Help! I have inherited thousands of books.

[wildcat45]

That is not quite the exaggeration you may think.

My late father's lifetime collection of books has been left to me and sadly most have to go. I inherited the house and the entire top floor is crammed with them.

My Dad was a journalist, writer and TV producer and the collection, which is in no order reflects this, from antique books though midern Folio editions. Fiction, classics, encyclopaedias, Bibles to a lot of sixties seventies and 80s politics books, many of which are very out of date.

There are tiny damaged ancient books which I can find no trace of online right next to midern silly books like, "the worlds biggest mistakes" or a 1981 Grange Hill paperback. Sets of Boys own annuals, 1920s good housekeeping books......I could go on.

Naturally there are many I want to keep, but mine and my wife's book collection is not exactly small.

It is a bewildering problem. I have tried to value a few online and being books there is no logic to them. Some books are valued at 50p, others at hundreds of pounds.

I really need some advice. It is a massive task just sorting the piles of Penguins from back numbers of "The Countryman"

I need the space, need to sell but knowing nothing about values I really do not want to get shafted.

Based in North East England and hoping someone can advise please.

[wildcat45]

Thanks for that. The spreadsheet idea sounds good. One for my wife who likes Excel stuff to sort.

Sadly no family to help us, only a distant relative who promised to come up and help after telling me there was a little book in the collection worth 7k. We've not found it.

[wildcat45]

I would dearly live to keep all if them, but the sheer bult is huge. We have our own books which we have squeezed onto metres of shelves we have put up downstairs.

Some of the books I will keep because I want them. My wife is a Jane Austen fan and I can't see use getting rid of that collection. I love Betjeman (He knew my Dad and in the collection is a handwritten note from him) and I am keeping that.

I guess some of the more lavish books have little sale value. The old man writer for National Geographic and we have a lot of their leather bound "Discovering China" type off coffe table books.

I am going to have to cut down the Dickens stuff. My Dad even has French translations.

A lot of fairly recent Folio copies.

Lots and lots of paperbacks, on economics politics, Germaine Greer type of stuff.

Thanks for the link to the website. It's the one I have been using.

I'm going to fill a couple of bags for life with a cross section and head over to Barter Books, see what they think.

Thanks for your advice. Dan