The Science Fiction Collections at The University of Liverpool constitute the most important centre for science fiction research in Britain. The Collections are of international significance, representing the largest library of its kind in Europe and rivalling in importance the major collections of science fiction in North America.
Housed in the Special Collections and Archives department of the Sydney Jones Library, the Science Fiction Collections contain the archives of a number of major writers in the field, including Olaf Stapledon, John Wyndham, Eric Frank Russell and John Brunner, as well as a selection of papers deposited by Brian Aldiss.
At the heart of the Liverpool Collections is the Science Fiction Foundation Collection, one of the largest collections of fiction, critical, biographical and bibliographical works, periodicals and critical journals in the field of sf and fantasy. The Science Fiction Foundation Collection was established as the research library of the Science Fiction Foundation, created in 1971 largely thanks to the energy of George Hay with Arthur C. Clarke and, later, Ursula Le Guin as patrons. It has been built up over the years thanks to the generosity of writers, publishers and fans.
Altogether, the holdings consist of:
- 35,000 science fiction and fantasy novels, collections and anthologies.
- 2500 critical works, including biographies and bibliographies.
- 600 volumes of non-fiction connected to science fiction, e.g. space-flight, robotics and pseudo-science.
- Large holdings of non-English material, featuring French, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak and Russian science fiction and some non-English fanzines.
- Runs of over 500 critical journals specialising in the study of science fiction and related topics, including the Science Fiction Foundation's own journal: Foundation: the international review of science fiction.
- A large collection of science fiction magazines (600 titles), some dating back to the 1920s and 1930s.
- More than 1000 fanzine titles from around the world, featuring interviews with authors and critical pieces.
- Extensive archival collections, consisting of the manuscripts and literary papers of a number of prominent science fiction, fantasy and horror writers, plus the records of the Science Fiction Foundation and the Flat Earth Society.
- Convention material from dozens of events held throughout the world in the last twenty years, including audio tapes of talks and panel discussions from well-known science fiction writers.
The SF Hub aims to release the tremendous research potential of these resources. Most of the material in the collections has been catalogued. You can Cross-search the entire collections or separately search the SF Catalogue for published materials (i.e. books, periodicals, journal articles) and our SF Archives Database for manuscripts, correspondence, etc.
Search tools and tips are available on the SF Hub home page.
Please see Using the collections if you are considering visiting us in person.
