Book Hoarding

[Mr. Veech]

I sold all my academic books because they reminded me of my ex. I did keep the works of Schopenhauer, the only philosopher really worth his salt.

[Ucasuni]

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

Like others here, I have an unsettling amount of books. I know that I shall not live long enough to read them all. Nevertheless, I still buy. The Brantley thread, however, is an uncomfortable reminder. http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?t=11983

Given the breadth of her literary knowledge (both historical and stylistic) evidenced in her writing, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the percentage of her library that remained unread at the time of her passing was less than what one might guess.

Unfortunately, I, like you Zaharoff, acquire books at a rate that far outpaces the rate at which I read them. As far as library organization goes, I'm reminded of Caddyshack:
"[If you don't keep score h]ow do you measure yourself against other golfers?"
"...By height?"

[qcrisp]

Below, a PDF of a work I read last night under the title, 'Postscript to a Catalogue on a Collection of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions'. The translation is supposedly the same (that of Lin Yutang), but I see that as well as the title, one or two other things are different. The author is the poetess Li Qingzhao (also known by other names - Li Yi-an, Yi'an Jushi). She and her husband were well known collectors of objets d'art and books back in the twelfth century. She writes here of events at around the collapse of the Northern Song Dynasty:

--Documents

"The following year, we came down south on the occasion of the funeral for his mother."

In the book I have a footnote says of this line: "Of course they fled for another more imperious reason, the fall of North China. But to ascribe it to the occasion of a mother's funeral is accepted as the correct way of saying it. Likewise, it is highly improbable that her husband, son of a minister, had to "pawn clothing" to buy old curios, as said at the beginning, but this is also accepted as the poetic way of saying it. It has become the tradition for scholars to say that one's wife took off a gold brooch from her hair to sell it for money with which to buy wine to entertain a friend for the night."

[Zaharoff]

Typical event for the hoarder.
I decided, once again, I needed to reorganize.
Actually, Zelda told me to build another bookcase.
So, after construction, I began loading by press ...
and soon noticed there were 3 - 4 titles missing.
While my storage, especially temp storage, can be a bit suspect,
my record keeping is usually stellar.
I scoured the other bookcases multiple times.
Then opened and emptied, over and over, the - ahem - cardboard boxes.
I found one lost sheep. The others? No dice.
I know they are around.
Stupid collector, cannot keep track of what he has.

[gveranon]

Looking up pictures of book hoards online, I ran across the following article about the late scholar Stephen Medcalf: http://www.bibleofbritishtaste.com/s...edcalfs-books/

For much of the past decade my apartment has looked something like the pictures of Medcalf's abode in that article. One problem--not the only problem--with such piles of books is that no matter how carefully you pick through them, they have a tendency to start cascading.

While reading the article, I suddenly realized: Hey, I own a book by this guy! (Of course I do.) And I don't know for sure where it is right now. (Of course I don't.) How utterly fitting.

As I recall, I ordered the book after reading an interesting review-essay about Medcalf in The New Criterion (unfortunately there is a paywall at this link after the first few sentences): Truthful myths | The New Criterion

[bendk]

How about being in the mood to read a certain book that you know you have somewhere... You spend hours looking for it and when you finally find it you are too tired, disgusted, or have lost interest in reading it.

or

Wanting to read a book that you know you have, again, somewhere. But, hell, you can pick up another copy for less than $5 postpaid on AbeBooks and that beats the hell out of wasting your life looking for a stupid book. Thank You! Order Placed.

[Acutely decayed]

I sympathise, my experience recently is searching as much as reading... working more on a mnemonic "memory cathedral" Method of loci - Wikipedia (this has a nice intrinsic failure/loss of the least memorable works - my spatial memory is crap but verbal/numerical is excellent - however video game locations - central yharnam, hemwick etc. can work as a cross over) or just using a good AI/operating system agent when it becomes available is an option - curate the hoard as best as possible till then

[ToALonelyPeace]

I've heard this "memory palace" before, but didn't know it was real. I may try this using places in Morrowind to practice (I'm bad with real world locations). Most of the time, the method I've unconsciously employed is to remember a detail of the thing I'm supposed to remember and then use this clue to find the culprit. It works well with books and movies. I don't keep a record but so far no "lost sheep. I sometimes keep my money in books, so I would go crazy if a book is missing for unexplained reason.

[bendk]

I have a fascination with books mentioned in novels or movies. I remember reading a great deal of The Art of Memory by Frances A. Yates, that I requested through the interlibrary loan system years ago, because it was named by the character Hannibal Lecter in one of the Thomas Harris novels. The ideas were completely unknown to me at the time. Intriguing stuff.

Hannibal Lecter, Mnemonist - Art of Memory Blog

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Memory-Frances-Yates-Paperback/dp/B00I8YLSEM/ref=pd_sbs_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NSD30FH9HWYTGVP4R8QE

 

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Memory-Frances-Yates-Paperback/dp/B00I8YLSEM/ref=pd_sbs_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NSD30FH9HWYTGVP4R8QE

[Acutely decayed]

Quote Originally Posted by bendk

I have a fascination with books mentioned in novels or movies.

I also saw it there.

But previously in Crowley's - Little Big

and he is very much aquainted with Bruno

Giordano Brunos Memory System - Art of Memory Blog

(my memory is incredibly bad - hence the interest)