EX LIBRIS: ED M'S WARGAMING LIBRARY

Perhaps not a "wargame" book, but it represents the type of antiquarian book that I retained as a "keeper" in my "great sort"--and it makes for an eye-catching opener for a post concerning books.

 

Awhile ago, there was a trend among certain bloggists to post about their wargame libraries. Given my bibliophile proclivities, I hadn't intended to go through the rather substantial production that such a post about my book collection would entail.  However, having just gone through a major cull as part of a broader reorganization, I thought I would take this opportunity to do a post on the subject.  

The state of the man cave/war room during the "great sort"--a two week effort of going through the detritus that had gathered here after a year+ of working from home during COVID, things that I dragged from the office and dumped here after retiring, and the rather haphazard hobby acquisitions of the last two years.  I'll do another post on the "new look" game room once it is all done.  For now, let us focus on the library, dear reader (as usual, in this post you may clix pix for BIG PIX)...

The “before” picture: the entire length of one side of the room was books.  Actually, more than the entire length: the books actually wrapped around the corner all the way to the door (the door is just out of the picture to the right in the bottom image).  These pictures were taken after disposing of my magazine collection (which filled the partially empty bookshelf spaces seen in the distant corner of the top left picture).  Not only had I run out of space to put anything, but I had reason to be concerned about the load on the floor--this room is above the garage and I'm not entirely certain that the previous owners had reinforced the floor joists when they finished it (I suspect that they just put the floor over ceiling joists).  There was always a bit too much creaking and an uneasy feeling of movement when you would walk out to the far corner of the room with the weight of all these books.  I also did not have the time to go through my books or to organize this space much when I moved in.  Instead,  I wound up just bringing all my decades worth of hobby stuff in here and making do, figuring that I'd get around to sorting it later: that time had come.  

 

All told, I culled 9 boxes of books.  I prioritized my collection by retaining my primary sources, antiquarian texts, and a core set of references.  I pulled secondary sources, oversized books, and also most of my painting references.  At this stage of my life, I have no need to paint any more Napoleonics, for instance.  I also set aside many books to shelve in the “main” library, opening up additional space in the man cave.  Rather than going through the hassle of trying to get a buck for these books, I invited a select group of my friends over and let them take what they wanted; the rest will be heading for donation. Five  boxes worth of books went with my friends, saving me much hauling to dontation. For a deeper dive on the takings and that evening, you might want to check out Mark N's post on his My Brave Fusiliers Blog. 

 

Post-cull state of the war-room library...mission accomplished. The opened up space will make room for a display case and a cube refrigerator (something I've always wanted in my man cave but did not have the room for).

I retained a very serviceable set of secondary sources/references for my hobby activities in the man cave...

A shelf of 17th century materials...

A shelf of 19th century (Post Napoleonic) materials...

A shelf of Napoleonic materials...

A combined shelf with medieval and 18th century materials...

A shelf of wargame rules (mostly for reference)--and "active" sets of wargame rules (with supporting materials) kept in archive boxes other spots in the room.

A collection of 19th century primary materials remains in the corner shelf. These are "good reads" and browsing material (war correspondents reporting from various conflicts, a smattering of biographies, collections of cigarette cards, collections of Punch war humor...).  Partially seen in the above left picture is my sword collection, which formerly had just stood in the corners; this has been organized as part of this effort as well (more on that in another post, dear readers).  

 

I moved the selected antiquarian and primary references from my man cave into the "main library" (pictured above).  Before doing so, I culled four boxes of books from this collection--which will also be heading for donation.

...the books brought down from the man cave to the main library consist of three shelves on the Great War and one shelf of other antiquarian texts, mostly Napoleonic with a smattering of older texts. 

 

In other spots, I have retained various oversized antiquarian books; the above is a collection of reportage from Colliers war correspondents on the Russo Japanese War...

...a bound volume of The Graphic from 1898/99: much room, text and image, is devoted in these to topics of interest to those of our ilk...

...plus various and sundry other interesting oversized volumes of a similar nature from the period...

...pride of place among my oversized volumes, however, goes to a copy of Mouillard that I was fortunate enough to acquire...

...an example of one of the colorful and informative uniform plates in the Mouillard.
 

This exercise was not without sentiment. I retained a core set of old wargame magazines and vintage rules that were of special nostalgic value to me in their own special box.
 

As you can see, although this post may be about books that are no longer in my possession  (literally, ex library), it is not about getting rid of my wargame library.  In later posts, I'll report on the other components of this reorganization and my renewed gaming space. 

 

Excelsior!