Six Science Fiction Archives from Mark Funke Bookseller

Mark Funke Bookseller is offering a most unusual catalogue. The title is Science Fiction Archives. It consists of six archives from collectors, editors, publishers and writers in the field of science fiction. It affords an opportunity for science fiction collectors to obtain substantial material in the field at once. The final archive is absolutely mammoth in size. Even the catalogue itself is substantial, 130 large (9x12) pages of detail describing the collections. Here are the archives you will find in this catalogue.

Terry Carr Archive. Terry Carr (1937-1987) was an editor, publisher, and author. He worked at Ace Books from 1964-1971, after that becoming a freelance editor until his death in 1987. As an editor of both books by new authors and anthologies of work by the greatest science fiction writers, he was thoroughly immersed in the field. Carr commissioned William Gibson's first work, Neuromancer. Gibson later wrote there would have been no Neuromancer without Carr. While records when working with publishing houses remain with them, his papers from his times in freelance from 1970-1987 are contained in his archive. The archive includes Carr's Hugo awards, the highest award for science fiction writing and publishing. 6 linear feet.

Carol Carr Archive. Carl Carr, né Newmark (1938-2021) was someone who could provide insightful analyses to writers. She wrote several short stories herself. Her connection with science fiction was solidified by her marriage to Terry Carr. They were married until his death in 1987. In 2000 she remarried another figure in science fiction, Robert Lichtman, and they were together until his death in 2021. She and Terry Carr carried on an expansive correspondence with Philip K. Dick, most of the letters being from her. Most are ones she wrote to Dick, which might seem odd that she has them, but she asked them to be returned so they could be published in Terry Carr's fanzine Innuendo. There are some from Dick in return but she sold many of those earlier to a bookseller. 2 linear feet.

Robert Lichtman Archive. Robert Lichtman (1942-2022) became interested in science fiction, and with it fanzines, as a young man. He published his first fanzine in 1958 and in 1983 started Trap Door, a fanzine that continued until 2018. Along the way he developed a collection of tens of thousands of fanzines and won numerous Fanzine Activity Achievement Awards (FAAns). His fanzine collection is offered as a separate item. Lichtman was divorced from his first wife in 1980 and in 2000 remarried Carol Carr. They were together until her death in 2021. 9 linear feet.

Boyd Raeburn Archive. Boyd Raeburn was a Canadian fanzine writer who was active in the Toronto Science Fiction Society, familiarly knows as the “Toronto Derelicts.” He is credited with revitalizing the society and was well-known in fanzine collecting circles. This archive contains much correspondence of the society along with manuscripts and photographs from 1952 to the mid-1960s. 0.625 linear feet.

Redd Bogs Archive. Dean Walter “Redd” Boggs (1921-1996) was a fanzine writer, editor, and publisher. Working first from Minneapolis and later Los Angeles, he is credited with raising the standards of fan writing. He edited the 1948 Fantasy Annual, later publishing fanzines Sky Hook and Discord. The archive includes much in the way of personal correspondence along with documents, manuscripts, and publications. 1 linear foot.

Robert Lichtman Science Fiction Fanzine Collection. Robert Lichtman (1942-2022) has appeared on the list of archives available (above). This is his monster collection. In 1961, L.D. Broyles described Lichtman in Who's Who in Science Fiction Fandom as a collector of fanzines of the present and past, owning a number of hard-to-get runs and whose “purpose in collecting fanzines is mostly an archivist.” Lichtman was 19 years old at the time. He would continue to collect for another 60 years. That is a lot of collecting time. Funke says that this “world famous” collection is, “to our knowledge, [the] world's largest science fiction fanzine collection outside of institutional holdings.”

Lichtman meticulously catalogues his collection. His list contains 15,187 fanzines from over 3,000 different publications. Funke has reproduced those listings, all 70 pages of them, in this catalogue. No guesswork is required. However, in the later years of his life, Lichtman did not keep up with his cataloguing, though he kept on collecting. There are 29 boxes with uncatalogued items. All told, there are around 20,000 fanzines, give or take 5%, contained in 108 boxes. Funke adds that he removed nothing from the collection and he believes this is the entirety of what Lichtman collected.

Among the uncatalogued fanzines, of which Funke estimates there are around 5,000, are a 1960s 'zine with dozens of photographs pasted in (apparently of subscribers), The Thing published in Tokyo, Sept. 1936 fourth anniversary issue of Fantasy Magazine, complete 30 issues of the Philip K. Dick Society Newsletter, the “Ron Elik zine collection” (one full box), a box marked “secret APA. Big Deal” with hundreds of fanzines with very small circulations, including one with a distribution list of 21 people, another of only 18. There is also a group of historic indexes. Among the 5,000 uncatalogued fanzines, Funke estimates 1,000 are from the 1930s-1950s. The entire collection runs 108 linear feet.

Prices are available on request. Inquiries can be made at the phone number or email address below.

Mark Funke Bookseller may be reached at 206-632-1535 or mark@funkebooks.com. Their website is found at www.funkebooks.com.