consideration whether an organization will pay for all or part of the postage or not. Here are a few of the places I located. From my viewpoint, though I am a small, not terribly profitable bookstore, if I have to pay some postage to give some of these good, but unsaleable books to people who really, really need them, I will pay the postage and call it a donation for my taxes.
Let's start with Books for Soldiers, since we are talking about the men and women who are laying their lives on the line every day in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world. Whether or not you agree with the war, it is nice to know that you can do something for those brave folks. I emailed the organization and got a letter back immediately. "I'm one of the moderators at Books for Soldiers. We're so glad you've found us!"
They offer a couple of ways to become involved. One choice is to invite booksellers to join them at Books for Soldiers. It's a free, but somewhat time consuming, process. First, you would have to get an account with www.booksforsoliders.com. Then, you send in a notarized application. After the application has been processed (2-4 weeks), you will become "Official Volunteers" and have access to a variety of troop addresses.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
