Publisher:SFBC 1953-1959
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:
- Unless noted, each title is a featured selection. Otherwise it is noted as an "Alternate selection."
- Any special edition status is noted, e.g. "First Edition", "First Hardcover Edition", "First American Edition" or "First American Hardcover Edition."
- Gutter codes of known reprints.
- Most other information should be added directly to the notes field of the publications themselves.
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 | |
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 | None | |
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 had the 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 | Known reprint code: "12A" (1959) |
1959
Year | Month | Author | Title | Gutter code | Notes |
1959 | January | Louis Charbonneau | No Place on Earth | 49 | |
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 | |
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 | ||
1959 | December | A. E. van Vogt | The War Against the Rull | A42 |
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 |