Withdrawal symptoms already-

[rbgarr]

My wife has been hinting heavily, and is now crawling up my back to get all my boat books, magazines, plans, files, pictures and assorted doodads boxed up for moving.

I just started emptying the shelves of books and am getting nervous because their spines don't show the way they are packed in the boxes. I feel like I've blinded them and worry that they won't be able to breathe in there when I tape the boxes closed.

What to do, what to do!!! :confused:

:D

[Alan D. Hyde]

Get some of the large cardboard boxes that cartons of eggs are packed in for transport to the supermarket. If you're a regular, your store manager will likely let you have them free of charge.

These are fairly strong, stack OK, have hand-holds on the ends, and will let you arrange books and magazines spine upward, so that what you need may be identified and accessed when you need it, without much difficulty.

The older you get, and the more stuff you have, the more trouble it is to move. You have my sympathy, Dave. But, I'm glad it's not me... :D

Alan

[ 05-13-2005, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]

[ssor]

I had a neighbor moving after twenty years in the same place. He said to me, "Ross, don't save anything but money." I ain't listening to that advise, I just plan to die owning this place and my heirs can figure out what to do with my stuff. In the meantime my books are my friends and deserve a place of honor.

[rbgarr]

My in-laws are downsizing and moving, too, and have sixty-five years of accumulated stuff to cull through. :eek:

My father in-law has spent the past two years transferring his sizable record collection (jazz, swing, symphonic, opera 78s, 33s, 45s, etc., dating from the thirties) to CDs so he can have it all at his new apartment. As he's finished recording them he's sold the records on eBay, and some of them have brought over $1000 and been bought by people as far away as Japan and Norway. If not for ebay he would have thrown them out, I think. :(

[Ross M]

FWIW

Our local rare book dealer told me never to place books in boxes spine up - it promotes destruction of the binding...

Ross

[rbgarr]

Thanks for the reminder. That makes sense, and I haven't done loaded any books with spines up in any of the boxes already closed up. :D

[Meerkat]

Also, don't pack books on their sides on top of each other. Contributes to binding damage and also makes for a much heavier box! Books should be packed standing up, as though they were on a shelf.

For really good books, they should also be wrapped tightly in paper: this prevents wracking and dog-eared pages and the like. May also prevent foxing, but I don't recall all the details of the person who told me this.

[Stiletto]

What's foxing? I heard it had been outlawed in England. ;)

[Meerkat]

foxing - A brownish yellow, patchy discoloration of paper caused by the action of mold on iron salts, which are present in most paper. Foxing usually results from high relative humidity — typically when a work is hung on a damp wall. To prevent foxing, mount, mat, and frame using only acid-free materials, keep glass away from the surface of the artwork, and place in a low-humidity environment. Foxing can be treated by a paper conservator, although it is unlikely to be removed entirely by standard cleaning treatments. Also called foxed.

[Stiletto]

Thankyou Meer.