Is that a Duplicate?

I have mostly finished with the books, but they keep on turning up...this time a 1676 edition of "Civil War" (2nd edition): A Chronicle of the Late Intestine War in the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland with The Intervening Affairs of Treaties, And other Occurrences relating thereunto..." you get the idea, and that's only half the title page.

That is NOT a duplicate, and it really looks old, so maybe it is. But from where did it come, to surface in my parlor atop the boxes of music.

Music is the next category of sorting...I've gone through the top layer of choral music and nicely alphabetized it by composer/arranger...much more of that to come, but in the meantime, I'm on to a box labelled "sheet music" and others labelled "V's horn and cornet music," and so forth. The latest box I've opened is one of my sister Margy's...violin, songs, and other things I haven't dredged up yet.

But occasioning the title of this instalment, "Duplicates," is that in the top of Margy's box is ANOTHER copy of "Chorale Culinaria," a fund-raising cookbook that the Rhode Island Civic Chorale put out in the 1990s. I did the page makeup and the illustrations...and the section pages and indices...so I like it quite a lot. But we have RE-gathered copies from Margy, Trudi, Mumma, Mom, and you get the picture...this ritornello is about to become an ostinato.

A similar effect lies in the way we Grammers give books as presents. Not always, but sometimes I like a book so much that I give it to several people. That has deleterious effects on my own library when they pass on or pass the books back to me. Frequently, while cataloguing away on LibraryThing.com, I find that an ISBN already exists in my library. Unfortunately, while that is sometimes true, and often I am able to set aside the NEWLY discovered duplicate, SOMETIMES the newly-discovered copy is in BETTER condition than the one I have already shipped! AND I REMEMBER IT! Sigh. It is so hard to give away one's children/books. So I guess there will be candidates for a book-sale at our destination, too.

The tradition of giving books as presents (birthdays, Christmas, and whenever) started when I was very young, and I have come across some of those books in this lengthy process. And so, also, the fascination with books and words and writing and especially books...my criteria for keeping a book or not include:

1. Who gave it to whom (if a long-dead relative, I'm cursed and it stays)
2. When did this happen (see #1)
3. Are the people still alive (can I give the book back?)
4. Do I want to sit down right now and read it (usually the answer to this one is YES!!!!! Make that coffee and pour me a cup, I'm going to sit down right now and thumb through "Civil War")
5. Do I remember reading it (or buying it...)
6. Do I remember what it's about (not so important if the cover is pretty)
7. Would it be a challenge or entertainment to read it again (all the Classiques Larousse are in this category)
8. and on, and on...criteria abound

The actual weight of the book also comes into play...at 38 cents a pound, are these books worthy of the shipping cost? Usually my books are totally out of print and unavailable anywhere, for love or money. 

So I keep them.

But I will think twice about giving more than one copy of a book to multiple people...I may get them back someday, and have to give them away AGAIN.