KALEIDOSCOPE (1961)

You read in yesterday's blog about how Chalker toyed with names for his new magazine finally coming up with Mirage. This was his second issue.

Seller states: KALEIDOSCOPE. 1961 fanzine from Jack Chalker includes a story "The Doom That Came to Sarnoth' by H.P. Lovevcraft, plus "Conspiracy Out of Dorwich" by Howard St.John, editorial by Chalker, and a letter column. Cover portrait of Lovecraft by Dave Porsser.

More: http://jophan.org/mimosa/m20/chalker.htm

Interesting coincidence in early 1960's Baltimore

I was perusing some of my old blog entries (yes Chrispy uses them, too, heh) and saw an interesting coincidence of Chalker reusing artwork.



This is said to have been VOLUME 1 NUMBER 2, FANTASTIC, ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL with a provence of (1960) a published amateur fiction magazine by Chesapeake Publications, Baltimore, Maryland of 32 pages including cover. Editorial by Jack L. Chalker. The Doom that Came to Sarnath by H.P. Lovecraft, Centaur: A Cleaning up, Conspiracy Out of Dorwich by Howard St. John, artwork by Phil Harrell, Prosser, Donald Studebaker, publisher.


Compare that to the pale cover of Kaleidescope:



Yes, virtually identical even to the contents. Obviously the art has been reproportioned on the green covered fanzine, and it appears that the art is rougher on the green colored fanzine.

Lovecraft's Legacy (1966)

There seems to be no end to the thousands of items of Lovecraftiana one can collect. This one is a 1966 Arkham compilation with a Fritz Leiber, some HPL poems, and a story by Derleth taken from some Lovecraft notes. C M Eddy has stories, and Jack Chalker has a bibliography. I actually ran into several Chalker paperback novels at the used bookstore, so he was pretty prolific for a long while with his own books. It's nice to know a SF writer was an HPL fan.

I think I've covered virtually every year since HPL's death on his "Legacy" now and it shows the trajectory that occurred in fandom. Derleth was behind much of it. His hand is often seen in anthology inclusions of HPL's work. The fanzines are a different trajectory, but they always intersect with "mainstream" HPL work that Derleth and Arkham initiated. Certainly Carter and Leiber and de Camp and others worked independently with their own energy and passion to preserve HPL's legacy.

Donald Wolheim, Duane Rimel, Stuart David Schiff, Jack L Chalker, Sam Moskowitz, and so many others also - at one time or other - took turns promoting HPL through the fan magazine approach. I've included many examples through the years of these fanzines as they leave one collector's hand and move to another, to be unseen for many more years.

Collects previously unpublished stories, poetry and articles that Lovecraft wrote, and also some pieces about Lovecraft written by others. Issued in 1966. First edition. A touch of soiling to the page edges from handling, and a few rubbing spots on the jacket all we can see in the way of defects, and the jacket is NOT clipped.

Mirage #9 1970

MIRAGE #9 1970. 42 page hectographed fanzine published by Jack L. Chalker, who later founded Mirage Press and somewhat even later became a popular science fiction author in his own right. Nonfiction includes “Prolegomenon to a Constitution for the Planet Mongo” by John Boardman (a detailed article on Flash Gordon’s adopted world), a checklist of the unpublished works of David H. Keller by Paul Spencer and “The Necronomicon: A Bibliography” by Jack L. Chalker and Mark Owings. Back cover detached but present, otherwise a Very Good copy. There is no reserve on this item. Thank you. CFM Books, Charles F. Miller, Publisher, Inc.

Lovecraft's Legacy: 1970 (Mirage 9)

MIRAGE #9 1970. 42 page hectographed fanzine published by Jack L. Chalker, who later founded Mirage Press and somewhat even later became a popular science fiction author in his own right. Nonfiction includes “Prolegomenon to a Constitution for the Planet Mongo” by John Boardman (a detailed article on Flash Gordon’s adopted world), a checklist of the unpublished works of David H. Keller by Paul Spencer and “The Necronomicon: A Bibliography” by Jack L. Chalker and Mark Owings.

Lovecraft's Legacy: 1970 (Mirage #9)

MIRAGE #9 1970. 42 page hectographed fanzine published by Jack L. Chalker, who later founded Mirage Press and somewhat even later became a popular science fiction author in his own right. Nonfiction includes “Prolegomenon to a Constitution for the Planet Mongo” by John Boardman (a detailed article on Flash Gordon’s adopted world), a checklist of the unpublished works of David H. Keller by Paul Spencer and “The Necronomicon: A Bibliography” by Jack L. Chalker and Mark Owings. (Back cover detached but present, otherwise a Very Good copy. )

Lovecraft's Legacy: 1965 (Jack L Chalker)

MIRAGE ON LOVECRAFT: A Literary View edited by Jack L. Chalker.

The Anthem Series, 1965. Second printing of 300 numbered copies. 46 page softcover bound with two staples along left edge with “Autobiography: Some Notes On A Nonentity” by H. P. Lovecraft, several essays by Chalker including “”Notes on the Writing of Weird Fiction” and “Some Notes on Interplanetary Fiction,” “Notes on Lovecraft” by David H. Keller, “A Rebuttal to Lovecraft Criticism” by August Derleth and a Checklist of Lovecraft’s work. The number 245 written in ink on front cover, NOT numbered on the limitation page