Thursday, January 4, 2007

Theological Library Sale (Now Finished)

UPDATE (5/1/10):  I appreciate the inquiries I've received about this library.  I have a handful of books that I'd like to sell.  Of particular note are two 4-volume sets of Timothy Dwight's Theology (see photo and here.)  Otherwise, I no longer live near this library and do not have ready access to it.  Most of the key volumes have already been sold.  Thanks.  Jason.





For our first post of the new year, we would like to announce that we have agreed to sell off a friends personal library.

Mention was made previously here regarding a visit made to my brother-in-law's father's inherited library. I've visited this library before but had not had the opportunity to browse it as extensively as I have recently. Well, this past weekend we came to an agreement on selling the library. I've been looking for another opportunity like this for a while now. He's been trying to figure out how to proceed with selling the library. So, here we go!!! : )

History of the Library: Some of the details are sketchy, but here is what I have learned, so far. The library was passed down from the late Mr. Frank Sells, preacher and Bible teacher. Mr. Sells was born in the early 1900's and died in his 90's about 5 years ago. He built his own library by searching out used bookstores as he worked a preaching circuit throughout the New England area. From what I have gathered his own library was about 2,000 volumes strong.

At some point, later in his life, he purchased the library of a deceased preacher-friend named Cannoy (sp?). This purchase added about 6,000 volumes to his library.

Not long after that, he purchased the library of another deceased preacher-friend by the name of John McCormick.

All in all, the library contains about 10,000 volumes. Mr. Sells' desire was to start a small Bible Institute at the church he attended. That dream was never fulfilled and the books have remained mostly unused for the past 10 years. Some had been in storage for a while, but all are out and on shelves now. We are working on cataloging the books, and organizing them.

Overview: So, you may be wondering, "What sort of books are in this library?" The library is a thoroughly religious library. Each of these men were conservative, Calvinistic preachers/teachers. The books range in age from 10-200 years old.

Commentaries:There are a number of commentaries per book of the Bible, with some duplicates. Many of the Klock & Klock reprints; many full sets (Calvin, EBC, Expositor's Greek Test.; Gill's Comm's; K & D on the OT and others); many Banner of Truth; many CLASSICS.

Theological Works: There is an excellent selection of systematic theologies (Hodge, Shedd, Cunningham, Chafer, Hoeksema, Calvin, Berkhof, etc.), and many smaller theological volumes. There is are stacks of works on Christology (Hengstenberg, for instance), many on Calvinism, and about five 3.5 foot shelves on Eschatology.

Many works by G. Campbell Morgan, James Stalker, F.W. Farrar, W.H. Griffith Thomas, and others. The Works of Wesley.

Theological Dictionaries, Lexicons, Bible Dictionaries, Bibles, Encyclopedias, etc.

Biographical Works: Sorry, I "robbed" some great titles from here, but there are still about 50-75 more good biographies. There are also a number of works on Bible Characters (Alexander Whyte, F.B. Meyers, etc.).

There are a number of works on Paul and the 1st Century, Missions, Pastoral Theology, Homiletics, and more.....

In weeks to come, I will be posting some of these volumes and sets for sale. Please keep watching. And, PLEASE, let me hear from you. The library is about 2 hours away from me, so I do not have instant access, but will be making periodic visits, bringing books back to my house.
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9 comments:

  1. Jason,

    Wow! I would imagine that this is a tremendous library. Mr. Sells was a godly man with a vibrant energy for serving God and a love for teaching well into his 8os. When I was helping out at a small church in the Columbia area while in Grad School at BJU, Mr. Sells would often come over and preach for our little church. His influence and encouragement to this little church were vital in helping it to keep going through some difficult times.

    He was also an instrument that God used in bringing a genuine revival in Virginia Beach, VA in the early 1990s - resulting in a number of Christians coming to repentance and a number of professing Christians actually coming to Christ. I think it was through the reports of this revival that Mr. Sells actually spoke at BJU's Bible Conference one year soon afterwards.

    I wish I was close by so I could at least browse over these books. I am sure there is much treasure there.

    Anyway, thanks for the opportunity for me to walk down memory's lane.

    In Christ,

    Pastor Frank Sansone

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  2. Pastor Frank,
    Thank you for the note! Everything I've heard about Mr. Sells has been a blessing. It has been an extreme privilege to work with this library. It's true that you can learn a lot about a person by looking through their library. Mr. Sells was, surely, a man of God! He loved the Bible. He dedicated his life to studying and teaching it in a way that very few are able to do.

    I'm still working on a list of books for sale that I hope to make available very soon.

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  3. Hello Jason. Dr. Frank Sells was a wonderful man of God. He loved the Lord and he loved his books. I had the occassion to hear him preach and teach. He was fantastic. Everything was Christ centered. I was wondering, how did you acquire this library and from who? Dr Sells would not want his library sold. From what I can understand, it was left to a pastor in the Columbia area for the purpose of a starting a good quality library for a Bible Institute that the church was starting. Please give me some information about this. Thanks.

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  4. To whom it may concern,
    Thank you for your inquiry. No, the library was not given or sold to me. I am a friend (through family) of the Pastor in Columbia who inherited this fine library. As the original post mentioned, the purpose for which Dr Sells collected these books was to build a solid library to be made available for Bible Institute students.
    The Bible Institute was not established before Dr Sells passed away, so most of the books remained in storage. Because books do not fair well in storage they were unpacked and set up in a designated room. Still, there was no immediate use for them since the plans for a Bible Institute had to be set aside.
    The Pastor who now owns them still wants to make them useful to Bible students and preachers (as was the original intention), and for this reason he has turned away a handful of booksellers who have inquired about the library.
    The library still remains in the possession of the man to whom Dr Sells left it and His burden is to be a good steward of these books. For this reason we are carefully organizing the library, cleaning and mending the books, and selectively selling some of them.
    I hope that this answers your question. Thanks.

    In Christ,

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  5. I am interested in purchasing the entire library. Please contact at pastorjoey@me.com

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  6. Thanks for the info. I,too,have an excellent library for sale,listed on Craigslist as PERSONAL LIBRARY FOR SALE with a listing of many of the authors included in the more than 4000 volumes.
    Interested persons are invited to communicate with me at: theology@nyc.rr.com

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  7. Is this still for sale. I am interested for an Asian Bible school
    Dsumrall@me.com

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  8. Only the Timothy Dwight sets noted at the beginning of the post are available.

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  9. Hi,

    Is this library for sale? Or would you consider to donate the library to a Christian heritage center?
    If you would like to talk about it please call.
    Blessings,

    Peter Crawley
    865-622-0241

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