Call Number:

SCRC 256

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

14 linear feet (14 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Fantasy Amateur Press Association Publications, SCRC 256, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1963-2009 (inclusive)

Creator:

Fantasy Amateur Press Association

Form:

Books, Ephemera, Fanzines, Membership lists, Newsletters, Periodicals, Photocopies, Publications (documents), and Zines

Abstract:

The Fantasy Amateur Press Association or FAPA, established in 1937 by Donald A. Wollheim and John B. Michel, is the longest-running science fiction amateur press association ("APA"). APAs began in the late nineteenth century, and function by distributing "mailings" containing materials created by its members, copied (if necessary) and compiled by a central person, and then mailing the compiled submissions back out as a packet to members. Fanzines and APAs were integral to science fiction and comic book fandom. Comic book fandom in the 1960s and 1970s, especially, was largely defined by fanzines and APAs.

Membership in FAPA was originally limited to fifty, but the limit was raised to sixty-five in 1943 and has remained at that limit. In the 1950s and 1960s, the mailings were so popular that an extensive waitlist was maintained, but since the 1990s a waitlist has been unnecessary and current membership levels are around twenty-five. Well-known members of FAPA have included Robert Bloch, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Arthur Langley Searles, and Jack Speer.

This collection contains an almost complete run of issues of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association's mailings from 1963 through 2009, with a significant gap between 1967 and 1970. The mailings included The Fantasy Amateur, the Official Organ or "memberzine" of the APA, which listed the titles and author/editors of pages of the publications included in the mailing, the membership roster listing active members, and updates and reports from the APA editor. The bulk of the mailings are comprised of newsletters, zines, and other materials produced by members, and other publications, including occasional books and issues of Fantasy Commentator.

The collection is arranged chronologically.