Publisher:SFBC 1953-1959

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Introduction

Purpose

Because of the diversity in publisher credits, it is impossible for the database itself, with its current search engine, to generate a complete listing of the monthly selections of the Science Fiction Book Club. These pages were created to bring together from a variety of sources the information necessary to create such a list. It is not intended to replace the database or duplicate information that is easily located in the publication records of the book club editions. Efforts are being made to link the titles to the publication records, so that further publication data is only a click away.

Entry Guidelines

  • Only newly published titles should be entered into the listings. Because the book club occasionally reprinted titles (which can be identified by the gutter code in printings between 1958 and 1987) the notes column can be used to record such reprints. The only time a previously printed title should be added to this list is when a new edition is published, not a reprinting of the same edition. Evidence of new editions includes different pagination, cover artist, or the addition of new material (introduction, afterwords, etc.) and new catalog numbers (with the exception of the addition of leading "0").
  • The first four data columns are self-explanatory.
  • A column for the gutter code is included for the years 1959 through 1987.
  • From 1968 to 2001, there is a column for the SFBC identification number.
  • From 1989 to the present there is a column for the SFBC-assigned ISBN.
  • The notes column is limited to entering the following data:
    1. Unless noted, each title is a featured selection. Otherwise it is noted as an "Alternate selection."
    2. Any special edition status is noted, e.g. "First Edition", "First Hardcover Edition", "First American Edition" or "First American Hardcover Edition."
    3. Gutter codes of known reprints.
  • Most other information should be added directly to the notes field of the publications themselves.




SFBC Main Page


1953-59 1960-64 1965-69 1970-74 1975-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-93 1994 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015


Initial Offerings

The listing in this table is based on Donald Tuck's entry for the Science Fiction Book Club in Volume Three of his encyclopedia. He states that these initial offerings were special purchases of the trade editions which were made available to club members. Contradictorily, he lists book club editions of many of these titles (indicated by a link to the pub.)

Tuck also lists The Sinister Researches of C. P. Ransom by H. Nearing, an obvious error because the title wasn't published until 1954. Research of OCLC and abebooks.com dealers found no book club edition of this title. The same is true of several other titles in Tuck's listing (indicated by "No BCE found".) Double in Space by Fletcher Pratt may have been confused with his Double Jeopardy. Another questionable listing is Shadow of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer, a 1948 publication by Doubleday. The only book club edition found was for the Crime Club.

Evidence of several of the titles as book club offerings are provided by ads in various 1953 magazines (indicated by "Ads" in the notes.)


Author Title Notes
Isaac Asimov The Stars, Like Dust Ads
Nelson S. Bond Lancelot Biggs: Spaceman No BCE found
Ray Bradbury The Illustrated Man
Ray Bradbury The Martian Chronicles Ads
John_W._Campbell,_Jr., ed. The Astounding Science Fiction Anthology Ads
Groff Conklin, ed. Omnibus of Science Fiction Ads
Arthur C. Clarke Sands of Mars Ads
Hal Clement Needle Ads
L. Sprague de Camp Rogue Queen No BCE found
Theodora DuBois Solution T-25 No BCE found
Robert A. Heinlein The Puppet Masters Ads
C. M. Kornbluth Takeoff Ads
Sam_Merwin,_Jr. The House of Many Worlds No BCE found
Sam_Merwin,_Jr. The White Widows No BCE found
H. Nearing The Sinister Researches of C. P. Ransom No BCE found, see above
Fletcher Pratt Double Jeopardy Ads
Fletcher Pratt Double in Space No BCE found, see above
Sax Rohmer Shadow of Fu Manchu No BCE found, see above
A. E. van Vogt The Mixed Men Ads
John Wyndham The Day of the Triffids

1953

Year Month Author Title Notes
1953 March Isaac Asimov The Currents of Space
1953 April Edgar Pangborn West of the Sun
1953 May Wilson Tucker The Long Loud Silence
1953 June Kurt_Vonnegut,_Jr. Player Piano
1953 July William Tenn, ed. Children of Wonder
1953 August J. T. M'Intosh World Out of Mind
1953 September Raymond F. Jones This Island Earth
1953 October Clifford D. Simak Ring Around the Sun
1953 November Isaac Asimov Second Foundation
1953 December C. M. Kornbluth The Syndic

1954

Year Month Author Title Notes
1954 January Jerry Sohl Costigan's Needle
1954 February Fredric Brown The Lights in the Sky are Stars
1954 March J. T. McIntosh Born Leader
1954 April Wilson Tucker Wild Talent
1954 May Isaac Asimov The Caves of Steel
1954 June Hal Clement Mission of Gravity
1954 July Edgar Pangborn A Mirror for Observers
1954 August Anthony Boucher & J. Francis McComas, eds. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Third Series
1954 September Jerry Sohl The Altered Ego
1954 October J. T. McIntosh One in Three Hundred
1954 November Frederik Pohl, ed. Assignment in Tomorrow
1954 December Jeffery Lloyd Castle Satellite E One
1954 Harold W. Kuebler, ed. The Treasury of Science Fiction Classics Alternate selection

1955

Year Month Author Title Notes
1955 January August Derleth, ed. Portals of Tomorrow
1955 February Fredric Brown Angels and Spaceships
1955 March Judith Merril, ed. Beyond the Barriers of Space and Time
1955 April Anthony Boucher, ed. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fourth Series
1955 May Charles Eric Maine Timeliner
1955 June Richard Holden Snow Fury
1955 July J. T. McIntosh The Fittest
1955 August Isaac Asimov The Martian Way and Other Stories
1955 September Jerry Sohl Point Ultimate
1955 October Alfred Bester The Demolished Man
1955 November William Sloane The Edge of Running Water
1955 December Fredric Brown Martians, Go Home

1956

Year Month Author Title Notes
1956 January Wilson Tucker Time Bomb
1956 February Leigh Brackett The Long Tomorrow
1956 March Anthony Boucher, ed. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fifth Series
1956 April C. M. Kornbluth Not This August
1956 May Isaac Asimov The End of Eternity
1956 June Frank Herbert The Dragon in the Sea
1956 July James Blish Earthman, Come Home
1956 August Edward J. Ruppelt The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects
1956 September Frank M. Robinson The Power
1956 October Arthur C. Clarke The City and the Stars
1956 November T. E. Dikty, ed. The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 1956
1956 December Robert A. Heinlein Double Star

1957

Year Month Author Title Notes
1957 January Erik Bergaust & William Beller Satellite!
1957 February A. E. van Vogt Empire of the Atom
1957 March Anthony Boucher, ed. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sixth Series
1957 April Isaac Asimov The Naked Sun
1957 May Clifford D. Simak Strangers in the Universe
1957 June John Mantley The 27th Day
1957 July Robert A. Heinlein Time for the Stars
1957 August Chad Oliver The Winds of Time
1957 September Charles Eric Maine The Isotope Man
1957 October Isaac Asimov Earth is Room Enough Known reprint code: "18" (May 1958)
1957 November Jeffery Lloyd Castle Vanguard to Venus
1957 December Jack Finney The Third Level

1958

Year Month Author Title Gutter code Notes
1958 January Robert A. Heinlein The Door Into Summer
1958 February C. L. Moore Doomsday Morning
1958 March T. E. Dikty, ed. Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels, Ninth Series
1958 April A. E. van Vogt The Mind Cage
1958 May Anthony Boucher, ed. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Seventh Series
1958 June John Christopher No Blade of Grass
1958 July Fred Hoyle The Black Cloud 22
1958 August Charles Eric Maine The Man Who Couldn't Sleep 22
1958 September Wilson Tucker The Lincoln Hunters 32
1958 October Theodore Sturgeon A Touch of Strange 32 Trade edition gutter code "23"
1958 November Donald Cox & Michael Stoiko Spacepower: What It Means to You
1958 December H. L. Gold, ed. The Third Galaxy Reader 38 Trade edition gutter code: "18". Known reprint code: "12A" (1959)

1959

Year Month Author Title Gutter code Notes
1959 January Louis Charbonneau No Place on Earth 49 Known reprint code: "3" (1959)
1959 February C. M. Kornbluth A Mile Beyond the Moon 49 Known reprint code: "2" (1959)
1959 March Anthony Boucher, ed. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Eighth Series 4
1959 April Edmond Hamilton The Star of Life 4 Known reprint code: "A14" (later in 1959)
1959 May A. E. van Vogt Triad A13 Known reprint codes: "A18" and "A51" (both later in 1959), "B4" (1960), "D13" and "D45" (both 1962), and "E43" (1963)
1959 June Isaac Asimov Nine Tomorrows A13
1959 July Kenneth F. Gantz Not in Solitude A23
1959 August Poul Anderson The Enemy Stars A23
1959 September H. L. Gold, ed. The Fourth Galaxy Reader A31
1959 October Fred Hoyle Ossian's Ride A30
1959 November Arthur C. Clarke Across the Sea of Stars A39
1959 December A. E. van Vogt The War Against the Rull A42


SFBC Main Page


1953-59 1960-64 1965-69 1970-74 1975-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-93 1994 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015