There are a lot of ideas for fabulous fannish projects floating around. Some of them are obviously impossible, others may just be impractical at the moment, and still others are quite possible. Yet, though everyone will agree that these latter are good ideas, and that someone should get to work on them, nobody ever does.

One of these is the list of fannish holdings of pro art &/or manuscripts. Which fans own which magazine cover paintings, or original story manuscripts? A list of this nature could be invaluable in the field, not only just to know where such things are, but to allow fandom to preserve works of art that might otherwise become lost. For example, the 1952 WesterCon is still remembered because of the large number of Chesley Bonestell astronomical paintings that were sold at the auction for ridiculously low prices - $10 and under apiece. Where are those paintings now? Does anybody know? Some may be in fan's collections. Others may have been bought by off-the-street attendees, fringe-fans, or others who've gafiated or otherwise lost interest in them over the years, and possibly thrown them out or put them in an attic to rot for lack of anything else to do to them. With a checklist of who owns what, a purchaser who drifts out of contact with fandom could be checked on periodically, to find out if he still wants his material, or if he'd like to sell it. Fans who have a favorite artist or cover painting would have a chance to bargain for or purchase what they want, instead of trusting to luck at finding it at a Con auction some day. Fans of some author's works might be able to track down and read unpublished manuscripts, or complete manuscripts of stories badly cut in their published form.

Since no one else has ever begun this project, I'd like to try my hand at it. I'm starting off here by listing the original prozine and paperback cover paintings, plus some allied fan art, whose locations I know. If you can add to this list, please do so in your comments, or otherwise let me know.

Owned by myself:

Freas cover for ASTOUNDiNG, Feb. 1957 (illus. "Omnilingual, by H. Beam Piper)
Freas cover for IF, June 1955 (illus. "The Stranger", by Algis Budrys)
Emsh cover for FANTASTIC, April 1961 (illus. "Descent Into the Maelstrom, by Daniel F. Galouye)
Emsh cover for The Incomplete Enchanter, by deCamp & Pratt, Pyramid paperback ed. #F-723, April 1962 printing.
Leo Summers cover for FANTASTIC, December 1960 (illus. A Plague of Masters, by Poul Anderson)
Hubert Rogers cover for ASTOUNDING, April 1941 (illus. "The Stolen Dormouse" by L. Sprague deCamp)
Mel Hunter cover for F&SF, September 1959 (astronomical scene - "Project Vega")
Richard Bergeron painting, "Road to the Future".
Morris Scott Dollens painting, "Misty Mountains".
Don Simpson painting, "Salamander".
Jim Cawthorn painting, illus. "Red Nails", by Robert E. Howard.
Barbi Johnson painting, illus. "Apprentices Meet", from Star Guard, by Andre Norton.

Owned by Charles Schneeman

his cover for ASTOUNDING, April 1939 (illus. "Worlds Don't Care, by Nat Schachner) [altered by repainting from pub.]
his cover for ASTOUNDING, June 1947 (illus. "Centarus II", by A.E. van Vogt) his cover for ASTOUNDING, November 1952

Owned by Fritz Leiber

Emsh cover for The Big Time, by Fritz, Ace paperback ed. #D-491, 1961 ed.

Owned by Bruce Pelz

Freas cover for ASTOUNDING, July 1957 (illus. "Profession", by Isaac Asimov)
also a lot of Barbi Johnson paintings, but I don't know which titles.

Owned by Alex Eisenstein

Freas cover for ASTOUNDING, April 1955 (illus. The Long Way Home, by Poul Anderson) [this is the one he bid $155 on at the TriCon]

Owned by Bruce Henstell

Freas cover for ASTOUNDING, July 1955 (illus. "In Clouds of Glory", by A. Budrys)

Owned by Jeff Wanshel

Emsh cover for The Nemesis from Terra, by Leigh Brackett, Ace #F-123, 1961 ed.

Owned by Pan-PacifiCon Committee

Mel. Hunter cover for F&SF, Dec. 1959 [This will be auctioned off]

This is all the information that I can supply from memory, and I can't guarantee that it's 100% correct. Wanshel gafiated almost at the same time that he got his painting several years ago; does he still have it? I can recall a lot of cover art that's been sold at past WesterCon & WorldCon auctions, but I don't know who got it; the only reason I remember Eisenstein buying that Freas last year was because of the size of the bid. I remember that Jack Harness had an Emsh and a Powers at the time that he was selling most of his collection before going to England; did he sell those or does he still have them? Forry has a lot of art, but what specifically?

I'm trying to get this project started now, before the NYCon, in time to list any cover art that gets sold there, before it disappears from sight forever. And as I said, I'll appreciate any help that you can give me in adding to this list. It will basically consist of color cover paintings for magazines & paperbacks, though it may include other frameable artwork, too, such as Art Show entries by fan artists such as Bergeron, Prosser, Dian Pelz, Barbi Johnson, Bĵo, etc. I suppose that I should make some exception for black-&-white art too -- for instance, the Collectors Book Store has two beautiful framed original illustrations that were used as plates in Fantasy Press books, one by Cartier and the other by Bok -- but on the whole, prozine interior artwork that isn't suitable for framing won't go onto the list. Well, do you have any suggestions about this list?