SF magazine collectors may have, or at least know of, hardbound volumes of both UK and US magazines, mostly from the 1940s and 1950s (none have yet been reported later than the middle 1960s). In my collection I have sets of NEW WORLDS (to 1963, the Nova issues before the Compact run), NEBULA, AUTHENTIC, SCIENCE FANTASY, SF ADVENTURES (the Nova one) and a broken run of US edition ASTOUNDING from the 1950s, as well as other earlier magazines. I got all these from British fan Brian Burgess in 1995 when he had to dispose of his entire collection when he was forced into a care home. He very much regretted it, which I totally empathise with as I have been an sf magazine collector since the middle 1960s; I was glad to give them a good home and they have been a constant joy to me ever since.

The thing is, no-one seems absolutely certain where these bound runs came from. Some bookdealers - who one might imagine would know - have made vague suggestions in the direction of renowned bookseller G Ken Chapman but without any real certainty. There is another real possibility, Cardiff fan FRED ROBINSON, who certainly mentioned interest in bookbinding in this fanwriting, and who had notices placed in some issues of Ken Slater's OPERATION FANTAST offering a magazine binding service. Of course no-one claims to have ever seen an indubitable Robinson product either, any more than anyone can hold up a proven Chapman, who almost certainly contracted out - perhaps to Robinson among others - if he did offfer such a magazine binding service.

If anyone knows anything about any of this please contact us HERE right away as this is something I have been asking questions and wondering about for over thirty years!

Here are some spines of the volumes easiest to hand. The typeface on all those I have - all titles - is essentially similar (I can't tell the difference anyway) and all have the single line at top and bottom of the spine. There are no other markings anywhere else, on the front or back covers, inside or out, or on any of the magazines within. The colours vary - many are in blue or black, many now faded with age. If you recognise these spines please make contact - it would be nice to know of someone else who has some (its a Kollektin-Bug thing...)