Fanzines and Debris
21 Aug, 2007
2007-8-21 6:38:17 PM UTC
2007-8-21 6:38:17 PM UTC
Two unrelated things happened at home yesterday for me. I promise that they are both at least vaguely Tolkien collecting related, really.
First, I received the first two issues of the fanzine "Eldritch Dream Quest" in the mail, and had at least a few moments to browse through them. They were published in 1960 and 1961 in the UK, and were some of the first fanzine issues ever to have a focus on Tolkien in particular (Peter Mansfield, the editor, states that he wanted EDQ to focus on Tolkien and Lord Dunsany.) Though very short lived (there is only one more issue, that I haven't seen yet) these are quite interesting and still contain some relevant information even today. It is fascinating to get a glimpse into Tolkien fandom years before the explosion both in the USA and the UK. I will post more in-depth reviews, etc. soon to the Guide database. These two issues in particular are awesome to have finally found! Now I have to figure out where to put them...
On that note, yesterday was the annual city cleanup day where I live, where we are allowed to put on the curb just about anything that needs to be disposed of (typically we can only throw away what fits in our single tiny garbage can once a week.) There are some limitations on what can be thrown out, but its pretty much a free pass. For me, I spent the weekend cleaning out the debris that had accumulated from the past year's conversion of the home office/library into a nursery for our newest family addition. Old floorboards, doors and door casings, carpet and carpet padding, scrap wood, you name it, I had to finally get rid of all the junk. This officially completes the transformation of the room. It certainly looks very nice, and we are quite happy! But now I have one less room to put anything Tolkien related... The living room (see a picture here at my collector profile on TolkienLibrary.com) is of course where everything should go, but it is a fixed space - no more room for shelves! The only other place is the garage, and it gets very hot and very cold all the time, so it is no place for anything collectible. What I need is a separate building just for Tolkien stuff! (Donations accepted...
First, I received the first two issues of the fanzine "Eldritch Dream Quest" in the mail, and had at least a few moments to browse through them. They were published in 1960 and 1961 in the UK, and were some of the first fanzine issues ever to have a focus on Tolkien in particular (Peter Mansfield, the editor, states that he wanted EDQ to focus on Tolkien and Lord Dunsany.) Though very short lived (there is only one more issue, that I haven't seen yet) these are quite interesting and still contain some relevant information even today. It is fascinating to get a glimpse into Tolkien fandom years before the explosion both in the USA and the UK. I will post more in-depth reviews, etc. soon to the Guide database. These two issues in particular are awesome to have finally found! Now I have to figure out where to put them...
On that note, yesterday was the annual city cleanup day where I live, where we are allowed to put on the curb just about anything that needs to be disposed of (typically we can only throw away what fits in our single tiny garbage can once a week.) There are some limitations on what can be thrown out, but its pretty much a free pass. For me, I spent the weekend cleaning out the debris that had accumulated from the past year's conversion of the home office/library into a nursery for our newest family addition. Old floorboards, doors and door casings, carpet and carpet padding, scrap wood, you name it, I had to finally get rid of all the junk. This officially completes the transformation of the room. It certainly looks very nice, and we are quite happy! But now I have one less room to put anything Tolkien related... The living room (see a picture here at my collector profile on TolkienLibrary.com) is of course where everything should go, but it is a fixed space - no more room for shelves! The only other place is the garage, and it gets very hot and very cold all the time, so it is no place for anything collectible. What I need is a separate building just for Tolkien stuff! (Donations accepted...
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