How to cull your book collection... or not

Readers had quite a few feelings about this most recent essay, chiming in with memories about culling their own personal libraries, advice on what books should stay and go and opinions on why you should never - under any circumstances - get rid of your books. Some got philosophical, others practical. "What is more important, the physical book or the words in it?" wondered The Continental Op. Responded Fred Gee: "Being able to find the door in a fire."

"It's a dilemma all collectors of books face at one time or another," writes commenter RBSchultz. "When I last moved, I gave away to the local library my vast collection of World War II and Vietnam War books so that others might enjoy them. After I moved, I decided that my collection of photography books was too heavy and large in volume. These went to my local Friends of the San Francisco Library where the sale proceeds supported the library. My vast collection of polar and mountaineering books will ultimately go to auction. There are many ways to declutter your library. you just have to choose what makes you feel gratified as to their ultimate destination."

Sidneyf "is a ruthless culler and downsizer from way back, but if there are even slight differences between your books, they are not duplicates, as they are not the same. Each evokes different memories and appreciation from you; find a way to keep them all."

To read the complete article, see:
Readers have many opinions on how to cull your book collection - and also why you never should(https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/readers-have-many-opinions-on-how-to-cull-your-book-collection--and-also-why-you-never-should/2020/07/31/c5a6d044-d26f-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html)

Micronation Stamps

THE POSTAGE STAMP LOOKS LIKE a postage stamp is supposed to look: white, perforated edges, and part of a circular cancellation mark in the corner. It also has the country and postage clearly printed, though its depiction of the pirate Blackbeard during an attack might be more dramatic than most philatelic subjects. But it's not a postage stamp, not really, because its country of origin is Sealand-a metal platform about the size of a tennis court, off the English coast. Sealand is one of the quirky, strangely numerous states known as "micronations," or self-proclaimed polities with no legal recognition. Some of them, to simulate legitimacy or at least make a little money, have issued their own flags, passports, coins, and yes, postage stamps.

Laura Steward, curator of public art at the University of Chicago, who organized an exhibition at the 2020 Outsider Art Fair in New York of stamps from micronations and other dubiously defined places, believes that these tiny squares are more than a toss-off: They're art, proof of imagination, and rather sophisticated bids for public recognition. "A postage stamp is a small but mighty symbolic emissary from one particular nation to the rest of the world," Steward writes in text accompanying the exhibit. "A functioning postal service, made visible in stamps, is an unmistakable expression of national legitimacy.... As a result, the postage stamp is an excellent vehicle for spurious, tenuous, or completely fictitious states to declare their existence."

To read the complete article, see:
The Joy of Collecting Stamps From Countries That Don't Really Exist(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/micronation-stamps)

For more information on the exhibit, see:
OAF Special Projects | Bogus Cinderella(https://www.outsiderartfair.com/program-new-york/oaf-special-projects-bogus-cinderella)