Special Collections > Popular Culture- Amateur and Alternative Press, Comics, Pulp Fiction

Special Collections Search
Search for and browse early science fiction and adventure/mystery serials, comic books, fanzines, television scripts, and radical literature. Under "Content to search," check off Library and then fill your search terms in the search boxes.

Coslet Collection

The Walter Coslet collection of amateur science fiction magazines (fanzines) collected over the thirty-five years from 1937-1972. The magazines and amateur press mailings contained in the collection represent what was widely held to be the largest and most complete collection of its type in the United States. The most important parts of the collection are the long runs of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA) mailings, Spectator Amateur Press Society, Vanguard Amateur Press Association and sets of fanzines issued prior to World War II. Writers who would later become prominent in the field active in the amateur press include Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Frederik Pohl among others. Among the pre-1940 magazines are a nearly complete set of the publication of R. H. Barlow's Dragonfly Press; a complete set of the The Time Traveler and three of the five issues of The Planet, the first amateur magazine known to have been published. Of the many sets of fanzines from the late '30's and early '40's almost all sets are complete. There are over 15,000 fanzines in the collection.

Pulps: Science Fiction, Adventure, Mystery & Detective Fiction
UMBC's holdings of popular fiction serials includes titles from the late 19th century to current subscriptions. Originally printed on cheap paper, the "pulps" provided both new and established authors a venue for their work. The Science Fiction & Fantasy collection includes substantial holdings of famous titles from the genre: Amazing/Analog, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Weird Tales among others and more ephemeral tiles like Comet, Rocket Stories and Satellite Science Fiction.

Sci Fi Pulps & Fanzines Online Exhibit
- Pulps: Science Fiction & Fantasy
  Coverage: 1930s - present. Holdings of science fiction and fantasy "pulp" serials held in Special Collections. Includes currently received publications.
Comic Books
The comic book holdings in Special Collections include early issues from the Golden Age of Comics, underground comics from the 1960's and issues of popular comics from other countries.

The Adventure and Mystery/Detective
holdings include such titles as Adventure, Detective Tales, G-Men Detective and titles from the earlier Western tradition: Deadwood Dick, Buffalo Bill and Beadle's Dime Library.

Radical Literature Collection
This is a collection of 19th and 20th century books, pamphlets, handbills, and other publications of political parties of the left and right.