Ballantine, Lerner Add to Columbia SF Collection

Columbia University Libraries made a splash this month, announcing significant donations of sf-themed material from Fred Lerner and Betty Ballantine.

Fred Lerner, past president of the Columbia University SF Society, donated long runs of sf prozines including Amazing, Asimov’s, Astounding, Fantastic, Galaxy, If, and F&SF.

Betty Ballantine gave a collection of books and papers relating the work of her late husband Ian and her in their long and distinguished careers in publishing. Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library got an archive of their work since the sale of their company to Random House in 1973, covering the next twenty years spent as independent agents, editors, and publishers. The Library also received a nearly complete run of Penguin titles and a full set of Ballantine and Bantam paperbacks.

[Thanks to Michael J. Walsh and Andrew Porter for the links.]