SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

April 30, 2019 by Gary Price

Duke University’s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Acquires Locus Science Fiction Foundation, Publisher of Locus

April 30, 2019 by Gary Price

From Duke University Libraries News:

The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University has acquired the archives of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation, publisher of Locus, the preeminent trade magazine for the science fiction and fantasy publishing field.

The massive collection—which arrived in almost a thousand boxes—includes first editions of numerous landmarks of science fiction and fantasy, along with correspondence from some of the genre’s best-known practitioners, including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Octavia E. Butler, William Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon), Dean Koontz, Robert A. Heinlein, and hundreds more.

[Clip]

Over the course of five decades in print, the magazine’s editors and staff have collected and saved correspondence, clippings, and books by and about science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers. What emerges from this trove of material is a tapestry of a diverse and thriving community of writers, publishers, and editors, all working to create new and modern genres of speculative literature.

[Clip]

Of the magazine’s original three co-founders—Charles N. Brown, Ed Meskys, and Dave Vanderwerf—only Brown remained after the magazine’s first year. He would continue to edit the publication until his death in 2009, earning the magazine some thirty Hugo Awards in the process and becoming a colorful and influential figure in the publishing world. A tireless advocate for speculative fiction, Brown was also a voluminous correspondent and friend to many of the writers featured in the magazine. Many of them wrote to him over the years to share personal and professional news, or to quibble about inaccuracies and suggest corrections. The letters are often friendly, personal, humorous, and occasionally sassy.

Reacting to a recent issue of Locus that featured one of her short stories, the science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler wrote, “I am Octavia E. Butler in all my stories, novels, and letters. How is it that I’ve lost my E in three places in Locus #292? Three places! You owe me three E’s. That’s a scream, isn’t it?”

One also finds frequent remembrances and retrospectives of departed members of the Locus community, such as Ursula K. Le Guin’s poignant reflections on the passing of Philip K. Dick. After Brown’s own death, the magazine continued publication under the auspices of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation, a registered nonprofit. The magazine launched a digital edition in January 2011 and has published both in print and online ever since.

In addition to the correspondence, story drafts, and other manuscript material, the collection includes some 16,000 rare and noteworthy monuments of science fiction and fantasy from Brown’s extensive personal library, such as first editions of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, J. R. R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and hundreds more.

[Clip]

The collection is already being used in courses at Duke. This semester, English professor Michael D’Alessandro brought his class on utopias and dystopias in American literature to the Rubenstein Library to examine some of the Locus materials first-hand.

Read the Complete Blog Post

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Awards, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, News, Publishing

SHARE:

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent Articles on LJ

Delaware to Expand Statewide Telehealth Program | ALA Annual 2022

Tour de France: A Watching, Reading, and Listening Guide | Your Home Librarian

After the MLIS

Proud Boys Disrupt Drag Queen Story Time at San Lorenzo Library

Certified Sustainable | Sustainability

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

Not Real News: An Associated Press Roundup of Untrue Stories Shared Widely on Social Media This Week

From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were ...

Journal Article: "Public Libraries as Community Health Partners"

The article linked below was recently published by Certified Public Manager® Applied Research Title Public Libraries as Community Health Partners Authors Melinda HodgesLibrary Director, Buda Public Library, City of Buda ...

University of Cincinnati: Lori Harris Named Interim Dean and University Librarian

From the University of Cincinnati: Lori E. Harris has been named interim dean and university librarian of the University of Cincinnati Libraries effective July 1, 2022. Harris initially joined the ...

New Research Article: "How Policies Portray Students: A Discourse Analysis of Codes of Conduct in Academic Libraries"

The article linked below appears in the July 2022 issue of College & Research Libraries. Title How Policies Portray Students: A Discourse Analysis of Codes of Conduct in Academic Libraries ...

Florida International University (FIU) Launches Open-Access Forensic Research Library

From FIU Announcement: Florida International University (FIU) has launched a first-of-its-kind resource for forensic science practitioners, students, researchers, and the general public. The Research Forensic Library provides access to thousands ...

"Book Banning and the First Amendment" (Video Recording of a Freedom Forum Event)

The video recording of Freedom Forum event about about book banning and the First Amendment was recorded at the Library of Congress on June 21, 2022. The discussion features: Suzanne ...

Educopia Partnering with Curtin University and OAPEN to Create a Community Governed OA Book Analytics Service for Publishers

From an Educopia Announcement: With more than AUD $1M in support from the Mellon Foundation, we at Educopia are excited to be working with collaborative partners at Curtin University  and ...

Just Released: U.S. Copyright Office Publishes Report on Copyright Protections For Press Publishers

From the U.S. Copyright Office: On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Copyright Office published a report titled Copyright Protections for Press Publishers. At the request of Senators Leahy, Tillis, Cornyn, ...

U.S. Census Releases 2021 Population Estimates: Nation Continues to Age as It Becomes More Diverse

From the U.S. Census: The last two decades have seen the country grow continuously older. Since 2000, the national median age – the point at which one-half the population is ...

Vision 2030: Library and Archives Canada Releases New Strategic Plan

From the LAC Website: Following two years of consultations, reflection and work, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has unveiled its strategic plan, Vision 2030, defining the institution’s goals until 2030 ...

Journal Article: "The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case Studies of Long-Term Infrastructure Work"

The article linked below was recently published by the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). Title The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case ...

Library Futures Releases Policy Statement and Draft eBook Legislative Language: Mitigating the Library eBook Conundrum Through Legislative Action...

From a Library Futures Post by Kyle Courtney and Juliya Ziskina: Library Futures is excited to announce that we are launching our policy statement on eBooks. Current eBook licensing practices ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW INFODOCKET ON TWITTER

Tweets by @infodocket

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.