U of Iowa Libraries get 250,000 science fiction fanzines
Thanks to an eBay-shopping English professor, the University of Iowa has acquired more than 250,000 science fiction fanzines and almost overnight has increased its stature as a prominent science fiction research center.
The collection was assembled by Martin M. (Mike) Horvat of Stayton, Ore., a longtime science fiction fan and collector of fanzines, or zines. Rob Latham, a UI professor of English and American Studies who researches science fiction literature and its fan base, said the collection is one of the most impressive he’s ever seen, with titles from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia.
“It includes substantial runs of all major and many minor fanzines from the 1960s to the 1990s,” said Latham, who is also an editor of the journal Science Fiction Studies. “It even has legendary and relatively rare zines from the 1940s and 1950s, such as Bob Tucker’s Le Zombie and Robert Silverberg’s Starship, which are significant names in science fiction history. We also found such British, Canadian and Australian zines as Pete Weston’s Zenith/Speculation and John Bangsund’s SF Commentary.”
It’s fantastic that such a large collection is staying intact.