Book Appraisal, the Newton Corner Way

My customer had said she would prefer to bring the 6 boxes of books she wanted appraised to my place in boxes, as the volumes were no longer on shelves in her mother's houses, but when she arrived, she announced that she had 16 boxes of books in her van, not the six she had promised.  Looking at the stairs that we would have to climb, we decided we would have to make a new plan; it was difficult to imagine carrying those 16 very full cartons of books up the stairs and into the office, and still having the energy to do anything else on that beautiful summer's day, which do we must, as the van and its books and driver would have to return to Vermont that afternoon.

Luckily we were able to work right there on the lawn, under the shade of a very old maple tree, the tree very likely planted in 1900, (around the same time that many of the books had been published). . . not exactly a "businesslike" decision but it worked.  It was a wonderful way to appraise books on a beautiful summer's day, but disappointing for those people who walked by and, thinking we were setting up a yard sale, wanted to purchase the precious volumes that were being appraised.