ISFDB:Research Assistance/Archive 01

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Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction February 1962

Could someone check the Feb 1962 issue of F&SF and see whether the title of the Avram Davidson story is ...the Alley off Eye Street or ...the Alley off of Eye Street? (WimLewis 20:36, 16 Mar 2007 (CDT))

TOC - "The Hovel on the Alley off Eye Street"

Actual title on the story (page 13) - "The Singular Events Which Occurred In The Hovel On The Alley Off Eye Street"

Swfritter 22:14, 16 Mar 2007 (CDT)

Thanks! That's even more confusing than I expected. And I'm guessing that the story The Singular Events.... is also a variant title of this same work. Should ISFDB list all these various titles (TOC plus the story itself)? My inclination would be yes, but I think I'll defer to a more experienced editor at this point.

Fantastic Dec 1977

Could someone check the Dec 1977 issue of Fantastic and see whether the Avram Davidson story is about an angry Throat or an angry Thoat? (WimLewis 20:36, 16 Mar 2007 (CDT))

The title as given in the contents page and on the story is "Hark! Was That the Squeal of an Angry Throat?" but that phrase, as quoted in the story itself (last paragraph) has "thoat" instead, which is clearly an intentional Burroughs reference (he mentions banths, too). So it looks like a misprinted title. I think we'd record this as a variant. Mike Christie (talk) 09:42, 18 Mar 2007 (CDT)

New Worlds March 1952

Since I won't have access to my collection until the end of the month, could someone please check if "The Circle of the White Horse" appeared in New Worlds, March 1952 (Vol 5, No 14 as by "Frank Edward Arnold" or as by "Francis Arnold"? According to Contento, it was eventually reprinted as by "Francis Arnold", but I'd like to double check before we create a Variant Title. TIA! Ahasuerus 14:05, 10 Mar 2007 (CST)

It was as by "Francis Arnold". Mike Christie (talk) 09:44, 18 Mar 2007 (CDT)

Thanks, I have merged/VT'd the Titles and created a pseudonym for the two forms of Arnold's name. Ahasuerus 17:32, 18 Mar 2007 (CDT)

2 Laumer stories

Could somebody with access to 1960s digests check whether "Thunderhead" appeared in the April 1967 issue of Galaxy and whether "The Last Command" appeared in the January 1967 issue of Analog? Contento and "Knight of Delusions" disagree on these points. TIA! Ahasuerus 20:54, 10 Mar 2007 (CST)

My Galaxy April 1967 issue contains "Thunderhead" Rudam 03:17, 11 Mar 2007 (CST)

Thanks! It looks like the Tor reprint was in error, probably due to some kind of curse associated with "Night of Delusions" :) Ahasuerus 13:16, 11 Mar 2007 (CST)

And "The Last Command" is indeed in Analog, January 1967, for what it's worth at this late date. Dave (davecat) 15:26, 27 Dec 2007 (CST)

It's never too late! I have updated the Note field in the story record, thanks :) Ahasuerus 16:51, 27 Dec 2007 (CST)

If September 1963

Could somebody check what this issue of If has to say about the story "The Customs Lounge" and especially its author, E. A. Proulx? The name looks like it could belong to E. Annie Proulx, the award winning writer of various non-SF books in recent years, but it doesn't seem to match her biography. Ahasuerus 02:31, 17 Mar 2007 (CDT)

Sorry, there's no bio information at all. I also checked the July issue, in case there was a note about upcoming stories, but there's no reference there either. That's a fairly uncommon name; I checked the ancestry.com listings for "Proulx" in the 1930 US census, and there are 2,163. So "E.A. Proulx" is likely to be the same person. I also posted a note to the Wikipedia talk page for Annie Proulx to see if anyone knew anything about the story. Mike Christie (talk) 09:57, 18 Mar 2007 (CDT)

According to this bookseller, it's the same person:

136. (PROULX, Annie). "The Customs Lounge" in Worlds of If, Vol. 13, No. 4. (New York): (Galaxy Publishing), 1963. A two-page science fiction story by E.A. Proulx, whose first book (nonfiction) was published in 1980 and whose first collection of fiction was published in 1988, when she was 53 years old. Pages acidifying; spine end chipped; very good in wrappers. An extremely early piece of writing by this Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author, preceding her first book of fiction by 25 years.

I guess we can document it as such in the ISFDB and change the data if new information comes up. Thanks! Ahasuerus 13:28, 18 Mar 2007 (CDT)

Nebula Award Stories 10

This pub contains "If the Stars are Gods" 505871 by "Gordan Eklund" and Benford. Can someone check whether this is a misprint or an entry error? --WimLewis 01:12, 10 Apr 2007 (CDT)

The December 1976 Berkley Medallion paperback has "If the Stars Are Gods" (capital Are) by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford. Copyright (c) 1974 by Terry Carr in the acknowledgements. If the Stars Are Gods (no quotes) by GORDON EKLUND AND GREGORY BENFORD on the title page, and GORDON EKLUND and GREGORY BENFORD If the Stars Are Gods at the head of the story on p.11

All of them Gordon, not Gordan —The preceding unsigned comment added by MA Lloyd (talk • contribs) 18:47, 9 May 2007

Miscellaneous suspicious title pairs (1)

I want somewhere to note down titles that look suspiciously like variants, misprints, or errors, but which I don't have the resources to investigate. In some cases it seems to me that someone will need to compare the actual text of the stories, but maybe there are other references that could explain these one way or the other.

• Alfred Bester, (see also User talk:Thomas conneely#Alfred Bester where I asked about this earlier)
  • "Will You Wait?" vs. "Will You Wait": resolved, it was an entry error
  • They Don't Make Life Like They Used To vs. Why Don't They Make Life Like they Used To (appears to be a variant title?) -WimLewis
    • The second one has been merged in. Ahasuerus 18:44, 5 Apr 2007 (CDT)
    • They Don't Make Life Like They Used To is a well-known, much-reprinted (and excellent) story. The title makes sense only as it is, and it's inconceivable that anybody would change it - let alone in a recent best-of collection. See http://www.locusmag.com/index/t389.html#A37597 , and the contents page is also available in Amazon's Look Inside (try direct link to the page, but it may not display in your browser as Amazon sends it with a different file/MIME type which is processed by its JavaScript Reader). After all, Thomas conneely has already acknowledged that the book uses the ordinary title (I'm sorry to say this but he seems unpleasantly prone to errors in verifications); so I've merged the story. --JVjr 05:34, 26 Mar 2007 (CDT)

• Karen Joy Fowler
  • What I Didn't See: without quotes and with quotes --WimLewis 00:37, 29 Mar 2007 (CDT)
    • The quotation marks seem to be an error. See the story on scifi.com, which is the actual publication for [1]. (Of course, we'd have no way of knowing whether they changed the title on the website or not, if I hadn't printed out a copy to read on the bus when the story first appeared, which also lacks quotation marks....) Jefe 18:06, 15 May 2007 (CDT)
• Roger Zelazny
  • Unicorn Variation 40831 vs. Unicorn Variations 485891. I can verify it's plural in My Favorite Fantasy Story, and the story introduction implies that it was written in the early 80's (like the singular version). However, the copyrights page in MFFS gives it a copyright year of 1991. --WimLewis 22:23, 7 Apr 2007 (CDT)

    Unicorn Variation, the story, was published in either 1981 or 1982, my copy of Unicorn Variations, the Collection, is from 1983 and has the exact date, but it's currently lent out so I can't check the exact date. It was the Hugo winner in 1982 for novelette. CoachPaul 08:08, 10 Apr 2007 (CDT)

    My copy of My Favorite Fantasy Story has a story named "Unicorn Variations" (about 15 pages)! --WimLewis 00:22, 11 Apr 2007 (CDT)

    According to the Zelazny website "http://zelazny.corrupt.net/". they are the same story. The "Unicorn Variations" is a misspelling, and is misspelled in the following pubs.

    • "Hugo and Nebula Award Winners from Asimov's Science Fiction" Sheila Williams 1995.
    • "The Fantasy Hall of Fame" Robert Silverberg 1998.
    • "My Favorite Fantasy Story" Martin Greenberg August 2000.

CoachPaul 00:39, 11 Apr 2007 (CDT)

"When Time Went Mad"

If anybody has a copy of Science Fiction: The Great Years Vol. II, could you please check what it says about the authorship and attribution of "When Time Went Mad"? According to ISFDB, it was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950 as by "Dirk Wylie and Frederic Arnold Kummer, Jr.", but Contento lists it as When Time Went Mad (with Frederic Arnold Kummer, Jr.) [with Frederik Pohl". I would guess that Pohl, who had known Wylie (aka Joseph Harold Dockweiler) and collaborated with him in the early 1940s, helped Kummer finish the story after Wylie's death in 1949, but it would be nice to see what Pohl says in the 1976 anthology. Ahasuerus 14:59, 8 Apr 2007 (CDT)

I have verified my copy of the book and there is nothing in Pohl's brief introduction to suggest that he had had anything to do with the story. I will e-mail Bill Contento and ask why Pohl's name is mentioned in square brackets next to the story. A bug in his software, perhaps? Ahasuerus 19:12, 29 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Imagination, April 1951 - Pages improperly inserted

(moved from Community Portal talk page)

Does anybody else have a copy of this magazine? Pages go to 130 and then repeat again from page 2 to 34. There are stories credited on pages 132 and 146. If all the printed issues are like this that means that the stories were never actually published. --Swfritter 13:18, 9 Mar 2007 (CST)

I have all mainstream 1950s digests in my collection, including Imagination. If nobody else has a copy, I can look it up around March 30 when I have access to the collection. Ahasuerus 13:40, 9 Mar 2007 (CST)

My copy looks normal -- the last page before the back cover is numbered 130 and there seem to be no irregularities. This is the issue with Galouye's "Secret of the Immortals", right? What stories are credited on pp 132 and 146 in your copy? Mike Christie (talk) 15:40, 9 Mar 2007 (CST)

Oops, meant April 1951 with Beyond the Fearful Forest cover. Should not have rushed to lunch. Swfritter 16:39, 9 Mar 2007 (CST)

My copy looks fine -- I see both the Mack Reynolds and the Allen Lang story, intact. Looks like you have a rarity there. I think it's worth adding a publication-level note to say that a copy has been seen in the state you describe. Mike Christie (talk) 19:31, 9 Mar 2007 (CST)

I agree that Publication oddities are worth documenting. Sometimes a significant part of the print run is affected and a warning can serve as a useful heads up to go check your copy. Ahasuerus 14:05, 10 Mar 2007 (CST)

If my copy did not have a loose cover I would feel more confident that this happened at the printers. This could have happened at a later date. I recently purchased a copy of what I thought was Cosmic Stories only to find that the loose cover was concealing a copy of Famous Fantastic Mysteries.--Swfritter 18:44, 11 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Roger Price

A bit vague here: but I suspect my three proposed new pubs are not from the same author as we currently have. Mine are from the "Tomorrow People" guy, here: so can I ask people to UN-verify the current ones or suggest which ones DO match? Or how to deal with multiple authors of same name (I'm sure I looked at a thread like that once, can't recall a resolution though...) :-( BLongley 18:30, 11 Apr 2007 (CDT)

At first we dealt with multiple authors who rudely share the same name (especially by choice -- yes, I am looking at you, Christopher Priest #2!) by adding "[2]", "[3]", etc to the name. However, at some point we realized that it wasn't terribly informative (us are smart!), so we switched to "Robert Frazier" vs. "Robert Frazier (1951-)" vs. "Robert Frazier (active 1954-1955)" or, occasionally, "Steve Jackson (US)" vs. "Steve Jackson (UK)". We would probably benefit from more clearly defined rules, but that's what we have for now. Ahasuerus 22:20, 11 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Well, it turned out there's a good US/UK divide here, so (US) and (UK) it is. BLongley 08:49, 12 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Psi High and Others

Requesting physical verification of the hardcover (1967) and paperback (1968) versions of Alan E. Nourse's Psi-High and Others aka Psi High and Others. Areas of interest include whether "Mirror, Mirror" was reprinted under that title or under its original title, "The Mirror", as well as other visible discrepancies between the editions. I have the hardcover version in my collection, which I will be able to check in late April, so the paperback edition is a higher priority. TIA! Ahasuerus 00:46, 12 Apr 2007 (CDT)

In the paperback the story is Mirror, Mirror in contents and the first page of the story. Dana Carson 00:58, 12 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Thanks! When you get a chance, could you please also check if the paperback uses hyphens in "Psi-High" (both the story and the collection titles), which the hardcover supposedly does? Ahasuerus 19:41, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

No hyphens in the paperback in either the story or collection title. Mike Christie (talk) 20:31, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Thanks! Looks like the paperback record is in good shape and Dana has already Verified it. I'll just need to Verify the hardcover when I get back to my collection in 2 weeks and we will be all set. Ahasuerus 21:09, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Turns out that I have both the hardcover and the paperback editions in my collections, so I was able to compare them side by side. There are no hyphens anywhere that I could find, although my hardcover copy is missing the dustjacket. I wonder if that's where the hyphen came from? I have also confirmed that "The Martyr" was first published as "Martyr" in Fantastic Universe January 1957 and created a variant title relationship. I will e-mail Bill Contento witt the corrections.

Finally, I used Jon Warren's paperback guide to confirm that the Ace paperback was published in 1968. Now, if somebody happened to have a copy of the 1968 Faber edition (hardcover, I believe), we would be all set :) Ahasuerus 20:13, 28 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Asimov's Essays

I've been trying to tidy up some duplicates, but there's some where a make variant might be needed. So if you have "Adding A Dimension" can you please check "The Light That Failed!" and "He's Not My Type!": if you have "Fact and Fancy" please check "Stepping-Stones to the Stars"; and if you have "View From a Height" please check "That's Life!". BLongley 12:04, 12 Apr 2007 (CDT)

There's also the problem of a lot of them existing in magazine form with a "Science: " prefix that makes sense in a mostly-Fiction magazine, but not in a non-fiction book. Is that the way there were really titled in F&SF or has that been added as a sort of note? BLongley 12:04, 12 Apr 2007 (CDT)

No response so far - can I take it it's OK for me to merge them all into one big "Boring bits we always skipped over while reading" entry? ;-) 19:23, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Great idea! But seriously, Asimov's column for F&SF was entitled "Science", and each essay had a title. If you're going to do something (and you're gladly welcome to do it) remove the "Science" from the essay titles and place them all into the series entitled "Science Column for F&SF", or something similar. I'd love to see a listing that separated all of his F&SF essays (though I cringe at the thought of doing it myself.) Mhhutchins 19:34, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

In the intro to Fact and Fancy it says that all but one come from F&SF. Adding a Dimension doesn't even say that much. Same with View From a Height. Those are the exact titles in the books. A Guide to Isaac Asimov's Essays has a list. It's indexed is a strange manner but seems to be pretty complete. From that Dana Carson 21:00, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

The Light that Failed

   Subject: Michelson-Morley experiment
   First Published In: Jun-63, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
   Collection(s):
       * 1964 Adding a Dimension
       * 1976 Asimov on Physics

He's Not My Type

   Subject: blood types
   First Published In: Jan-63, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
   Collection(s):
       * 1964 Adding a Dimension

Stepping Stones to the Stars

   Subject: comets/cometary planetoids
   First Published In: Oct-60, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
   Collection(s):
       * 1962 Fact and Fancy
       * 1974 Asimov on Astronomy

That's Life!

   Subject: life and non-life
   First Published In: Mar-62, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
   Collection(s):
       * 1963 View from A Height
       * 1974 Asimov on Chemistry

(Unindent) Thanks for the help! You're now ALL to blame for the longest series we have here (so far)! ;-) BLongley 18:28, 24 Apr 2007 (CDT)

OK. I'll start entering more of his collected essay books than to take advantage of the data. Dana Carson 21:33, 24 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Worlds of If, May/June 1970

Is the Tiptree story in this issue of If titled "The Nightblooming Saurian" or "The Night-blooming Saurian" (which is how it is titled in her collection Warm Worlds and Otherwise)? Mhhutchins 17:47, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

It's "The Nightblooming Saurian". Mike Christie (talk) 20:34, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Thanks, Mike. I'll go ahead and create a variant. Mhhutchins 21:05, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

sf Impulse, August 1966

I have the September issue of sf Impulse containing the second part of Harry Harrison's serial titled "Make Room, Make Room!" in the TOC and the title page. All book reprints are titled Make Room! Make Room! (note the first exclamation point.) If anyone has the August or October issues of this magazine can you verify if the spelling of the serial includes a comma or exclamation point? Thanks. Mhhutchins 18:23, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

October 66: no comma: it's "Make Room! Make Room!", both on the story and the ToC. It's the same in the August issue. Mike Christie (talk) 20:33, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Looks like Bonfiglioli got careless in the last issue he edited of the magazine, and Harrison fixed it in the next issue (since he edited it as well!) I'm not going to create a variant; I'll just correct the spelling of the middle part of the serial. Thanks! Mhhutchins 21:11, 13 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Omni, July 1990

This issue OMNIJUL90 contains several stories titled The Latter-Day Matian Chronicles. Typo for "Martian"?

Should be "Martian". I pulled the issue to figure out why each of the authors' stories doesn't have its own title. Turns out they're written in the form of letters back to Earth from Martian settlers. You didn't sign your note, so I'll go ahead and edit the publication. Mhhutchins 18:00, 14 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Sorry, that was me. I keep forgetting to sign my edits. :/ --WimLewis 18:15, 14 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Conan of Cimmeria

Requesting physical verification of the 1969 Lancer edition of Conan of Cimmeria. The spelling of 3 titles in the recently verified 1974 Sphere edition differs somewhat from what we have on file for the Lancer edition and I am trying to figure out if the current Variant Title relationships are OK or if our titles are misspelled and we need to merge them with the Sphere ones. Ahasuerus 21:15, 14 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Should be "The Frost Giant's Daughter", "The Bloodstained God", and "The Lair of the Ice Worm".--Swfritter 22:58, 15 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Thanks, got it! :) Ahasuerus 23:39, 15 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Harlan Ellison - A Prayer for No One's Enemy vs. A Prayer for One's Enemy

I've just finished adding and verifying my collection of Ellisoniana and would like to enlist some general help. I've verified the first title in two publications, but the second appears in two publications I don't have access to. It would be nice to resolve this one: does anyone have the 1966 issue of Cad magazine in which it was first published? (Scott Latham 19:34, 15 Apr 2007 (CDT))

In the Nemo Press edition of The Essential Ellison the piece is entitled "A Prayer for No One's Enemy", so that clears up one. I don't have the Trident edition of "Love Ain't Nothing..." Mhhutchins 21:59, 15 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Michael, if you have a copy to hand, I'd be interested in your opinion about the essays that form the grouping for sections (e.g., Rococco Technology, Heart's Blood). These are uncredited in the book I verified and they sure don't read like anything H.E. ever wrote. I entered them as simply "uncredited," but I'm not too happy with the result... (Scott Latham 18:43, 16 Apr 2007 (CDT))

Those essays that you mention, along with 18 others, are introductions to the twenty sections that make up this collection. Although they are not individually credited, they obviously (at least to me) appear to be the work of the editor, Terry Dowling. He is credited as the main editor (Lamont and Delap have a "with" credit), and writes the book's introduction. Each of these essays address Ellison in the third person, and even Ellison's head isn't so big that he would refer to himself in the third. :) By the way, see my note on the Rules page about editors credited in single-author collections. Mhhutchins 19:59, 16 Apr 2007 (CDT)

I think I've answered my own question. At the Harlan Ellison Webderland site, there's a story finder database. Entering "enemy" into the Title search box gives this result:

 A Prayer for No One's Enemy     - Short Story, 1966
 First Appearance: Cad, March 1966
 Books where piece appears:
 Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled - Story Collection, 1968
 The Essential Ellison - Story Collection, 1987
 Ensamvark - Story Collection, 1992
 Edgeworks 4 - Book Collection, 1997

So, unless someone objects soon, I'm going to change the remaining occurrences of Prayer to match this. (Scott Latham 18:04, 18 Apr 2007 (CDT))

Avaryan Rising by Tarr

In the omnibus Avaryan Rising is it The Hall of the Mountain King or Hall of the Mountain King? The standalone novel is apparently Hall of the Mountain King but the second omnibus lists the first omnibus as containing The Hall of the Mountain King. And while you're looking what are the page numbers and such. Dana Carson 03:54, 17 Apr 2007 (CDT)

If nobody else has it to hand, I have a copy in my collection and can verify ca. April 30. Ahasuerus 12:39, 17 Apr 2007 (CDT)

I have verified that it's "The Hall of the Mountain King" in the Book Club omnibus edition. Ditto in later non-SFBC editions of this omnibus according to the OCLC cover scan. Moreover, the first Tor edition was also apparently published with the "The" (see our Publication records, Fictionfinder and Worldcat), so I went ahead and merged the two titles. Ahasuerus 01:16, 28 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Thanks. Dana Carson 02:28, 28 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Fantastic Stories, January & February 1964

For "The Lords of Quarmall", is the co-author Harry Fischer or Harry O. Fischer or Harry Otto Fischer? BLongley 14:08, 18 Apr 2007 (CDT)

I have all issues of Fantastic Stories and will be able to check at the end of the month if the request is still outstanding. Ahasuerus 18:44, 18 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Have only the January issue but it lists Harry Fischer as co-author(table of contents and story page, Leiber only cover). According to the editorial Fischer wrote the first 10,000 words in 1937. Sword's Masters omnibus in which the story appears has a dedication to Harry Otto Fischer once again attibuting the first 10,000 words of the story to him.--Swfritter 18:59, 18 Apr 2007 (CDT)

The Man Who ??? Red by Terry Dowling

There's a review in Locus March 1995 apparently, for "The Man Who Saw Red", but the only reliable sources I've checked say it's "The Man Who LOST Red". Any sightings of either welcome. BLongley 16:27, 21 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Here's a link to the publisher's page for the second printing of the book. It's definitely The Man Who Lost Red. The Locus review misprints the title, so the listing for Faren Miller's review in the Locus database is also incorrect. Mhhutchins

WorldCat reports that The Man Who Lost Red (Parramatta, N.S.W. [Australia]: MirrorDanse Books, 1994, ISBN 0646214918) was a collection consisting of 2 stories: "The Man Who Lost Red" and "Scaring the Train". The National Library of Australia chimes in as follows:

Author: Dowling, Terry, 1947-  
Title: The man who lost red / Terry Dowling ; illustrated by Shaun Tan ; foreword by Nick Stathopoulos. 
Publisher: Parramatta, N.S.W. : MirrorDanse Books, 1994. 
Description: 111 p. : ill. ; 20 cm. 
ISBN: 0646214918 (pbk.) : 
Contents: The man who lost red -- Scaring the train. 
Notes: "This first edition ... was limited to 500 copies"--Colophon. 
CIP confirmed. 
Bibliography: p. [107]-111 

Note: "20cm." would make it a "tp" on our parlance since the standard "pb" size is 18cm. Ahasuerus 21:20, 21 Apr 2007 (CDT)

re National Library of Australia sizes ... Knowing MirrorDanse, tp is probably correct; however, there are quite a few records in the NLA catalogue that state 19cm for books that are really 18cm. I have no evidence that this is anything other than a librarian's faulty memory as to the height of a "standard" mmpb. --j_clark 20:29, 31 Dec 2007 (CST)

Anvil title check

In the book Interstellar Patrol II the title is While the North Wind Blows and in Amazing Stories, November 1978 it is While The Northwind Blows. I have the book and it is North Wind. Can someoe check the magazine to see if it's a variant or should it be two words there also.

Title printed in the 11/78 issue of Amazing is "While the North Wind Blows" (both TOC and title page.) Mhhutchins 21:23, 21 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Thanks. I'll fix the Amazing entry and then merge them. Dana Carson 04:19, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Another Anvil check. In Astounding Feb 1958 it's listed as Achilles' Heel. In The Trouble With Aliens it is Achilles's Heel. Can someone double check the magazine? Dana Carson 20:43, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)

In the US edition of the magazine, it's "Achilles' Heel", both in the ToC and the story heading. Mike Christie (talk) 21:32, 22 Apr 2007 (CDT)

OK, variant title it is than.Dana Carson 03:06, 23 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, December 1961

Does the story "The Foreign Hand-Tie" • novelette by Randall Garrett [as by David Gordon ], contain the hyphen between Hand and Tie, or is the title actually "The Foreign Hand Tie" (Without the hyphen)? I have a book "14 Great Tales of ESP", (1969 , Idella Purnell Stone, Fawcett Gold Medal, pb, anth), which according to both Locus and Contento have the story name with the hyphen, yet no hyphen appears in my publication, anywhere I'm wondering if they got it all wrong, or just the ESP pub one pub, so any help by anyone who has this copy of Analog, would be appreciated. CoachPaul 12:03, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

I don't have a copy of that issue of Analog, but according to Strauss there is a hyphen in the title. Mhhutchins 15:31, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

So, we have Strauss, Contento, and Locus all saying there is a hyphen. All the information I've found on the web, all say there is a hyphen. Yet the only physical copy of the story so far found does not have the hyphen? Do Contento and Locus use Strauss as a source? Though I'm leaning toward the title without the hyphen being a variant I'd like to be certain. CoachPaul 15:53, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Title on table of contents of Analog has "The Foreign Hand-Tie" but the graphics on the actual title on page 107 are a little imaginative. Instead of a hyphen between "Hand" and "Tie" there is an odd six inch graphic presentation of an acual handtie made up of the words "THE FOREIGN HAND TIE" repeated over and over again in uppercase.--Swfritter 18:06, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

OK, so now do we call the hyphen-less title a variant, or a typo/misprint, since Contento claims that it is there, even though it isn't? CoachPaul 19:22, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

If I am reading this thread correctly, the Fawcett paperback edition doesn't have the hyphen, right? If that is the case, then I would suggest entering the version in Analog with the hyphen (and adding a note about the peculiar way the hypen is rendered on the title page), then updating the Fawcett version with the hyphen-less version and finally making the latter a Variant Title of the former. Ahasuerus 23:09, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2004

If someone could lay hands on their copy, please verify the exact title of the Kage Baker story at page 58. I may have a variant in Mother Aegypt. (Scott Latham 20:21, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT))

Title in the magazine, both TOC and title page, is "Leaving His Cares Behind Him". Mhhutchins 22:19, 27 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Tin Woodman

As per this discussion, requesting physical verification of Tin Woodman. We are trying to determine if this book was ever published as by "David Bischoff" or whether all editions/printings were as "David F. Bischoff". Ahasuerus 02:54, 28 Apr 2007 (CDT)

I believe we have our answers now, but more verifications are always welcome :) Ahasuerus 20:06, 29 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Crank!, Autumn 1994

If someone has this publication, could you please give me the full title of the Terry Bisson story in it? I may have a variant title in the collection In the Upper Room and Other Likely Stories. (Scott Latham 20:02, 29 Apr 2007 (CDT))

The title appears as "Tell Them They Are All Full of Shit and They Should Fuck Off" (no comma).Jefe 17:54, 15 May 2007 (CDT)

Thanks much, Jeff! No variant after all, just a slightly abbreviated entry. (Scott Latham 18:00, 15 May 2007 (CDT))

HC Version of Orbit 13 ed Damon Knight

If you have this HC version of this book, could you please check the name of the story by Sonya Dorman. The db and Contento have it as "Time Bend", but my pb has it as "Time Bind". Thanks. CoachPaul 19:01, 30 Apr 2007 (CDT)

It's Time Bind in the hardcover edition as well. Thanks for noticing, I will send Bill Contento an e-mail. Ahasuerus 19:10, 30 Apr 2007 (CDT)

P.S. I have changed the title in the database, so we should be all set for now. Ahasuerus 19:46, 30 Apr 2007 (CDT)

Damon Knight's Orbit 15

If someone has this hardcover edition (the only one, I believe), could you verify the title of Michael Bishop's piece? Thanks. Mhhutchins 21:22, 1 May 2007 (CDT)

If nobody else owns a copy, I have it in my collection and will be able to check on May 26. Ahasuerus 17:37, 2 May 2007 (CDT)

I have verified and corrected the hardcover edition. The title of Michael Bishop's poem was indeed off. I have changed it to "In the Lilliputian Asylum: A Story in Eight Poems & an Interrogation", which is a tad different from the other title that we have on file, "In the Lilliputian Asylum: A Story in Eight Poems and an Interrogation". Attributions/pseudonyms for the 3 essays in the book also had to be changed. I will send Bill Contento an e-mail so that we would all be on the same page. Ahasuerus 15:49, 27 May 2007 (CDT)

Thanks for the verification. I went ahead and created a variant of the slightly different reprint. Mhhutchins 18:04, 27 May 2007 (CDT)

Ellison & Delany's THE Power of the Nail?

The Harlan_Ellison and Samuel_R._Delany collaboration is listed both as The Power of the Nail (in Partners in Wonder) and just Power of the Nail (Amazing Nov 1968). This seems to agree with the Contento and Fictionmags listing, but the "the" can always be mistaken. Could somebody verify preferably both? --JVjr 04:26, 2 May 2007 (CDT)

I have only the magazine. Title has no "the" on the cover, table of contents, or on the actual story.--Swfritter 09:58, 2 May 2007 (CDT)

I have Partners in Wonder as well and will be able to check on May 26 if nobody else gets to it first. Ahasuerus 17:39, 2 May 2007 (CDT)

I have Partners in Wonder in an Avon (Jan-1972) pb and the contents page and copyrights page both have "The" in the title. Kraang 21:57, 3 May 2007 (CDT)

Thanks to everybody! Okay, I've MakeVariant-ed them (using the book version with the article as parent). I guess it might be best to add a note to explain this and prevent from over-zealous merging, but that doesn't seem too urgent a risk, I'm badly pressed for time and hopefully sooner or later people will get to actually verifying the publications in the system. --JVjr 07:31, 17 May 2007 (CDT)

THE Grotto of the Dancing Deer?

Mhhutchins and User:BLongley verified both publications of Clifford_D._Simak's coll The Marathon Photograph and Other Stories as containing "The Grotto of the Dancing Deer". However, the canonical title is obviously just article-less Grotto of the Dancing Deer - and also http://www.locusmag.com/index/t44.html#A5321 lists it also without the article. So I suppose that beside the publishers getting the title wrong, there's also a chance of oversight (and subsequent cloning) on our side. Could you check it once more, please? --JVjr 08:28, 21 May 2007 (CDT)

Checked again. On page 149 (actually unnumbered, but is the other side of 150), the start of the story, the title is given as "The Grotto of the Dancing Deer". On pages 6 and 7 the name "The Grotto of the Dancing Deer" is mentioned once in each of three paragraphs of F Lyall's introduction. The back cover says "including the Hugo-award-winning The Grotto of the Dancing Deer". There is no contents page to add confusion. The phrase doesn't appear to be actually in the story. However, the Copyright page does mention that the original publication was "Grotto of the Dancing Bear" (i.e. no "The") copyright 1980 by The Conde Nast Publications, first appearing in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact. BLongley 13:01, 21 May 2007 (CDT)

I decided to double check the title as well, and can confirm there is no "and other stories" on spine, front or back cover, intro page, copyright page, or British Library catalog reference of my edition, although this doesn't imply anything about Mike's copy (which is the one I believe Locus is referring to). Obviously Grotto needs a variant, do people think that a lack of 'and other stories' warrants a pub-title variant? I prefer not to split those up too much as they all get put under the same general title and it means I don't have to inquire/argue about pub-titles including series name/number/dubious sub-titles/etc. BLongley 13:22, 21 May 2007 (CDT)

Thanks. So, MakeVariant it was again. Do you think I should e-mail to Locus/Contento about the missing article in their entry? JVjr 08:41, 23 May 2007 (CDT)

Not until Mhhutchins re-checks his edition - they don't seem to mention MY edition so I wouldn't complain about it just yet, they might be perfectly correct. BLongley 14:34, 23 May 2007 (CDT)

Sorry, missed this when it was first posted. My copy of The Marathon Photograph has the story as "The Grotto...". Seems a variant has already been created. Mhhutchins 14:51, 23 May 2007 (CDT)

Personally, I too think that subtitles like "and other stories", ": A Novel" etc. aren't reason enough for making a variant title entry, but I tend to value pragmatic usefulness over bibliographic purity. --JVjr 08:41, 23 May 2007 (CDT)

Good! I can understand it for short stories and books where you're working at the physical publication level, but "Title" is actually a level we create that covers up a lot of the (usually insignificant, IMHO) variations. It does mess up my data quality checks for where a publication title doesn't match the title title, but you can get rid of a lot of those by checking whether one is a sub-string of the other. BLongley 14:34, 23 May 2007 (CDT)

Analog February 1963, US version

I want to compare this US pub with this UK one. Don't let me think that we have a lot of Lazy Americans. ;-) I'm pretty sure of mine, but will adjust it to match the US standard if necessary. Not that I have a lot of UK versions to add... (but feel free to send me some!) BLongley 17:29, 2 May 2007 (CDT)

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I have all 1960s Analogs and can verify come May 26 if the request is still outstanding. (From now on, I will give it at least 48 hours for other editors to comment before I chime in with my standard response ;-)Ahasuerus 22:29, 3 May 2007 (CDT)

My collection only goes back through 1965. Alvonruff 12:01, 4 May 2007 (CDT)

Don't feel bad Al, MY 1960s Analog collection is that ONE UK publication! (At one point I decided to buy every SF magazine from the Year and Month I was born. I just misread the year on that one, spine is a bit battered.) BLongley 13:29, 4 May 2007 (CDT)

It's probably a dead issue by now, but I have the US issue. I just don't understand the question (you want to compare these). If the question is still open & you still want information, I'd be happy to oblige. (Do you just want me to verify the contents, fixing anything I see that's wrong?) Dave (davecat) 15:41, 27 Dec 2007 (CST)

No, not a dead issue - we want to know when we can just assume the British Analog issues are the same as the earlier US version, or in what ways they differ. Magazines are a bit "special" in that it's awkward to create a search to bring two up on the same page to do a simple "Diff Pubs" check. So if you can update the US one we can see if there's anything different about it, apart from the cover. I suspect SOME issues had copyright problems that meant they varied occasionally, but we lack comparisons. Certainly the page-numbers look way different in this case, although I may have done mine before reading all the help... but 88 vs 120 isn't attributable to a "count the covers as pages as well". BLongley 17:26, 27 Dec 2007 (CST)

OK, I think I've got it all entered. (I know the artwork is in more detail than you want to see or bother with.) Assuming you'd completely entered the UK issue, it appears that some stories ("Something Will Turn Up", "With No Strings Attached") & some long book reviews are missing in yours. Dave (davecat) 09:43, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

And mine has one story from the March edition instead. BLongley 10:56, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

Hmm. I read your contents without spotting that the Anvil story wasn't in the issue I was checking. (Story itself is familiar enough that I probably just remembered what it was. But I should have noticed that.) -- Dave (davecat) 12:08, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

You CAN use the "Diff Pubs" function, but to get both magazines to appear on the same page the best way is to choose one of the common titles that isn't reprinted too widely. In this case I looked up "Code Three" as it was cover story on both, and there's only four titles in all, so it's easy to select the two to diff. BLongley 14:42, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

Can't tell about "In Times to Come", "The Analytical Laboratory", & "Crucial Experiment #5". (And I suspect that your issue has less advertising; does the editorial really start inside the front cover, or are pages numbered differently? Dave (davecat) 09:43, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

They covers aren't included in the numbering. There is no "In Times to Come", front inside cover has a "Next month . . ." listing July contents. No "The Analytical Laboratory" or "Crucial Experiment #5". BLongley 10:56, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

In the US edition p. 2 (inside front cover) has an ad for Sixth Annual of the Year's Best SF; p. 3 has an ad for SF Book Club; p. 4 is table of contents.)
But as I think I got everything in the way of contents, you will find it easier to check your issue against my list, I suspect.
FWIW, in the US at least, this was the last issue before Analog switched to bedsheet size, & "In Times to Come" was all about that. Apparently Campbell hoped to lure in more advertising in that format. -- Dave (davecat) 09:43, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

Inside back cover has a SFBC advert, but it's not necessarily the same SFBC! There is very little advertising in this issue - about four pages I guess.

Anyway, thanks for checking - I think this proves conclusively that we'll need the UK editions as well, at least for certain magazines. BLongley 10:56, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)

You're welcome - I'd have gotten to it eventually, but it would have been a while. And yes, on the basis of this one I'd say UK Analog definitely needs to be checked individually. (Back when I was getting the magazine (& reading for the first time), of course, I had no idea that there was a separate UK edition.) I'm not entirely surprised that AnLab was a US-specific feature. -- Dave (davecat) 12:08, 28 Dec 2007 (CST)