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PLEASE READ THE INTRODUCTION BEFORE GOING TO THE SECTION YOU WANT. IT EXPLAINS WHAT IS AND ISN'T INCLUDED, AND WHY, AS WELL AS THE ABBREVIATIONS USED.

INTRODUCTION

This work originally saw print in five parts. The online version maintains that separation, partly because some of this stuff was already on disk and it was simpler to do so, but also to avoid possible confusion because, inevitably, those who worked on the various sections didn't always order things in precisely the same way. This introduction is drawn from those in the printed versions, slightly amended to suit the requirements of this format.

The present bibliography has, wherever possible, been compiled from the original fanzines. Some additional information has, however, had to be extracted from comments and reviews in contemporary fanzines. The only previous bibliogaphy, Bill Evans & Bob Pavlat's Fanzine Index, was of substantial help in compiling the pre-1952 material. Other sources included Joy Clarke's APAthy (an index to the first twenty OMPA mailings) and Bob Pavlat's FAPA Book (for UK fanzines distributed through FAPA prior to 1960). Another source that proved extremely useful in filling a number of gaps is Greg Pickersgill's Memory Hole Permacollection list. Details of the Memory Hole project can be found at https://www.gostak.org.uk. A source of some additional data was Joe Siclari's listing of his own collection. Joe and Edie Stern are largely responsible for the FanHistory web site, which is accessible at https://fanac.org.

The entries are arranged alphabetically by title. When known, the editor's name is given, and any connection with a local or national SF organisation. Individual issues are listed in the following format: 1) issue number (in brackets if it does not appear in the issue itself); 2) date (month, or season, and year); 3) method of reproduction (see abbreviations); 4) paper size (see abbreviations); 5) total number of pages (usually including covers); 6) any additional notes. A question mark indicates that information is missing.

In general, the *existence* of a title, the editor and the year of publication has been rated very much above 'month of publication', type of reproduction, paper-size and page-count, but corrections and additions to any or all of these points are welcome. Should you spot any errors or omissions, or be able to supply any missing information, please send it to Rob Hansen, who maintains this site.

In many of the years covered by this bibliography, fans were polled as to which they considered the best fanzines of the day. Where available, the results of these polls have been included at the start of each section

TITLES: Placed alphabetically. 'THE's, 'A's and similar prefixes are generally ignored. A symbol (eg.: '&') is treated as a word (in this case, 'ampersand'), and a number (eg.: 2001) is treated as though it were TWO-ZERO-ZERO-ONE.

YEAR: In a very few cases unknown, but from context (reviews in other fanzines, etc.) is obviously at least the decade in question.

METHOD OF REPRODUCTION as noted is sometimes inaccurate; too many systems produce similar results. Though numerous mimeographed fanzines had litho covers, this distinction has been largely ignored, particularly in the later sections.

NUMBER OF PAGES generally includes both covers, whether blank or not, but complete fanzines which are only printed on one side of each sheet are noted.

ORIGIN: In a few cases American fans have lived over here and produced fanzines - these are included. There's at least one instance of British fans living abroad but producing fnz for this country. These are also included. There's also the unique case (as far as we know) of Driftwood, ed. Rochelle Reynolds, (July/80 m AQ 6) produced in the USA for British fans only.

APAZINES are so marked, but many of these were also distributed to non-APA members; there's been no attempt to differentiate between the two types.

DEFINITION OF 'SF' FANZINE: The question of what constitutes an 'SF fanzine' as opposed to a 'fantasy' or 'comics' or 'horror' or 'Tolkien' or similar fanzine has been left to common sense or the editor's own prejudices. Some obvious 'fantasy' fanzines are included, as material therein may interest sf readers.

STATUS ETC.: Marital status, sex, and other causes of changes of name have been ignored; if you edit a fanzine as John Smith it's shown that way, even if you later become Mrs. Martha Higginbotham.

USE OF DECIMALS: Because of the limitations of the character set available via HTML, many fractions - be they in issue numbers or paper sizes - have been converted to decimals in this version of the bibliography. It should be noted that in virtually every case where a decimal appears herein, it was originally a fraction. Converting these is left as an exercise for the reader.

................Peter Roberts, Vince Clarke, & Rob Hansen.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All material in this bibliography is copyright © Rob Hansen, 1997-2022, on behalf of himself, Peter Roberts and Vince Clarke. The introduction of each section notes which they were individually and/or collectively responsible for. The bibliography may be freely copied for private enjoyment or research but may not be republished (e.g. in printed, ebook, digital or other versions), distributed in modified form, incorporated into other works, or quoted out of context without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

What is SF fandom?

Science Fiction fandom grew out of the lettercolumns of the pulp SF magazines of the 1920s and 30s. Amazing Stories editor Hugo Gernsback was the first to start printing the full addresses of letter writers, which led to them writing to each other, setting up meetings, and to the beginning of a sense of community. The first ever SF fan group - the Scienceers - was formed in New York in 1929, while the first British SF fan group - the Ilford Science Literary Society - formed in 1930. Fanzines and conventions eventually followed.

What was the first fanzine?

This is generally accepted as being The Comet, first published by Ray Palmer for the Science Correspondence Club, in the US, in May 1930.

Why are they called 'fanzines'?

'Fanzine' is a contraction of 'fan magazine'. The term originally used was 'fanmag'. The term 'fanzine' was coined by US fan Louis Russell Chauvenet circa 1940 and swiftly superceded the older term. It has since spread beyond the confines of SF fandom.

When and where was the first SF convention held?

This is a matter of some contention. In 1936, UK fans announced their intention to hold a convention in Leeds early the following year, and duly hired a hall to host it. Knowing this, a group of New York fans visiting their counterparts in Philadelphia on 22 October 1936, decided to declare their meeting in the home of one of the latter to be the first SF convention. Many commentators, this writer included, view this claim as absurd. In contrast, the Leeds convention was held in public function premises on 3 January 1937, attracted 14 or so fans from all over the country, and had a planned programme. In recent years claims have also been made on behalf of an event held in London in 1891. The merits of these various claims are discussed here.

What are APAs?

An APA, or Amateur Press Association, is a group whose members send in a set number of copies of a fanzine (usually produced specifically for that APA and generally referred to as APAzines) to the APAs OE (Official Editor), who then collates these into mailings containing a copy of each zine, which are then mailed out to the members. Members pay an annual fee to cover post and packing costs, and deadlines are set for a given number of mailings each year. Most APAs set 'minac' (minimum activity) requirements in order to encourage contributions from members. Failure to meet annual minac usually means expulsion. APAs are an idea fans copied from amateur journalism groups, the first fannish APA being FAPA, which was founded by Donald A.Wollheim in 1937.

What are fan funds?

Fan funds exist to send fans from one country to conventions in another. Some, such as TAFF, DUFF, & GUFF, run 'races' in which candidates stand and are voted on by fans in the sending and receiving countries, while others are one-offs set up to raise funds to bring a particular fan to a specific convention. The fans so honoured act as ambassadors for their home fandom and help strengthen the international bonds of friendship that are one of fandom's most admirable features. The first one-off international fan fund, the Big Pond Fund, was established to get E.J.'Ted' Carnell to the 1947 Worldcon, though it was the 1949 Worldcon he eventually ended up attending. The first continuing fan fund, TAFF (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund), was established in 1953.

ABBREVIATIONS

x  = xerox ie. photo-copy.     b/w  = bound with / stapled with
m  = mimeoed/duplicated	       d/w  = distributed with
sp = spirit duplicated	       TAFF,  GUFF  & similar = fan funds
L  = litho/offset litho	       APAs = OMPA, FAPA, etc. publishing assns.
h  = hectographed	       (-)  = believed to be a 'one-shot'      
p  = printed		        ?   = information still required
c  = carbon-copied
A3 = 297mm x 420mm paper size	 	
A4 = 210mm x 297mm paper size	
A5 = 148mm x 210mm paper size
Q  = quarto; 10" x 8" paper size	        
F  = foolscap; 13" x 8" paper size	    
½F = 6mo = half f'cap; 8" x 6.5" size       
AQ = American Quarto; 11" x 8.5" size