A Vince Clarke Treasury

A huge collection of Vince Clarke’s fanwriting from 1948 to 1998, edited by David Langford. It seems only appropriate that the free ebooks page at the TAFF (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) website – taff.org.uk – should include a collection of Vince Clarke’s fanzine writing. He was the first winner of TAFF, though in the event unable to make the trip to a US Worldcon which was the aim of the fund, and he promoted TAFF enthusiastically in both halves of his interrupted fannish career.

This collection is similarly divided into two parts, covering the early years from 1948 to 1960 and then (after his long absence) a second voyage through fandom from 1982 to 1998. Hims Ancient and Modern, as Chuch Harris once put it. Part One is notable for its speedy progression from “serious and constructive” coverage of the 1948 British SF convention to the manic humour and mythologizing of fandom that soon follows. As well as a rich seam of material for fan historians, there’s plenty of outright fun here.