Some old books

Last year, during the first few weeks at the cabin, we undertook some early demolition efforts that complemented the roof work and other major projects. One project dealt with getting rid of a lean-to that was added to the little shed in the back yard - many of the panel boards had visible termite damage and there were also plentiful signs of carpenter bees (and woodpecker damage).

This little cabinet was mounted under the lean-to, and it was filled with old books. They'd been outside for some time and showed the kinds of damage you would expect from this rough handling: stains, mildew, and tears in the covers and some pages, even some damage from insects.

We found them quite interesting. There are two or three sets from several owners. Most have a location incribed on the front cover from West Virginia. We haven't been able to track down any of these former owners through Google searches, but we'll try again someday.

As far as what to do with them, we haven't decided that either. We took them down from the cabinet and laid them out to dry in the sun, and we now store them in the garage where they are out of the direct elements, but not in the best environment. A used book seller told us restoration is not worth the effort on these, as once mold has started there isn't much you can do without a museum's facilities and curatorial expertise.

So we are holding them for now, maybe we'll cut out and save the graphics and printings (the WW1 set has a number of maps and prints that are interesting, for example).