IF: WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION - Vol. 9, No. 1 December 1958 (Including the first publication of the Philip K. Dick short story "Hull-O")

James L. Quinn (Published by), Damon Knight, Elaine Wilber (Edited by), Philip K. Dick, Rog Phillips, R. M. McKenna et al (Contributors)

Published by Quinn Publishing Company, New York, USA, 1958

About this Item

Vol. 9, No. 1 December 1958 - American edition, printed and published in the USA, with a price of 35 cents on the front cover. This issue includes the first publication of the short story "Null-O" by Philip K. Dick, novelettes by Rog Phillips and R. M. McKenna, and four other short stories (please see scan of Contents page for a full list of the authors). ***Very good in colour illustrated paper covers, with front cover artwork by Ed Emsh. The covers have some light wear commensurate with age and handling, but are generally clean. The edges of the covers are slightly rubbed and creased, and there is some light staining to the spine. The spine is still flat with no reading creases. There is also a small pen mark to the front cover. Internally the magazine is almost near fine, with no inscriptions or annotations and no significant creases or tears - just a couple of small stain spots to the fore-edge margin of a couple of pages. Cheap pulp paper stock tanned as usual. Pages clean. Spine tight. ***186mm x 136mm. 120 pages. ***'"Null-O" is a 1958 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. It examines the concept of totally unempathic and 'logical' humans ("Null-Os") in a parody of the plot and concepts of The Pawns of Null-A by A. E. van Vogt. These beings view individual collections of matter, i.e. any object, as subjective structures and see the true state of reality as an 'undifferentiated world of pure energy'. They can also move their ears independently, giving them excellent hearing. After attaining positions of power they proceed with a plan to ultimately return everything in the universe to this state. This is to be done by the construction of successively more powerful bombs, ultimately resulting in the rather improbable 'U-bomb' that will homogenise the whole universe. The Null-O plan is halted, however, when the 'ordinary' people of the world, who have survived the nuclear destruction of Earth's surface in the shelters built by their employers, rise up in drilling machines to stop the construction of an 'E-Bomb' designed to destroy Earth, and succeed in destroying both the E-Bomb prototype and the Null-O's themselves. The idea of humans without empathy is central in Dick's later works, such as "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"? This story was initially published in IF magazine, and was later collected in "The Second Variety"'. (Wiki) ***A classic original 1950s American issue of pulp magazine IF: Worlds of Science Fiction, published in December 1958, in very good condition for its age - this issue containing the 4,000 word short story "Null-O" by Philip K. Dick. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

Seller Inventory # PB615

Bibliographic Details

• Title: IF: WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION - Vol. 9, No. 1 December 1958 (Including the first publication of the Philip K. Dick short story "Hull-O")
• Publisher: Quinn Publishing Company, New York, USA
• Publication Date: 1958
• Binding: Original Wraps
• Illustrator: Ed Emshwiller (Cover illustration)
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket, as Issued
• Seller catalogs:
  • Collectable Paperbacks
  • First Editions
  • Science Fiction