Preface to the Initial Edition of Fancyclopedia II

PREFACE TO THE INITIAL EDITION

The purpose of the Fancyclopedia II, not fully realized, is to revise and bring up to date the original Fancyclopedia of Jack Speer. Here we have attempted to define as many as possible of the expressions which have an esoteric meaning among fantasy fans, and to supply other information, such as that on Charles Fort, which may be needed to understand what fans say, write, and do. Certain fields have been sketchily covered here because they are well taken care of elsewhere; for instance, tho nicknames of fans and pet names of fanzines are touched on, biographies have been left to the various Who's Whos in fanzines, and fanzines in detail to the Swisher-Pavlat-Evans Checklist.

It is suggested that these who have little or no acquaintance with fantasy, fandom, or fan activity read the articles on those subjects first, then look up, in the normal alphabetical place, expressions not understood which have been used in those articles. It has seemed more efficient for the probable uses of this handbook, and economical of space, to give short articles on many subjects rather than long articles on a few broad topics,

To find a desired subject, look first under the word you have in mind. If what you want is not there, try other words related to it: if you want a history of fandom and find no help in the entry under "History", look under "Fandom", where "Numerical Fandoms" is your key. A little practice in using the encyclopedia will make it easy to find what you want. Because "Science-Fiction" and "Fan", used as adjectives, practically define our universe of discourse, they have often been ignored in determining alphabetical order, and since fanclubs are almost always referred to by their initials most of them are alphabetized herein by initialese moniker rather than full title. A name in parentheses after a word or phrase to be defined is the originator of the term, or of its use in fandom; where this is followed by a colon and a second name, the second is the person who had most to do with making it a part of fandom's vocabulary. For example, "Blowup" as the name of a civilization-destroying cataclysm comes from Lewis Padgett's Baldy Series, but the name was given greatest prominence by the Michifen with reference to the infamous bombing incident which had an analogous effect on the MSFS.

It should be remarked, however, that fans make many allusions to material in prozines, fanzines, and other places, which no possible reference work could cover; and that fanzine-publishing fandom has inevitably received a disproportionate amount of notice, simply because it is the only moiety of our tribe that leaves permanent records. The explanation for any given omission Is probably that it did not seem germane; but despite our effort for accuracy and substantial completeness, many errors and unintended omissions will no doubt be discovered in this volume. The editor will appreciate receiving additional information and new topics, and corrections to data presented in this volume. (Kindly phrase the latter, when appropriate, with an eye to Postal regulations.)

Edited and published by Dick Eney of Operation Crifanac, 417 Ft Hunt Rd, Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Price, $1.25. First edition, 450 copies, of which 78 were ordered prior to publication.