18 issues, 8vo. Original printed wraps (toning, rubbing). Provenance: Forrest J. Ackerman (1916-2008), American editor, magazine publisher, and science fiction author; acquired by the present owner directly from Ackerman.

A SIGNED COMPLETE RUN OF THE FIRST “WEIRD FICTION” FANZINE.

FIRST EDITIONS. EACH ISSUE SIGNED BY CHARLES D. HORNIG. Though circulation for The Fantasy Fan never exceeded 300 and it boasted only 60 subscribers, it is considered to be a milestone fanzine in the genre of weird fiction, having paved the way for future American fantasy and horror comics such as Tales from the Crypt. Among the magazine’s contributors were H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and Clark Ashton Smith. Perhaps the most notorious aspect of the fanzine’s history was “The Boiling Point” column in which contributors carried out such virulent attacks on one another that the column was discontinued entirely in the February 1934 issue; the present issues feature a particularly nasty exchange between Forrest J. Ackerman and H.P. Lovecraft, who writes in response to his criticism of Clark Ashton Smith, “[Ackerman] evidently enjoys verbal pyrotechnics for their own sake.” Includes gift box from Charles D. Hornig to Forrest J. Ackerman presented on the occasion of Ackerman’s sixtieth birthday with a warm typewritten note from Hornig, also signed. The first issue as included in this lot was display at the Museum of Science Fiction (now the Museum of Popular Culture) in Seattle ca. 2004.

[With]: MCPHAIL, Dan (1916-1984). Fan Facts. Vol I., no. 1. Comache, OK: Dan McPhail, April 1939. 8vo. Original pictorial wraps (toning, rubbing). FIRST EDITION. This issue was previously displayed at the Museum of Science Fiction (now the Museum of Popular Culture) in Seattle from 2004-2011.