A Vintage Dilemma

I grew up reading what we in my family called "the white books". They are really a set of books called "My Book House".

photo from amazon.com

I had fond memories of reading them (at least volumes 1-4). Unfortunately, when my siblings and I grew up, my older brother who got married and had kids first somehow claimed them as a birthright or something and I was a little ticked off. 

Then I got married and I spied a set at an antique shop and drooled over them. They're the same cool vintage 1960s edition we had when I was a child with delightful artwork. My wonderful new husband surprised me and gave them to me for our first Christmas that year. I was so happy I finally had my own set! (Take that big brother!) ;-)

Well, fast forward nearly 8 years and I've still only read in books 1-4. Isn't that silly? I've been trying to declutter, especially our bookshelves and am trying to keep only the books I love and have finally come to the conclusion that I need to get rid of books 5-12. I'd sell them, but they're not worth much.  Then, while I was flipping through the books I came across some of the color artwork and realized, "This stuff is quite stunning!" Then I thought maybe I could cut the artwork out and frame them. I mean, seriously, I will probably never read the books and they're just sitting there.

So my dilemma is... should I destroy books 5-12 to save the lovely artwork and appreciate it or keep the set intact and donate it instead? It's a serious decision because I have learned the hard way that you don't just rush headlong into destroying a book you think you need for a "project" because chances are you might later regret it. Any opinions out there?