ISFDB:Verification requests

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This page is for requesting editors to locate and varify dubious or missing information about particular works. For completed requests, see ISFDB:Verification requests/Archives.

Contents

Science Fiction Age January 2000

The first publication of A Place So Foreign is listed as just Foreign. Almost certainly an entry error, but bears verification? --WimLewis 01:14, 28 Mar 2007 (CDT)


Miscellaneous suspicious title pairs

I want somewhere to note down titles that look suspiciously like variants, misprints, or errors, but which I don't have the resources to investigate. In some cases it seems to me that someone will need to compare the actual text of the stories, but maybe there are other references that could explain these one way or the other.

  • Nina Kiriki Hoffman
  • P. D. Cacek
    • Metlaika vs. Metalika. I think Metlaika is probably correct, but a brief web search didn't turn up a confirmation. --WimLewis 16:18, 28 Mar 2007 (CDT) Another web search makes me think Metalica is actually the story's title! --WimLewis 00:49, 29 Mar 2007 (CDT)
  • Richard Kadrey, Goodbye Houston Street, Goodbye 46477 and Good-Bye, Houston Street, Good-Bye 58472 --WimLewis
  • Poul Anderson
  • Delia Sherman, The Crone (1999) as a poem 110384 or as a shortfiction 487061


Anderson

I rechecked "Let the Spaceman Beware" and the UK version is actually "men" rather than "man" but definitely has no exclamation mark. (A case of British reserve? ;-) )Unfortunately we're up to THREE versions now: and my verified copy is now a duplicate of Mike Christie's, although I think his is under the wrong title. BLongley 05:49, 9 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Beyond Fantasy & Science Fiction #1, April/May 1995

Would anybody happen to have a copy of Beyond Fantasy & Science Fiction #1, April/May 1995 handy? I don't have it in my collection and the data that Brin1 recently entered differs from the Locus Indes record in various subtle ways. Unfortunately, Brin1 doesn't seem to be aware of the ISFDB Wiki (has anybody had contact with him/her?), so any help would be appreciated. Ahasuerus 20:21, 31 Mar 2007 (CDT)

Nebula Award Stories 6

Could somebody please check if the original 1971 hardcover edition of Nebula Award Stories 6 includes Sturgeon's "The Stars Are the Styx" (1950)? I am 99% sure that it's an error, but would like physical verification before we nuke it. Thanks! Ahasuerus 16:16, 7 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Also, if somebody has the 1971/1973 UK hardcover/paperback reprints of this book, could you please check whether Thomas D. Clareson's essay is called "Science Fiction and Literary Tradition" (which is the title that was used in the US editions) or just "Preface"? TIA! Ahasuerus 00:29, 8 Apr 2007 (CDT)
1973 paperback Panther edition says on page 11:
 Foreword
 
 Science Fiction and Literary Tradition
 
 Thomas D. Clareson
 Professor of English, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio

Contents page just says: 

 FOREWORD    11
    Thomas D. Clareson

BLongley 18:29, 27 Dec 2007 (CST)


Psi High and Others

Requesting physical verification of the hardcover (1967) and paperback (1968) versions of Alan E. Nourse's Psi-High and Others aka Psi High and Others. Areas of interest include whether "Mirror, Mirror" was reprinted under that title or under its original title, "The Mirror", as well as other visible discrepancies between the editions. I have the hardcover version in my collection, which I will be able to check in late April, so the paperback edition is a higher priority. TIA! Ahasuerus 00:46, 12 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Resolved issues archived. -DES Talk 07:26, 11 Feb 2008 (CST)

Turns out that I have both the hardcover and the paperback editions in my collections, so I was able to compare them side by side. There are no hyphens anywhere that I could find, although my hardcover copy is missing the dustjacket. I wonder if that's where the hyphen came from? I have also confirmed that "The Martyr" was first published as "Martyr" in Fantastic Universe January 1957 and created a variant title relationship. I will e-mail Bill Contento witt the corrections.
Finally, I used Jon Warren's paperback guide to confirm that the Ace paperback was published in 1968. Now, if somebody happened to have a copy of the 1968 Faber edition (hardcover, I believe), we would be all set :) Ahasuerus 20:13, 28 Apr 2007 (CDT)


Amazing Stories, Fall 1998

Can someone identify the exact title of the James Tiptree, Jr. story in this issue of Amazing? In the ISFDB listing it's shown as "Please Don't Play With the Time Machine." It's reprinted in the collection Meet Me at Infinity with as "Please Don't Play with the Time Machine, or, I Screwed 15,924 Back Issues of Astounding for the F.B.I." I need to create a variant title if the two are actually different. Mhhutchins 16:34, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

FWIW, the Locus Index lists the Amazing story as "Please Don’t Play with the Time Machine" and the Meet Me at Infinity story as "Please Don’t Play with the Time Machine, or, I Screwed 15,924 Back Issues of Astounding for the F.B.I". Ahasuerus 16:58, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)


Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories

Could anyone who may have this collection check to see whether the story "The Devil, You Say?" has quotation marks surrounding the title in this publication? Thanks. Mhhutchins 18:15, 14 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Help With Two Artist Signatures

If someone could please check out the two artist signatures on the cover of The Dragon Issue #27 at, http://nightmare.org/dnd/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=10389 and tell me if you recognize who either of the two artist signatures in the lower corners belong to. One is PS and the other TC. Thanks. CoachPaul 22:23, 20 Apr 2007 (CDT)

A/The Wish for Smish

Requesting physical verification of the David Gerrold story A Wish for Smish. The Locus Index lists it as "The Wish for Smish" in the table of contents of Aladdin: Master of the Lamp (1992) while OCLC's WorldCat lists it with an "An". It was apparently reprinted in 2005 in Alternate Gerrolds, which we also list, but neither Locus nor OCLC has anything on it online. Ahasuerus 20:32, 21 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Anvil title check 3

One more. Is Ghost Fleet in The Stars Around Us Ghost Fleet or The Ghost Fleet as it is in Analog Feb 1961 and The Trouble with Aliens? Dana Carson 21:30, 24 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Harry Turtledove's A Different Flesh

Is their any evidence (internal or otherwise) that this edition of Turtledove's collection is different from the first edition (which I have verified)? Locus, who is usually pretty good at indicating revisions, doesn't mention it. Mhhutchins 18:11, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Checking my catalog, I see that the notion that the 1994 edition was different comes from John Wenn's bibliographies, which are usually as reliable as Locus (if not more so) when it comes to minor textual variations. I have the 1988 paperback edition in my collection, but not the 1994 reprint, so if anybody could do physical verification of the latter, it would be much appreciated. Ahasuerus 18:19, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)
I have just verified the 1994 Baen pb ed of A Different Flesh. The contents, and indeed the pagination, are identical to the 1988 ed, and there is no claim of new copyright or mention of revision on the copyright page. It looks to me as if the only difference is the format, the price, and the cover art. -DES Talk 18:25, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Mainly in Moonlight by Nicholas Stuart Gray

Mainly in Moonlight by Nicholas Stuart Gray was originally subtitled "Ten Stories of Sorcery and the Supernatural" yet various online sources list 12 (!) stories. I wonder if it started out as a collection of 10 stories and then 2 more were added in a later edition? If anybody has a copy, could you please check what it has? Ahasuerus 21:13, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)

An update: Some online libraries suggest that the 1967 Meredith edition had only 10 stories while the 1979 reprint by Faber contained 12. Ahasuerus 21:30, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)
FWIW, my 1979 Faber Fanfares edn (with 12 stories) states, on the copyright page, that it was first published 1965 by Faber & Faber. Thus, it may be that the 10 story edn has actually dropped 2 stories! (A quick skim of the 2 dropped/extra stories indicates that they might not fit a "sorcery & the supernatural" theme.) --j_clark 18:57, 29 Dec 2007 (CST)
Thanks! Could you please Verify the edition when you get a chance? Ahasuerus 19:48, 29 Dec 2007 (CST)

Deals with the Devil ed Mike Resnick

Does anybody have this anthology or rather it's probably single publication? There's quite a mess now: the title has two publication entries, but for the same ISBN/data. The second is taken from http://www.locusmag.com/index/t284.html#A29440 and notes that "existing pub looks suspiciously bad": it contains only about 2/3 of the stories. I've submitted delete of that one, but changed my mind and didn't approve it yet. After all, there are more mysteries around: Locus1 counts (and lists) "36 stories", but the cover as well as Library Journal annotation at Amazon says 32... So I'd be more satisfied if somebody could check it physically. --JVjr 07:31, 17 May 2007 (CDT)

None of the people that have verified DAW books have this. One AbeBooks seller has a list of stories, says there are 32 and provided the following list. I have no idea if the dealer entered this or copy/pasted from another source. I added the numbering as there are 34 stories (?) and the order of the stories is what the dealer used. Note that there are several misspellings in this list and so it's quite likely it was hand-entered by the dealer.
  1. A Later Date by Jack C. Haldeman II
  2. Winter by Michelle Sagara (in dealer's subject line but not story list)
  3. Pitch by Jane Yolen
  4. Red Heart by Terry McGarry
  5. Another Damn Deal by Dean Wesley Smith
  6. Discounts by Jack Dann
  7. Seminar From Hell by David Gerrold
  8. Confessional by Laura Resnick
  9. The Ultimate Complment by John C. Bunnell
  10. For Value Recieved by Lawrence Watt-Evans
  11. Jealous Gods by Kristne Kathryn Rusch
  12. Bargaining Chip by Esther M. Friesner
  13. The Turning Test by Anthony R. Lewis
  14. Infernal Dramnation by Jack Nimersheim
  15. Rent-To-Own by Mark C. Sumner
  16. The Easy Way Down From Avernus by Dave Smeds
  17. Small Print by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon
  18. Stanley the Eighteen Percenter by Mike Resnick
  19. Good Night, Duane Allman by George Alec Effinger
  20. Moishe in Excelsis by Barry N Malzberg
  21. Nobody wins in a deal with the Devil by Brian M Thomsen
  22. Mending Souls by Judith Tarr
  23. Just Do It by Nicholas A DiChario
  24. A Deal is a Deal by Marie A. Parson
  25. Good Intentions by Charles Von Rospach
  26. Passion for the Souls Below by Barbara Delaplace
  27. Not Just another Deal by Pat Cadigan
  28. Devildeal by Robert Sheckley
  29. Free Will Baby by Janni Lee Simner
  30. Dealer's Choice, Frank M Robinson
  31. Jelly Reds by John Lutz
  32. A Girl for Ronald by Jeff Wallmann
  33. The Hack by Loren D Estleman
  34. To Walk the Earth by Thomas Sullivan
Marc Kupper (talk) 22:30, 17 May 2007 (CDT)
Correction - I was comparing the dealer's list [1] against ISFDB and see that it's missing Winter but... the dealer stuck that in the title of the listing meaning there are 34 stories! In diffing this list vs. ISFDB I see that the dealer did not list these stories
  • The Party of the First Part
  • Connections
That gets us up to 36 stories but maybe the dealer would be willing to verify your ISFDB page. I would delete the pub listing with 21 stories as whoever entered the second one must have also recognized that the first looked bad but chose not to delete it. One final note on this is I did this Google search and it only found ISFDB ver-1 pages implying an edition with 21 stories was not published. It is a pretty random mix of missing stories though.
I found another TOC [2] that also has 36 stories and enough small typographical changes that it's probably not a copy/paste. Worldcat also lists 36 stories. It's possible the following stories are not titled exactly as listed in ISFDB:
  • The Turing Test - several sites list this as The Turning Test
  • Stanley, the Eighteen-Percenter - several sites list this as Stanley the Eighteen-Percenter
Marc Kupper (talk) 23:15, 17 May 2007 (CDT)
I don't have this anthology in my collection either, but I would be inclined to go with the Locus Index and WorldCat (note the spelling of Jeff Waldmann's name as per Locus). Ahasuerus 02:02, 18 May 2007 (CDT)

Okay, I deleted the incomplete publication, the rest will have to wait for the Singularity. (I suppose The Turing Test is correct and non-sf readers mistyped it as "Turning"; and a comma is an easy thing to leave out in titles). --JVjr 08:28, 21 May 2007 (CDT)

That "existing pub looks suspiciously bad" comment makes me think it was me that added the pub from Locus, but I can't for the life of me remember WHY. :-( I don't have a copy, so presumably one of the entries cropped up in something else I was looking at at the time. BLongley 13:29, 21 May 2007 (CDT)
Ah, yes, the "good" data was from me. I'm not going mad after all. (Well, not madder, anyway.) BLongley 15:46, 1 Jun 2007 (CDT)


Judith Merril The Year's Best S-F 10th Annual Edition 1965

I'm looking for any and all editions except the Dell #8611 $0.75 US edition. Is the story by José Maria Gironella titled, "A Red Egg", or "The Red Egg"? CoachPaul 17:03, 8 May 2007 (CDT)

Book Club editon is "The Red Egg" on copyright page, TOC, and story page.--Swfritter 19:02, 8 May 2007 (CDT)
The db had this story as "A Red Egg". That's now two pubs that have it as "The Red Egg". If we can come up with a third "The", is that enough to officially change both that are currently listed as "A" in the db? CoachPaul 23:59, 8 May 2007 (CDT)

Beyond the Farthest Star

Can someone check if the Del Ray editions from 1992 pb and tp contain both Beyond the Farthest Star and Tangor Returns. The trade edition may not exist according to the notes. Dana Carson 18:41, 15 May 2007 (CDT)

I don't have this story. While the notes for BYNDTHFRTH1992 says "Just 9 Google hits for the ISBN (often with different year), unknown to Locus, may be spurious." I believe it exists. 1) Locus often does not list later printings. 2) Bookfinder dug up 29 listings and AbeBooks has eight with some of them appearing to be for 0-441-05658-X. One confusion is that 0-441-... is an Ace ISBN but some listings say Ballantine. Amazon.com 044105658X and www.amazon.ca list it as Ballantine (Nov-1992). I believe the Ace printing history would be
  • Ace F-282 1964 1st
  • Ace 05651 1969
  • Ace 05652
  • Ace 05653 1973 Rare
  • Ace 05654 1973 Rare - $1.25 cover
  • Ace 05655 1975 (0441056555 found on 3 pages)
  • Ace 05656 1979 (0441056563 found on 41 pages)
  • Ace 05657 Not used - 0441056571 not found either
  • Ace 05658 1979 (044105658X found on 5 pages - some sites say this is the 7th printing but I believe it's the 8th)
  • Ace 05659 Not used - 0441056598 not found either
Marc Kupper (talk) 01:25, 16 May 2007 (CDT)
Thanks. I can use that to fill in some more entries. According to the copy I have.
  • First Ace Printing June 1964
  • Second Ace Printing October 1969
  • Third Ace Printing December 1972
  • Fourth Ace Printing December 1973
  • Fifth Ace Printing April 1975
  • Sixth Ace Printing July 1976
  • Seventh Ace Printing January 1979
and the seventh entry you have matches the number SBN mine which lists seventh as its last entry Dana Carson 05:50, 16 May 2007 (CDT)

Ron Goulart's "Odd Job #101"

I was verifying this collection when I noticed that there was a variant spelling of the title story. The title "Odd Job No. 101" is already in the ISFDB but with no publications. The copyright page of the collection states the following: ©1974 by Mercury Press...from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Locus gives the first publication as simply "F&SF, 1974" (but also incorrectly gives the title of the story and collection as "Odd Job No. 101".) I physically checked every issue of F&SF from 1974 (and into 1975), but no story by Goulart appears. Thinking it may have been pseudonymously credited, I also checked the first line of every story to see if any matched the story as published in the collection. Still, to no avail. Ray Lovell's excellent bibliography of F&SF gave no further insight. Does anyone have any idea how to resolve this? Could the story have been purchased by F&SF and not published because the collection came out before Ferman could find a slot for it? I'm baffled, and because this has taken more than an hour out of my life, I can't give up now. Mhhutchins 15:37, 16 May 2007 (CDT)

Sorry - I've read Odd Job #213 (also by Goulart) but don't have #101 and also recall wasting some time trying to figure out #101. As far as I could tell, he does not use pseudonyms (other than perhaps ghost writing for William Shatner) and also did not write anything for F&SF in 1974 [3]. I see that you verified the collection Odd Job #101 And Other Future Crimes and Intrigues ODDJOB1975. What does the copyright/acknowledgments page say for this story? The other option is to e-mail him via something like [4] though my experience is that while authors are happy to get mail many don't seem to keep copies of every publication their stuff appeared in. Marc Kupper (talk) 16:47, 16 May 2007 (CDT)
Oops - I was just re-reading your original question and see you already noted what the copyright page says. This is speculation but I'm assuming F&SF agreed to publish the story but never did and somehow it fell into the cracks. What's the date of the publication? I see references to "Scribner, 1974" in places that don't seem to be based on Amazon.com (which has 1974 though I just sent in an update on this). Does your copy say 1974 wrt the publication itself or maybe the confusion was caused by the 1974 date for the story story? Anyway - it seems the canonical, and perhaps only name for the ss, would be whatever is used in the collection though you might as well add a title note explaining that while sources such as the copyright page of the "101" collection state the first appearance was in F&SF 1974 that it seems the story was never printed in F&SF and that you inspected all of the 1974 and some 1985 issues. Marc Kupper (talk) 17:43, 16 May 2007 (CDT)
FWIW, I have seen books with obvious errors on the copyright page. I wonder if this is one of those errors that Contento and others later copied? Ahasuerus 18:51, 16 May 2007 (CDT)
The collection has no formal statement of publication date. Only a ©1975 by Ron Goulart. The Library of Congress Catalog Card Number is 74-10853. Both would indicate that the book was published either very early in 1975 or, even more likely, December of 1974. WorldCat gives a 1974 publishing date. I've made notes in the title data for both the story and the collection. Mhhutchins 19:18, 16 May 2007 (CDT)
Checking the full Worldcat record, I see the following: "Year: 1974, ©1975; Entry: 19740603". The latter suggests that the book was entered in OCLC in June 1974, which may indicate delayed publication. I will consult Reginald-1/3 on Saturday to see what he has to say. Ahasuerus 15:18, 21 May 2007 (CDT)

World's That Weren't

There are two book with that title [5] and one by Laura Anne Gilman that was in twice that I just merged. However she does not have it listed on her site and if you check on Amazon they have the first one listed with her as one of the authors. She is not in that book. Is the second book a mistake or was she the editor? Dana Carson 05:06, 20 May 2007 (CDT)

According to the Locus list of Awards, she edited the anthology, but I can't find any evidence of her involvement elsewhere. Can we send her an e-mail and ask? Ahasuerus 15:01, 21 May 2007 (CDT)
OK. I'll do that. Thanks. Dana Carson 16:58, 21 May 2007 (CDT)
We could do with clearing up the Gillman/Gilman issue too. There's still a stray reference to Gillman. BLongley 17:29, 21 May 2007 (CDT)
I cleaned up her biblio a bit, but, of course, there are links that lead to other link that lead to other links... Ahasuerus 18:26, 21 May 2007 (CDT)
Yeah, that's why I wander off and neglect moderating duties at times... e.g. I've spent 4 happy days so far looking at what THIS pub led me to - and I only plan on checking the relevant half! BLongley 18:37, 21 May 2007 (CDT)

The Analog Anthology #1: Fifty Years of the Best

Can anybody Verify that this title exists on the Title Page of a Publication and not just on the cover? I have two editions of this pub, and neither Printing has "The Analog Anthology #1: Fifty Years of the Best" on the Title Page? There is more discussion of this on my Talk page and on the Talk page of Ahasuerus. CoachPaul 22:05, 22 May 2007 (CDT)

I only have the "Fifty Years of the Best Science Fiction from Analog" edition, so I don't have anything to add to the title issue, but I noticed in my copy that the Heinlein story (-And He Built a Crooked House) does not have quotations around it, the way it was shown in the contents of that pub. I changed that pub, and made it a variant of the more usual title ("-And He Built a Crooked House"). Do your other editions have the quotation marks as part of the title?Jefe 13:10, 30 May 2007 (CDT)

Alan Dean Foster's "Mission to Moulokin"

Does anyone have a copy of this publication http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?MSSNTMLKNN1981 and if they do can they verify the printing date, ISBN#, price & country printed US or Canada.Kraang 22:08, 26 May 2007 (CDT)

I have just verified this publication, which looks like either the same or a very similar pub. The one I verified was "Manufactured in the United States of America". -DES Talk 20:31, 10 Feb 2008 (CST)

The 1976 Hale edition of Nova 1

We have verified two US (1970-1971) editions of Nova 1 so far and found a few errors in the Contento record. According to Contento, the 1976 Hale hardcover reprint dropped 3 stories, so I have created a Variant Title for it, but it would be nice to have it physically verified if anybody has a copy.

Also, this is an original anthology, but the copyright page says:

Copyright @ 1970 Harry Harrison, "Mary and Joe" by Naomi Mitchison Copyright @1962 by Naomi Mitchison Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Incorporated.

Any ideas where this story may have been first published? Her biblio page at Feminist SF simply says "(1962) reprinted in Harry Harrison's Nova 1 (1970)". Ahasuerus 23:24, 27 May 2007 (CDT)

This is still bugging me. The Sphere 1975 paperback repeats the "'Mary and Joe' copyright Naomi Mitchison 1962" claim, and The Year's Best Science Fiction No. 4 says it's copyright Harry Harrison 1970, reprinted by permission of the author, first published in Nova 1. It's a shame she died so young, or I would have asked her. BLongley 19:00, 27 Dec 2007 (CST)

Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories, June-July 1931

I have entered both issues of "Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories" into the database, but I only have the first issue. I was able to recreate the contents of the second issue using Day's Index and online sources, but if somebody happens to have a physical copy, could you please verify No. 2? Admittedly a long shot, what have we got to lose? :) Ahasuerus 00:55, 28 May 2007 (CDT)

van Vogt volunteer verifiers vanted

(Sorry, had to use the German accent to keep the alliteration going... ;-) ) No particular publications in mind yet, but after the first 10 entries I've made, it seems clear this author needs some work. Anyone else want to work on this (suspected) creator of the "fix-up novel"? BLongley 19:00, 29 May 2007 (CDT)

I've already verified the few books of his that I have in my collection. Knowing how the ISFDB doesn't deal well with fix-ups, I pass on your request to help clean up his page. And then to try to straighten out which stories were written, whether collaborative or only credited, by him and Hull, hell, hit's horrible! Mhhutchins 19:08, 29 May 2007 (CDT)
Considering current cowardice, collection completed conspirator-less. ;-) BLongley 18:24, 30 May 2007 (CDT)
Seriously though - I'll have to do another pass to finish off the cover-art at least, wave the Clute-Nicholls wand over it, and then do some major merges and note-making - so even if I'm going it alone some more verifications will help. BLongley 18:24, 30 May 2007 (CDT)
Actually, even some more NOTES will do... from my recent experiences, the notes about prior publications in my pubs may give more clues than what we have here already. If you've got a pub with a bibliography in, I'd be interested in what those say especially - scan and send if you'd rather not tackle it. BLongley 17:56, 31 May 2007 (CDT)
I have about 75 van Vogt volumes in my collection, which includes almost all of his fiction sans a few textual variations. I don't have The Misfit Press's "The Enchanted Village" from 1979 or his non-fiction. Unfortunately, access is still a problem :( It would probably work best if other editors finished their collections first and I would fill in any remaining lacunae later. Ahasuerus 21:14, 31 May 2007 (CDT)
Would be happy to help. If you have any questions about my verified publications let me know. As for Laumer could you look at the collections only and verify the ones i've done from Contento. For the unverified ones that have wrong stories just change them, i'll fix the variants as i work title by title. Once the titles in the collections are correct it should be easier to fix the variants and there order.Thanks:-)Kraang 21:29, 31 May 2007 (CDT)
Well, I feel thoroughly unqualified to deal with this now. I think I've improved what we have here somewhat, but in my searches I've encountered several people that already know more accurate publication dates, have more cover-art, know of more foreign editions, can put Artists to uncredited publications, etc. Only one has considered becoming an editor here so far, but I've left notes on everything I have, and provided links to several other excellent sites and established contacts with their owners. BLongley 18:02, 6 Jun 2007 (CDT)
I'm a bit of a butterfly that wants a new thrill, so I'm going to take a break on this and do something productive but different. There's a lot of "copy-and-paste" work still to do with the sites I found, so feel free to take that on. I'll have another look at Laumer, but Kraang and Ahasuerus seem to have that covered pretty well already. Maybe I'll just go find another set of specialist sites for another neglected author... BLongley 18:02, 6 Jun 2007 (CDT)
My van Vogt collection is limited and at a hard-to-reach spot at the moment. Here's the data from my db which does not map perfectly to ISFDB but should be recognizable. If one of more of these looks like a "must have" in terms of getting entered/verified I'll dig the books up. Mission to the Stars probably has a price but I must have picked up the book before I had the price column in the db.
TitlePublisherFirst-PrintPr.Print-dateCatalog #/ISBNBarcodePriceBindingPages
Earth Factor XDAW BooksAug-19761Aug-1976DAW UY1249; On Amazon at *0879972491None1.25MM Paperback174
The House that Stood StillPaperback LibraryNov-1965n.p.n.d.Paperback Library 52-873 50¢; On Amazon at *B000B8314INone0.50MM Paperback159
Mission to the StarsPocket BooksOct-1977n.p.n.d.0-671-81451-6None-MM Paperback174
SlanNelson Doubledayn.d.n.p.n.d.Book Club edition with no coding; On Amazon at *B000BMTXA0NoneNoneHardcover176
The Weapon Shops of IsherAce Booksn.d.n.p.n.d.SBN 441-87855-060; On Amazon at *B000ETNFTUNone0.60MM Paperback155
Marc Kupper (talk) 03:29, 14 Jun 2007 (CDT)

New Worlds December 1959

Robert Silverberg story - 'Appropriations' or 'Appropriation'. A story under the second title appeared in May 1959 Satellite and Locus lists the second spelling.--swfritter 15:47, 6 Jun 2007 (CDT)


Agog! Ripping Reads

Requesting physical verification of Agog! Ripping Reads. An Amazon.com review claims that there are 22 stories in the book, but WorldCat lists 23 entries, one of them seemingly uncredited/unknown. I suspect that it's either an introduction or a data entry error, but it's hard to tell sight unseen. Ahasuerus 23:28, 19 Jun 2007 (CDT)

World's Wackiest Upper Atmosphere is listed as World’s Wackiest Upper Atmosphere Re-entry Disasters Dating Game on most sites. That will get the # of titles to match.
The real hassle is
  • Andrew Macrae's Truckdreamin - Some sites list this as Truck Dreamin
  • David Kane's Very Like a Whale - Some sites list this as Blubberguts
  • Jason Nahrung's Pain Threshold - Some sites list this as The Pain Threshold
  • Anna Tambour's See Here, See There - Some sites list this as See Here See There
  • Simon Brown's Along came a spider - Some sites list this as And Down Came a Spider
This is just stuff I noticed when looking over contents lists! I did not bother with firing up diff. Sorry, I don't have a copy and have no idea which titles are correct. Marc Kupper (talk) 02:14, 20 Jun 2007 (CDT)

The Once and Future King

I've had more trouble with T. H. White and Ted E. White tonight than I had over the entire X-files Universe at the weekend. :-( Still, after learning that Novel to Omnibus conversions need a manual Omnibus entry adding afterwards to get them visible, I think it's mostly OK now. But anyone with The Once and Future King, or even better, sightings of The Queen of Air and Darkness (NOT the Anderson one!) or The Ill-Made Knight or The Candle in the Wind would be very welcome to reassure me I haven't messed up a classic! BLongley 18:45, 25 Jun 2007 (CDT)

Don[ald [J.]] Pfeil

Any physical verifications welcome - I've massaged the three variations together and found a few cover pictures, but own precisely none of his works. (Unless he's got another pseudonym apart from the "William Arrow" that started it all.) BLongley 07:04, 1 Jul 2007 (CDT)



Colonial Survey / Planet Explorer / The Planet Explorer / Planet Explorers

I am verifying my Murray Leinster collection at the moment. After reviewing various records in the Locus Index and the ISFDB, I sent an e-mail to Locus and Contento, which said, in part:

...the Locus Index (http://www.locusmag.com/index/b295.html#A4080) lists the title of the 1989 Bart reprint of Leinster's "Colonial Survey" (aka "Planet Explorer") as "Planet Explorers". I don't have the Bart edition, but according to OCLC and various online catalogs, the title used by Bart was "Planet Explorer", not "Planet Explorers". Could the extra "s" be a typo?
Also, the "Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections" states (http://contento.best.vwh.net/t63.htm#A1375) that the Avon paperback edition (T-202, 1957) was called "The Planet Explorer". I have checked my copy and the title is "The Planet Explorer" on the cover and on the spine, but it's "Planet Explorer" on the title page, which would be the same as the title used by Bart as per OCLC.

Would anybody happen to have a copy of the 1989 Bart edition to see whether the title is Planet Explorer or Planet Explorers? TIA! Ahasuerus 21:45, 28 Jul 2007 (CDT)

UK editions of Asimov's Rest of the Robots

Can anyone verify the contents of these two editions: Grafton, 1986 and HarperCollins, 1994? They're both only 200+ pages so it's doubtful that they include the eight stories AND two novels of the original 1964 edition. Contento says they're reprints of the 1964 edition. In the US, all paperback editions dropped the 2 novels and are either 159 or 192 pages. Thanks. Mhhutchins 08:50, 29 Jul 2007 (CDT)


The SFBC edition of Michael P. Kube-McDowell's Alternities

I have physically verified the SFBC edition of Michael P. Kube-McDowell's Alternities, which, naturally, doesn't state the publication date or price. The Locus Index is no help in this case since they apparently didn't see this edition. Would anybody happen to have access to the SFBC catalogs for 1988-1989 so that we could determine the date and the price? I have a few years worth of their catalogs, but nothing from the late 1980s. TIA! Ahasuerus 16:47, 30 Jul 2007 (CDT)

Middle 'M' Muddles

A couple of authors I've been verifying recently are in a bit of a mess. (Not entirely down to me, I assure you!) "Esther Friesner" seems to be the most common variation now but "Esther M. Friesner" is canonical so far. And a lot of "Brian M. Stablefords" were under "Brian Stableford". After noticing this, I checked "Iain M. Banks" - which is mostly OK so far, but if so then we could be a bit more definite about "Nongenre" works. Anyway, I'm not asking for sightings of Isaac M. Asimov or Robert M. Heinlein, but if anybody has some Friesner or Stableford works they can verify, please do, and hopefully we can settle on a canonical name before someone has to go do all the variant-making and fixing. Ta muchly! BLongley 17:02, 31 Jul 2007 (CDT)

(Oh, and if anyone can explain THIS attribution, feel free!) BLongley 17:02, 31 Jul 2007 (CDT)

Poul Anderson, The Warriors From Nowhere

In Agent of the Terran Empire Ace, 0-441-01066-0 it's The Warriors From Nowhere. In the other four publications of that title it's Warriors from Nowhere. Can someone with one of those pubs please check. The Coronet edition was verified by Mike Christie, I'll ask on his talk page also. Thats a British edition, so I'd still like to know about the other US editions. Dana Carson 22:40, 13 Aug 2007 (CDT)

I have the same Coronet edition as Mike (I hope, as I've just added the cover-art to his verified pub), and it's definitely "Warriors from Nowhere" on first page of story, and on the copyright page. There is no contents page. Copyright page also confirms it's a variant of "The Ambassadors of Flesh". BLongley 13:15, 14 Aug 2007 (CDT)
I've also taken the liberty (but asked afterwards) of correcting "Honourable Enemies" back to the British spelling that edition actually has. BLongley 13:17, 14 Aug 2007 (CDT)
Before I make that pub any messier - the same copyright page says "Hunters of the Sky Cave" was published in shorter form as "A Handful of Stars" in Amazing Stories, and reprinted in Ace as "We Claim These Stars!". So that would make it a "Novel" type, as you already have it, Dana - but it's Shortfiction for the other pubs with entries so far. Any other sightings of the variant claims? BLongley 13:31, 14 Aug 2007 (CDT)
I confirm that it is "The Warriors from Nowhere" in the 1980 Ace pb, and that the copyright page of that ed mentions earlier printings both as "Warriors from Nowhere" and "The Ambassadors of Flesh", and also the different past titles of "Hunters of the Sky Cave" as given above. -DES Talk 17:33, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

The 1990 expansion of The Puppet Masters

Would somebody happen to have the 1986 Del Rey reprint of Heinlein's The Puppet Masters? According to OCLC, it's 347 pages long and has the same ISBN as the 1990 restored/expanded version, which is only 340 pages long. As noted in this rec.arts.sf.written message, it looks suspicious since previous paperback reprints had been around 175-220 pages, but the OCLC record was created in 1987 and there are over 100 libraries that claim that they have a copy. A physical verification would be great! :) Ahasuerus 00:45, 19 Aug 2007 (CDT)

Astounding Science Fiction, 1959 - May-July US versions, and August-September British version

My copy of the British magazine is a weird one. Rather than go with the same contents as the May 1959 US edition, it has the the "right" contents page but instead has all 3 parts of "Dorsai!" plus a couple of fragments from the June/July stories/essays on the reverse of some of those pages. I'd normally assume someone had decided to vandalise three issues to create a one-volume "Dorsai!": but

  • the contents page (despite listing everything apart from Editorial and Dorsai! incorrectly) does mention that there were going to be no September or October issues due to a printer's strike
  • Visco seems to confirm there were no British editions those months
  • the page numbers for parts 2 and 3 don't match the ones from the US issues

Which leads me to the conclusion that unless the US edition page numbers are wrong, there were no other printings for an individual to use to create such a Frankenstein volume, and this must have been the publishers rushing to bodge together a readable if confusing issue to cover the gap. Or perhaps there were Canadian or Australian or New Zealand editions with those page numbers and mine is a unique creation by an individual? Any sightings of Dorsai! in Astounding welcome, to help me get rid of this headache! (Have I mentioned recently how much I hate doing Magazines?) BLongley 14:43, 19 Aug 2007 (CDT)


The Magic White Suit / The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit

Rudam and I can only can only track this back to references to "The Magic White Suit, Saturday Evening Post, October 4 1958" but due to a load of internet clutter around the play and film, we're not too sure about this reference. Does anyone have a reliable SEP reference site? (Or even better, a physical copy under this title?) BLongley 14:29, 7 Oct 2007 (CDT)

Locus online database.--swfritter 20:20, 7 Oct 2007 (CDT)
I was hoping for a Non-Genre reference site e.g. it's easy enough to verify anything in Playboy at a site that has no reason to propagate SF Urban Legends, if they turn out to be such. Still, The FictionMags Index says it's been confirmed on ebay, and sure enough there's enough current listings there that I can be quite confident of this date. But if anyone does find a good online complete index to the SEP, drop me a line. I find ebay dangerous to go near. ;-) BLongley 13:29, 9 Oct 2007 (CDT)

Jim Baen's Universe, February 2007

There are several essays in this issue which are untitled, and one is written by "Written by Barry N. Malzberg" (and that's not a Gene Wolfe recursive title!) Can anyone straighten this out? Mhhutchins 14:37, 8 Oct 2007 (CDT)

I entered all the Baen's Universe data. 'February 2007' is the actual title given for the articles. As for the Malzberg - that can happen when with electronic editions. A little too much of the old copy and paste. I've been waiting for them to post the downloads for the latest issue before I make a final pass through the mags I've entered in the last week. They have never-ending serials and I am still trying to decide whether to treat them as serials or short stories in a series.--swfritter 17:42, 8 Oct 2007 (CDT)
Thanks. I was checking on a Malzberg title and noticed that strange byline. Mhhutchins 17:59, 8 Oct 2007 (CDT)

"Anita Hijja"?

This is not exactly a verification request, but I am not sure where else to post it. I entered my Edmondson paperbacks over the weekend and was puzzled by the 1980 Ace edition of The Man Who Corrupted Earth, which had been previously verified by Dana Carson. Here is the note that I added to the record: "The cover art is not credited and the signature on the cover is very small and almost illegible. The artist's first name is almost certainly "Anita" and the last name looks like "Hijja"." Any ideas who that might be? Anybody have a copy and a really good magnifying glass? :) Ahasuerus 20:56, 5 Dec 2007 (CST)

I've run across a cover artist with a similar name "Atilla Hejja"[6]?Kraang 22:15, 5 Dec 2007 (CST)
That's it, I knew it looked familiar! :) BTW, we have records for "Attila Hajji", "Attila Heja", "Attila Hejja", "Attila Hejji" and "Atila Hega". Could the verifiers please take a closer look at the signatures and see if we can standardize this poor guy's name? I'll check my verified pubs on 2007-12-29. Ahasuerus 22:41, 5 Dec 2007 (CST)
It looks like "Attila Hejja" on my "Space Colony", and sure enough Google seems to confirm that as the official name. And sadly, that he passed away 3 months ago. BLongley 13:30, 6 Dec 2007 (CST)
Yes, that's what it looks like. And we need to add "Atilla Hejja" (note that Kraang's link above leads to "Attila" rather than "Atilla" Hejja) to the list of misspellings. Ahasuerus 13:49, 6 Dec 2007 (CST)
If anyone needs a comparison, I've uploaded a sample sig image . BLongley 14:51, 6 Dec 2007 (CST)
I think one of the problems with this name is it's easy to misspell. It's easy to type in one "t" when it should be two, and if copying the name from a cover the misspellings would be even worse. In conclusion what I'm getting at is that some of these variants may only be mistyping a name from a copyright page or a misinterpretation of a signature on a cover.Kraang 19:03, 6 Dec 2007 (CST)
Oh, I am sure that the "variants" are just typos, but it's possible that some of the typos were publishers'/printers' and not our editors'. Editors are human too :)

Science Fiction Omnibus (1952) with story by Krepps/"St. Reynard"

The db shows that "Five Years in the Marmalade" was reprinted in Science Fiction Omnibus as by "Geoff St. Reynard" the pseudonym under which it was originally published. It was published as Krepps in The Best Science-Fiction 1950. Since SF Omnibus reprints this anthology, why would it change the authorship credit? Mhhutchins 13:12, 15 Dec 2007 (CST)

Other Worlds, March 1951

Should the story in this issue by Charles Tanner (and its accompanying art) be titled "Angus MacAuliffe and the Gowden Touch" or "Angus MacAuliffe and the Gowden Tooch"? The MIT Index has the second spelling. There is also a reprint with the second spelling. Mhhutchins 10:15, 16 Dec 2007 (CST)

Right you are. Fixed and merged. Thanks. The Other Worlds entries were created from scratch so any and all errors are the responsibility of yours truly. No plausible deniability.--swfritter 14:01, 16 Dec 2007 (CST)

Alfred's Ar[c/k]

Could somebody with access to New Worlds SF, May 1965 please check if Jack Vance's story was "Alfred's Arc" as we currently claim or "Alfred's Ark" as the Contento Index and the Locus Index claim? TIA! Ahasuerus 19:23, 17 Dec 2007 (CST)

Enterprise 2115

I acquired the large paperback book recently, and now I suspect that the hardcover version we record doesn't exist. Does anyone know if Merit published hardbacks, or can someone check the usual references to see if a hardcover edition was entered in error? BLongley 17:26, 21 Dec 2007 (CST)

It exists alright, have a look at this [7],it even comes with a nice scan.. :-)Kraang 21:46, 21 Dec 2007 (CST)
Yep, that looks a lot harder than mine. I guess my tp was the missing edition after all - and now I've wondering if that should be 1957/58 due to the review date... BLongley 05:44, 22 Dec 2007 (CST)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season One Vol. 1

Is Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season One Vol. 1 really listed as having Buffy The Vampire Slayer as the author? Dana Carson 04:15, 23 Dec 2007 (CST)

This publication is volume 1 in a 2 volume set reprinting the following Buffy scripts:
Volume 1:
  • Welcome to the Hellmouth
  • The harvest
  • Witch
  • Teacher's pet
  • Never kill a boy on the first date
  • The pack
Volume 2:
  • Angel
  • I robot, you Jane
  • The puppet show
  • Nightmares
  • Out of mind, out of sight
  • Prophecy girl
OCLC (record 49011769) attributes all of them to Joss Whedon (b. 1964), but I don't know how individual scripts are credited within the book itself. The description posted by the Library of Congress is the usual publisher-provided fluff and doesn't help. However, Buffy is a very popular franchise, so I am sure there is something on the Net (Wikipedia?) about it. Ahasuerus 13:47, 23 Dec 2007 (CST)
Yes, Wikipedia has them all. BLongley 13:58, 23 Dec 2007 (CST)

Andrew Masterson's "Last Days [etc.]"

Masterson/Masterton ... There are various places in the Internet indicating that the author is Masterton (especially of the 2000 publ.). All the research I've done (National Library of Australia, British Library, World Cat, Fantastic Fiction, covers on various amazons) seems to indicate that the 2 publs of Last Days currently on ISFDB are printed as Masterson. From my research, it seems to me that the error has come from the publisher's database or similar. (Both the Andrew Masterson titles that are in ISFDB were Masterton until today. I have a copy of the other title, which also refers to Last Days so I'm confident it's the same author. Does anyone have a copy of either publ. of Last Days to physically check, please? --j_clark 18:12, 29 Dec 2007 (CST)

The Pale Invaders - G. R. Kesteven or Kestavan or even Crosher!

Anyone got this by any variation? So far I've only found a Kestavan picture and a Kesteven review... BLongley 15:41, 31 Dec 2007 (CST)

I have a Knight Books/Hodder & Stoughton pb 1979 edn by G. R. Kesteven, copyright 1974 ("First published by Chatto & Windus"), which I'll add in due course. ISBN 034020480X.
In "About the Author" it says "... He ... published thirty stories under his real name, G. R. Crosher."
British Library has Kesteven, G.R. for the 1974 edn. --j_clark 20:23, 31 Dec 2007 (CST)
I have finally added my 3 G. R. Kesteven publications. (2 of Awakening Water - different publishers; 1 of Pale Invaders). All 3 say © G.R. Crosher. All use Kesteven (not Kestevan) on the cover & title pages.--j_clark 07:16, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

The two Michael Carrolls

I am not sure where to post this, but we have a single biblio for Michael Carroll, which covers two separate people who happen to share the same name. Most of our records are for Michael Carroll the artist, but we also have one or two that need to be moved to "Michael Carroll (Ireland)". The latter has been fairly prolific under his own name and as "Jaye Carroll" since turning pro in 1999 -- see his Wikipedia article and his official Web site. I am busy doing verifications this week, so if anybody has a little free time, feel free to tackle the hydra :) Ahasuerus 15:18, 1 Jan 2008 (CST)

"Sir Mallory's Magnitude" by S. D. Gottesman

We have two records for this pseudonymous story. One of them is a variant title pointing to C. M. Kornbluth while the other one points to Frederik Pohl. Could someone with access to His Share of Glory please check the attribution? "S. D. Gottesman" was mostly used by Kornbluth alone, but sometimes it was used when he collaborated with other people, so we will want to make sure before we merge these titles. TIA! Ahasuerus 16:08, 1 Jan 2008 (CST)

If nobody else answers, it's in the mail. I have been meaning to order this book for a long time.--swfritter 17:28, 1 Jan 2008 (CST)
The collection includes only stories that Kornbluth wrote without a co-author. Here is the listing for Into the Fourth Dimension and Other Stories at Locus online.--swfritter 22:52, 8 Jan 2008 (CST)


Tom Deitz Worldwright/Wordwright

I just noticed that Tom Deitz' book Wordwright contains the title Worldwright. Looks like "Word" (no L) is the correct one, but can anyone verify?

I don't own it, but the cover looks clear to me. And the few sites with "Worldwright" seem to be using our data. Someone here seems to be half-fixing titles - correcting title but not pubs, or vice versa. :-( BLongley 14:08, 3 Jan 2008 (CST)

Would it be worth having a script check for NOVELs containing a single title whose name is not a simple prefix of the pub's name?

Eventually: sometimes the pub title is a subset of the title title, sometimes vice versa. Usually series names added to one or the other. There's a lot to sort out, see my script for duplicate ISBNs that tried to eliminate such similarities. BLongley 14:08, 3 Jan 2008 (CST)

The Machine-God Laughs

Could somebody with ready access to Reginald-1 please double check that The Machine-God Laughs (1949) was anonymously edited by William L. Crawford? TIA! Ahasuerus 22:07, 7 Jan 2008 (CST)

And while we are at it, any idea who (if anyone) edited "Empire of Dust and Gifts of Asti"? I set it up (earlier tonight) as by Basil Wells and "Andrew North" (aka Andre Norton) whose stories this obscure anthology collects, but there may have been an actual editor, for all we know. Ahasuerus 00:38, 8 Jan 2008 (CST)


Amazing Stories, July 1948

Would anyone who has this issue check to see if the story "Myatery of the Midgets" was written or "A. K. Jarvis" or "E. K. Jarvis"? Thanks. Mhhutchins 09:36, 23 Jan 2008 (CST)

It's "A. K. Jarvis" in TOC and on the title page. I suppose we could make it pseudonym of the house name E. K. Jarvis, <ha, ha>--Rkihara 16:04, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1979

Alibrarian is currently MIA and I won't have access to my collection until mid-February. Could somebody please check whether Joanna Russ' review in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1979 spells Le Guin's name "LeGuin"? TIA! Ahasuerus 23:06, 30 Jan 2008 (CST)

I was advised, when a review in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Winter 1977 used the spelling "LeGuin" that i should nonetheless record it under "Le Guin". Or if there are several reveiwers uising this spelling do we want to recognize it? -DES Talk 10:58, 31 Jan 2008 (CST)
It is spelled "LeGuin" in the review.Don Erikson 13:10, 1 Feb 2008 (CST)

The Incompleat Enchanter

Reposting from Clarkmci's Talk page:

The second submission would make the 1979 The Incompleat Enchanter into a variant tile of the 1941 The Incomplete Enchanter, but they currently have different title types: one is a novel and the other is a collection. I think it would be best to first determine whether we want to consider this work a fixup novel or a collection of two novellas and then create a variant title relationship. The Notes field currently says "This story, in a somewhat different form, appeared in the May,1940, and August,1940, issues of "Unknown"", which suggests a fixup, but I vaguely recall that the differences between the magazine versions and the book publication were minimal. I can't check at the moment since I don't have access to my collection, but perhaps somebody else could. Let me post this question over on the Verification board and see if anybody may be in a position to help us. Thanks! Ahasuerus 23:16, 5 Feb 2008 (CST)

More detail on my 1979 Sphere pb ...
It does say: Copyright © 1975 by L. Sprague de Camp near the top of the copyright page. (plus a 1975 copyright for the preface)
In the middle of the copyright page, it says: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: THE INCOMPLEAT [sic] ENCHANTER (including The Roaring Trumpet and The Mathematics of Magic) Copyright © 1941 by Henry Holt and Company. A somewhat different form of this novel appeared in the May and August 1940 issues of Unknown, Copyright © by Street & Smith, Inc.
Despite the use of the word "novel" above, it has a Table of Contents which lists ...
Book One
The Roaring Trumpet

Book Two
The Mathematics of Magic
as well as a title page before each "book" in the text. That is why I put it as a Collection. What do you think? --j_clark 20:03, 8 Feb 2008 (CST)
I can try to pull out my Unknowns when I (briefly) have access to my collection in mid-February and compare the texts, but my "collection time" is at a premium at the moment and comparative text analysis can be rather time consuming. Any other ISFDB editors with an Unknown collection or at least superior Google-fu skills (which may enable us to find a pre-existing analysis of the stories)? Ahasuerus 23:54, 8 Feb 2008 (CST)
I have read the doubleday versiuon. i never read the original Unknown versions, but I recall reading an account of the creation of thsi series. My memory is that it indicated that there was little if any change from the Unknown publication to the book versions. The book versions read like separate episodes in a continuing series of stories,m and the first one is compelte in itself as it stands, but open for the sequel. On the other hand this is sometimes true of chpters/episodes in a story never published separately. Clerly this is a "fixup", whether we cvall the result a novel or a collection. If we had "relationship support" I would be inclined to call it a novel, because it reads like a single, albiet epidodic, work in book form. As it is, i think a good case can be made for calling it either way, assumign that a check does indicate that the text changed little from the original publication. -DES Talk 10:09, 9 Feb 2008 (CST)


Keith Taylor's Bard series - Subtitle of Bard IV

Does anyone have a copy of the original 1987 Ace edition for Bard IV? If so, would you please check whether the subtitle is Raven's Gathering or Ravens' Gathering.

This has come up because the 1990 Headline (UK) edition has the sub-title as Ravens' Gathering. Further, some sites have the cover for the Ace edition as being the same as the Headline cover, but list the title as Raven's .... Thanks --j_clark 01:53, 10 Feb 2008 (CST)

The Great Fetish

I'm entering De Camp when found the Pocket edition of De Camp's The Great Fetish has been verified. I have a problem with Steele Savage as the cover artist. It doesn't look much like his work and the signature is all wrong. And this book came out 10 years after he died. And I don't know who the artist is either. I try not to change a verified entry only on circumstantial evidence. Maybe some knows better than I. Don Erikson 13:30, 10 Feb 2008 (CST)

Damon Knight's Orbit 11, 1972 or 1973?

There's a conflict in the publication date of this anthology. There are two OCLC records: the first one outright states the date is 1973; the second one gives the copyright date as 1972, but no publication date, leading one to suspect that the book came out in December with a January publication date. Contento gives it a 1973 date. Here's the strange part: it was the January 1973 selection of the SFBC. Strange because that's unusually close to the Putnam trade edition (if it was released in December 1972) where there's normally several months before the book club edition is made available. Even stranger, in the contents listings you'll notice that the stories are evenly split between 1972 and 1973. This was an original anthology, so they all have to have the same publication date. Can anyone shed light on the situation? Mhhutchins 16:34, 12 Feb 2008 (CST)

Something else: the gutter code of the SFBC edition is C49, meaning it was printed (not published) the first week of December 1972. Mhhutchins 16:38, 12 Feb 2008 (CST)
Well, I have Orbit 11 in my collection and can verify it on Saturday, but I am not sure how much that will help, especially if it's the SFBC version. Ahasuerus 17:27, 12 Feb 2008 (CST)
Either date would be fine with me, as long as we have all stories the same date! Mhhutchins 18:10, 12 Feb 2008 (CST)
Turns out that my copy was published by the SFBC as well and I don't even have the dust jacket :( The copyright page says "Copyright 1972" and the gutter code is the same as stated above. FWIW, Contento lists Orbit 11 as a 1973 book. I wonder if Putnam and SFBC decided to do a simultaneous publication as an experiment or due to some unusual circumstances? Ahasuerus 16:43, 17 Feb 2008 (CST)

Tyrant of Time

Anybody happen to have Lloyd Arthur Eshbach's Tyrant of Time handy? Contento lists it as The Tyrant of Time, but OCLC, all of our Review records and every online bookseller that you can find thinks that it is just Tyrant of Time. I have a copy, but I can't check it until mid-March at the earliest. Ahasuerus 00:19, 22 Feb 2008 (CST)

For what it's worth, Tuck lists it with the "The", and it appears that the title novella is also "The Tyrant of Time". MHHutchins 22:26, 25 Feb 2008 (CST)
Thanks, this makes sense since much of Contento's original data came from Tuck. I'll check my copy on the 15th, although it occurs to me that there may be a discrepancy between the dust jacket and the title page and I think my copy is dj-free. <frown> Ahasuerus 00:20, 26 Feb 2008 (CST)

Ellison & Cover's anthology Best of the New Wave

I'm working on the Bluejay Books list and looking for proof that this title exists. The ISBN falls in with Bluejay's numbers, but it shows St. Martin's was the publisher of both editions. Neither the title nor the ISBN is listed in OCLC, and Locus1 shows no record as well. The ISBNs of both hc and tp return very few hits on Google. Look at the dates of publication: trade paperback in 1986 and hardcover in 1987. Strange. I'm convinced this is a phantom title. Can anybody corroborate? Thanks. MHHutchins 20:57, 25 Feb 2008 (CST)

It's hard to prove a negative, but a search of about 300 US and Canadian libraries returned 0 matches. Google found a grand total of 4 matches at 2 sites, including BookFinder, which is notorious for keeping vaporware titles in its database. Christopher Priest once compiled an impressive collection of anecdotes about Ellison and vaporware titles as part of his LDV investigation, but I don't recall whether Best of the New Wave was one of them. Ahasuerus 21:57, 25 Feb 2008 (CST)

SFBC ads in 1953 magazines

A big favor to ask of anyone who has issues of US magazines from early to mid-1953: Can you check to see what books were being offered to inaugurate the Science Fiction Book Club? There was a list of twelve selections on a rec.arts.sf.written posting that I used to create the 1953 SFBC selection list , all but one verified by Tuck: L. Sprague de Camp's Rogue Queen. Not only does Tuck have no record of it, OCLC shows no record, and there are no dealers on abebooks.com offering a book club edition of this title. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. MHHutchins 20:04, 29 Feb 2008 (CST)

Just happen to have my Astoundings handy.
  • June, 1953: Sands of Mars, Needle, The Stars Like Dust, Double Jeopardy, Takeoff, The Puppet Masters.
  • July, 1953: Takeoff, Omnibus of SF, Sands of Mars, The Currents of Space, West of the Sun, Double Jeopardy.
  • August, 1953: West of the Sun, Astounding SF Anthology, Omnibus of SF, The Mixed Men, Player Piano, The Long Loud Silence.
  • September, 1953: Astounding SF Anthology, The Puppet Masters, Sands of Mars, The Martian Chronicles, The Mixed Men, Omnibus of SF, The Long Loud Silence, Player Piano, Currents of Space.
  • October, 1953: Long Loud Silence, Omnibus, Player Piano, Takeoff, West of the Sun, World Out of Mind.
  • November, 1953: World Out of Mind, Astounding, Omnibus, Long Loud Silence, Player Piano, West of the Sun.
  • December, 1953: Puppet Masters, Omnibus, Astounding, This Island Earth, The Second Foundation, Ring Around the Sun.--swfritter 20:31, 29 Feb 2008 (CST)
Galaxy: First ad is in September 1953. Same titles until February, 1954 when Costigan's Needle, Lights in Sky Are Stars, and The Syndic show up.--swfritter 20:43, 29 Feb 2008 (CST)
Great! They seem to be following the list with a few exceptions: The Stars Like Dust, The Illustrated Man, and The Day of the Triffids are missing. There's one that wasn't on my list: Conklin's Omnibus (which I will add.) Does the first ads appear in June? I know that March was the official launch month, but I assumed that they had some selections already in the pipeline to create a catalog. And they'd have to advertise before March as well. Can you check some of the early 1953 issues? MHHutchins 20:48, 29 Feb 2008 (CST)
Looked earlier, even inside. Of Course, the June issue would have been on sale in the first part of May and I would imagine the deadline for ads probably would have been earlier than that in order to meet production deadlines. The first ad for Amazing was in the August issue and F&SF. which sucked because the prior two issues they reprinted the cover art on the back cover without any text. No new titles in those mags.--swfritter 20:55, 29 Feb 2008 (CST)
Yeah, those ads on the backs of the digests of the 70s (when I started reading the mags) were ubiquitous (and cheesy as hell!) I overlooked your listing of The Stars Like Dust, which leaves Illustrated Man, Triffids and Rogue Queen not