Last month, Steve Godfrey stacked a pile of history books into a box, steadied the package between the handlebars of his bike and made a half-mile ride to Coffee House On 5th.

Once there, he delivered the gift to a Columbus grandmother who was so happy to receive the books, which she intended to give her grandchildren to spur their interest in history, Godfrey said.

“She was getting them for her grandkids, is what she kept saying,” Godfrey told The Dispatch Thursday. “She wanted to impart something. … I’m not sure exactly what but maybe an appreciation of American history at the very least.”

That drop-off was just one of several deliveries and shipments Godfrey has made since posting the collection of his boss, Robert Thompson, on Facebook in August. Since starting to catalogue the collection in June, Godfrey said he has entirely sold or given away more than 200 history books with topics ranging from the Civil War to Medieval history.

The duo found the collection, which originally belonged to Thompson’s father Bruce Thompson, while sifting through boxes in a storage shed earlier this summer.

Robert said his father, from about 1930 until sometime in the 1970s, was a professor of history at Baylor University, serving several years as chair for the department.

Steve Godfrey holds up a copy of “Frenchman, Desire, Good Children, and Other Streets of New Orleans” at Robert Thompson’s home in Columbus. As part of his work as Thompson’s personal assistant, Godfrey catalogued and sold more than 200 history textbooks that belonged to Thompson’s father, who was previously a Baylor University professor. Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff

While there, he built up a collection of history textbooks from companies asking him to consider their use in his courses, Robert said.

“I hadn’t really been through all of it (in a long time); it’s hugely academic,” Robert said. “Most of it, I mean, it’s not just gee wiz stuff, and unless you really are into research and history at a deeper level, they probably wouldn’t be books you generally read for pleasure. So those books stayed boxed up.”

After picking out a few books from the collection with personal ties to his father, including some books with personal inscriptions from authors, Robert said he felt compelled to give away or sell the rest to homes that would appreciate them.

“I had a few people suggest that they all go in the garbage, and I just couldn’t do that,” Robert said. “I couldn’t do that with my dad’s books. … We weren’t looking to make money; we were looking to move these books into useful lives for the rest of their existence.”

Godfrey said he got to work putting the books on PangoBooks, an online marketplace and app where people can buy and sell books.

It took him about two months, but Godfrey got every book listed on the website. After posting about the books on his personal Facebook, Godfrey said he didn’t get much attention even after slicing prices from as much as $40 down to $1 a book.

But then Godfrey shared the post to a Columbus Facebook group and was amazed to see responses flood in, moving the remaining 170 books in less than two weeks.

“(The was) just nothing, and then just as soon as (I posted) it was like ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.’ Columbus people,” Godfrey said. “… And they basically from Columbus/Caledonia (took) at least 150 books.”

For Robert, who still feels relatively new to the area even after moving from New Orleans three years ago, the appreciation from locals about history and these books was a pleasant revelation.

“I think there is a sort of cultural enjoyment or appreciation of history in this town that is surprising to see that (exists) here as intensely as it does,” Robert said. “So that’s a good sign in my book that it’s a good community for academics and learning and appreciation of history and whatever else that those books represent.

Robert said that as he’s gotten older, he’s found an appreciation for local history and believes in part he gets it from his father.

Though his father died in 2003, Robert said he plans to honor his father’s memory by continuing to learn more about history and continue to thumb through the history books still on his shelves.

He hopes the success of his book donation effort can serve as an example for others looking to find creative ways to give away nuggets of history in the future.

“I wish more of this kind of thing would happen in this community where people have interesting collections or something to share,” Robert said. “… A story in a community as large as New Orleans could get lost. … But we have the luxury as a small town like this to enjoy the finer things in life, I think, and hopefully that’s in this category.”