My grandfather had a PhD in math. When he died, he left a lot of math textbooks, which I took. These include things like Van der Waerden's 2-volume algebra set from the 1970s,
"Studies in Global Geometry and Analysis" by Shiing-Shen Chern, a series called "Mathematics: it's content, methods, and meaning," and many more.
I'm keeping about 20 of them, but there are 103 which I don't want to keep, but which I don't know what to do with. I obviously don't want to throw them away, and I don't really know what will happen to them if I donate them to the giant used-books depository in downtown Baltimore (called "the book thing," where people drop off and pick up used books for free). I'd like to donate them to some math collector or math library. But maybe there are just too many used antique math books floating around.
RECAP: I have 103 antique used math books which I cannot keep. Do you have a suggestion for what to do with them?
Thanks,
David
Best Answer
David, Older mathematics books can be surprisingly rare.
An option is to sell them on Advanced Book Exchange (abe.com). I would be happy to help you triage your books. I did this once for the daughter of a philosopher who had a large mathematics book collection. It did not take long on the telephone. Dan