DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Horizons, v. 6, issue 1, whole no. 20, September 1944

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Horizons, v. 6, issue 1, whole no. 20, September 1944

Page 12

months and months of strenous work by the old NFFF Planning Committee never got any suggestions even as far as a fanzine's pages.
        Obviously, the NFFF can't possibly be sponsoring a Fancyclopedia, Directory of Fandom, Great Bib, microfilming, Perdue's history of the future, Rosenblum's organized system of book reviewing, the Swischer check-list, and a dozen things of similar scope, all to the oncest. Which means that there is really nothing to prevent you or merfrom ground breaking on these things, until such time as they can be taken up in an orderly way.
        That Great Bib, for instance. We have no coordinator, no plan of action, not even a systematic idea of what we want in this line. But if some of us, for instance, should feel in the mood, we could very profitably spend some time going over our own particular fields of interest, nothing down the most vital facts on white paper, and putting said white paper where we can find it again if need arises. If I don't happen to have any particular field of knowledge about a certain author or magazine, I could still do a lot of valuable pioneer work by extracting all pertinent facts from my fanzine files. Some of them, like the otherwise excellent Stardust, would contain little or nothing of this sort of value; The Reader & Collector, on the other hand, has had an immense quality of Bibworthy material in almost every issue. With activity of this sort going on for a year or two, a good start would already have been made on the project by the time the NFFF disposed of more pressing matters and turned attention to it.
           The chronology of tomorrow might very well be worked on more intensively, and be published in a slightly more practical form than the printed card system, which is theoretically swell but apt to prove rather slow work. I'm pretty sure Elmer would give any FAPA member the chance to use his research work, and mimeograph the facts, as many pages per year as needed. The sheets wouldn't be stapled, and new ones could be inserted in the proper place as furhter research divulged new facts.
            All of which will tend to help the NFFF, too; there's no telling when we'd get the Fancyclopedia done if the preliminary work hadn't already been done by Speer. Until such time as the organization is very large, rich, and strong, it will be easier to coordinate and complete work on which a start has been made than to work from scratch--and final results might prove better, too.
                            : : : : : :
            Walt Liebscher and some other bibliofans don't hesitate to talk about borderline stuff, or even volumes they frankly admit aren't fantasy. Whichleads me to inquire mmm why the "Winter's Tales" by Dinessen--I hope the name is seplled right, but it's a pseudonym and so doesn't matter--didn't get any recognition in fandom. Only a couple are fantasy, strictly speaking, but all of them have a sort of other-world quality, and are aided immensely by the magnificent illustrations that appear in the original illustrations--damme, edition. The same author, I note, has a book in the Modern Library edition, "Gothic Tales", which isn't available in the local library. Does anyons know wheter it's worth buying?
              Reprinting of "Rebirth" is the best news in months. It's probably the first case of a prozine story being reprinted on the basis of the story inself, instead of its author's fame. For a long time, that was my favorite of all stf. yarns, although I think I know better today, and even at this late date, the thought of ten thousand words of previously unpublished text sets the arteries to quivering, or whatever arteries are supposed to do. As long as the two-bits edition publishers are turning to stf., they ought to take up the marvellous opportunity presented by Laurence Manning's Stranger Club stories. A collection of them would make a real book!
              Very interesting, incidentally, is the way the publishers openly call "Rebirth" any "escape" novel on the cover blurb. It's an excellent indication of the changing trend of thought and opinion in this country; "escape" literature two years ago was frowned upon almost as much as people who didn't believe in peace-time conscription.
               May Larry's intentions to get the mailings out on time be crowned with bliss!

Saving...

months and months of strenous work by the old NFFF Planning Committee never got any suggestions even as far as a fanzine's pages. Obviously, the NFFF can't possibly be sponsoring a Fancyclopedia, Directory of Fandom, Great Bib, microfilming, Perdue's history of the future, Rosenblum's organized system of book reviewing, the Swischer check-list, and a dozen things of similar scope, all to the oncest. Which means that there is really nothing to prevent you or merfrom ground breaking on these things, until such time as they can be taken up in an orderly way. That Great Bib, for instance. We have no coordinator, no plan of action, not even a systematic idea of what we want in this line. But if some of us, for instance, should feel in the mood, we could very profitably spend some time going over our own particular fields of interest, nothing down the most vital facts on white paper, and putting said white paper where we can find it again if need arises. If I don't happen to have any particular field of knowledge about a certain author or magazine, I could still do a lot of valuable pioneer work by extracting all pertinent facts from my fanzine files. Some of them, like the otherwise excellent Stardust, would contain little or nothing of this sort of value; The Reader & Collector, on the other hand, has had an immense quality of Bibworthy material in almost every issue. With activity of this sort going on for a year or two, a good start would already have been made on the project by the time the NFFF disposed of more pressing matters and turned attention to it. The chronology of tomorrow might very well be worked on more intensively, and be published in a slightly more practical form than the printed card system, which is theoretically swell but apt to prove rather slow work. I'm pretty sure Elmer would give any FAPA member the chance to use his research work, and mimeograph the facts, as many pages per year as needed. The sheets wouldn't be stapled, and new ones could be inserted in the proper place as furhter research divulged new facts. All of which will tend to help the NFFF, too; there's no telling when we'd get the Fancyclopedia done if the preliminary work hadn't already been done by Speer. Until such time as the organization is very large, rich, and strong, it will be easier to coordinate and complete work on which a start has been made than to work from scratch--and final results might prove better, too. : : : : : : Walt Liebscher and some other bibliofans don't hesitate to talk about borderline stuff, or even volumes they frankly admit aren't fantasy. Whichleads me to inquire mmm why the "Winter's Tales" by Dinessen--I hope the name is seplled right, but it's a pseudonym and so doesn't matter--didn't get any recognition in fandom. Only a couple are fantasy, strictly speaking, but all of them have a sort of other-world quality, and are aided immensely by the magnificent illustrations that appear in the original illustrations--damme, edition. The same author, I note, has a book in the Modern Library edition, "Gothic Tales", which isn't available in the local library. Does anyons know wheter it's worth buying? Reprinting of "Rebirth" is the best news in months. It's probably the first case of a prozine story being reprinted on the basis of the story inself, instead of its author's fame. For a long time, that was my favorite of all stf. yarns, although I think I know better today, and even at this late date, the thought of ten thousand words of previously unpublished text sets the arteries to quivering, or whatever arteries are supposed to do. As long as the two-bits edition publishers are turning to stf., they ought to take up the marvellous opportunity presented by Laurence Manning's Stranger Club stories. A collection of them would make a real book! Very interesting, incidentally, is the way the publishers openly call "Rebirth" any "escape" novel on the cover blurb. It's an excellent indication of the changing trend of thought and opinion in this country; "escape" literature two years ago was frowned upon almost as much as people who didn't believe in peace-time conscription. May Larry's intentions to get the mailings out on time be crowned with bliss!