Bequeath by Ackerman Forrest (3 results)

Stapled Wrappers. Condition: Very Good +. First Edition. 27 pp. [including front cover], plus blank rear cover. One of 500 copies [stated], this being one of the author's own copies. A listing of Forrest Ackerman's fantasy and science fiction books, accumulated 1928 to 1945, which he intended to donate to the Fantasy Foundation. As the library and ephemera grew to number in the hundreds of thousands, his plans changed; he offered them to the City of Los Angeles, which refused to accept responsibility; the German government failed to raise funds for a museum dedicated to it; and eventually the collection was dispersed in a series of public and private sales lasting over 20 years.

staple-bound Wrappers. Condition: Good. First Edition. Hollywood, CA: [published for the author], [July 4, 1946]. See scans. First Edition. Hand Annotated by Ackerman with Additions. 23 leaves, including front cover, with single-spaced text mimeographed on recto side only. (4to) 11x8½, original printed tan paper staple-bound wrappers. One of 500 copies, mimeographed by C. Everett Evans, plus additional pencil notations and check marks throughout; these add a number of titles. These insertions have undergone forensic handwriting examination and have been authenticated as having been the hand of Ackerman. Forrest J. Ackerman, a significant American Sci-Fi editor, author, and collector, a reader of the SF magazines from their inception, has been an active member of SF FANDOM from his early teenage years, and "as early as 1932 served as associate editor of The Time Traveller, the first FANZINE. For many decades thereafter he wrote stories and articles prolifically for fan journals - using his own name and a wide variety of elaborate pseudonyms, including Dr Acula, Jacques DeForest Erman, Alden Lorraine, Vespertina Torgosi, Hubert George Wells (cheekily), Weaver Wright and many others and becoming known in fan circles as Mr. Science Fiction; he won several awards for these activities, including a Hugo Award in 1953 for Number One Fan Personality. His first story was A Trip to Mars in 1929 for the San Francisco Chronicle, which won a prize for the best tale by a teenager; some of his more interesting work was assembled in Science Fiction Worlds of Forrest J. Ackerman and Friends (1969). He collected SF books and memorabilia from the very first, publishing in I Bequeath (to the Fantasy Foundation) a bibliography of the first 1300 items, and eventually housing his 300,000-item library, which he called the Fantasy Foundation, in a 17-room house in Hollywood, the maintenance of which proved difficult to manage over the years. The library was further celebrated in Souvenir Book of Mr. Science Fiction's Fantasy Museum (1978). Disposals of collectible books have been made at times; and part of the library was auctioned in 1987, grossing over $550.000. Notorious for his punning and use of simplified words, [Ackerman] is credited with introducing the term SCI FI in 1954. He was [an] agent for a number of writers, notably A.E. van Vogt. Contains many books not found in the major Sci-Fi references, including: Bleiler, Locke, Reginald, Owings & Chalker, 333 or in Day. Rare. See scans. Lg7.

First edition. Very scarce Ackerman publication, stated to be 500 copies, being a bibliography of 1300 fantasy books which he bequeaths to the Fantasy Foundation upon his demise. Ackerman began collecting at a very young age, and this bibliography represents the first tranche of items, assembled from 1928-1945. The Fantasy Foundation was a large house in Hollywood which eventually grew to include is 300,000 item collection which was eventually dispersed in a series of public and private sales over the span of 20 years. OCLC cites only 3 holdings. 11x8.5" sheets, 27pp, mimeographed rectos only and stapled along the left in printed wrappers. Few light creases, minor foxing to edge of front cover along with 5c price in crayon in center. Few pencil ticks throughout. Very good.