Donate Paul Horgan Books — Free Albuquerque Pickup

I accept Paul Horgan donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: Great River: The Rio Grande, Lamy of Santa Fe, A Distant Trumpet, Whitewater, The Centuries of Santa Fe, and the novels and essays. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including the early hardcovers and multi-volume sets you might not recognize; the 1954 two-volume first of Great River and the 1975 first of Lamy of Santa Fe are collectible, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.

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

Paul Horgan won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice — for Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History (1954) and again for Lamy of Santa Fe (1975) — and few writers have done more to tell the story of this region. He taught at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, and his books are foundational on New Mexico shelves. When a Horgan collection gets cleared, most people just want it to land somewhere that honors it. 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: Horgan's early firsts are collectible. The 1954 two-volume first of Great River (which won the Pulitzer for History) and the 1975 first of Lamy of Santa Fe (his second Pulitzer), in fine condition with the dust jackets, are sought-after, and signed copies bring more. Later book-club and paperback printings are common, and a non-collector can't always tell a true first from a book-club set. That's exactly the distinction I check. Bring the whole shelf and I'll recognize the early firsts, keep multi-volume sets together, protect them, and keep the reading copies in circulation, with any hidden value identified and handled properly.

Why donate instead of selling it yourself

For a confirmed first set, selling on your own can pay. For the rest — book-club editions, paperbacks, odd volumes — identifying and listing each is more work than they're individually worth, which is why 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 regularly.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I donate Paul Horgan books in Albuquerque?

Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: the histories, the novels, the essays. Call or text 702-496-4214.

Are old Horgan books worth anything?

The early firsts (Great River 1954, Lamy of Santa Fe 1975 — both Pulitzers) are collectible, signed more; book-club and paperback printings common. Bring it all and let me check.

The two-volume sets too?

Yes — bring the complete Great River set and any odd volumes. Just keep sets together and don't throw any of it out first.