Donate Adolph Bandelier Books — Free Albuquerque Pickup

I accept Adolph Bandelier donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: his Pueblo novel The Delight Makers, The Gilded Man, the scholarly Final Report of Investigations, the published Southwestern Journals, and any modern UNM Press reprints. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including the plain old reports you might not recognize; the 1890 firsts and early scholarly printings are collectible, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.

Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project

Adolph Bandelier is foundational to how New Mexico understands its own deep past — the Swiss-American scholar who walked the Pueblo country in the 1880s, and whose name is now on Bandelier National Monument in the Jemez. A Bandelier shelf is part regional history, part genuinely collectible archaeology. When one gets cleared, most people just want it to reach someone who'll value it — and don't want to throw out a scarce early report. That's exactly what I'm for: I take the whole thing, free, and I check every book.

What I take: all of it

You don't have to know what's valuable

Here's the reason to call rather than dump: Bandelier's early printings are collected by libraries and Southwest historians — the 1890 first of The Delight Makers, the original Archaeological Institute reports, and early printings of the Southwestern Journals. To most people these look like dusty academic hardcovers, and they get given away for a dollar. You don't have to learn the editions — bring the whole shelf and I'll recognize the scarce printings, protect them, and keep the reprints and reading copies in circulation, with any hidden value staying in the book economy here in the country Bandelier mapped.

Why donate instead of selling it yourself

For a confirmed 1890 first or an original report set, selling on your own can pay well. For the rest — reprints, ex-library copies, single journal volumes — listing each book is more work than it's worth, which is why so many scholarly shelves get dumped intact. Donating handles it in one call: no research, no pricing, no listings, no shipping, free pickup at your door, reading copies to new readers, and a genuine first recognized and supporting New Mexico literacy. Here's where donated books go.

How free pickup works

Call or text 702-496-4214 (or schedule online), tell me roughly how much there is and where you are, and we set a time. I come to you and load it all. I cover Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, and the surrounding metro, and I handle whole-house and estate cleanouts — including scholars' libraries — regularly.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I donate Adolph Bandelier books in Albuquerque?

Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: The Delight Makers, The Gilded Man, the reports and journals. Call or text 702-496-4214.

Are old Bandelier books worth anything?

The 1890 first of The Delight Makers, the original Archaeological Institute reports, and early Southwestern Journals printings are collected. They look ordinary — bring it all and let me check.

Reprints and ex-library copies too?

Yes — UNM Press reprints, ex-library volumes, worn copies. Just don't throw any of it out first.