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In 1982 the Ransom Center acquired the 3,500-volume Science Fiction and Fantasy
Collection formed by the specialist bookseller and bibliographer L. W. Currey.
The
Currey book collection emphasizes classic science fiction from 1818 (the publication
date of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) to 1919,
especially American and British interplanetary fiction (1827-1914), and American
utopian fiction (1888-1900). In addition to the book collection, the Ransom Center
acquired Currey's manuscript collection of major 20th-century science fiction
and
fantasy writers. |
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The collection is organized into three series: I. Anthologies (4 boxes, 1 galley
file), in alphabetical order by name of editor; II. Works (24 boxes, 1 oversize
box,
2 galley files) in alphabetical order by name of author; and III. Indexes (1 box),
which consists of Currey's detailed indexes to the book and manuscript collections. |
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The bulk of the manuscript collection consists of unmarked galleys or page proofs
of
science fiction anthologies and books, although it does contain a few items of
correspondence and manuscript fragments, most notably a typed draft of Ray
Bradbury's short story "The Terrible Conflagration Up at the Place." Other authors
represented include Brian Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague de Camp, Ron Goulart,
Frank Herbert, H. P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Mike Resnick, Robert E. Vardman
with Victor Milan, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. |