Futures Past: SF History in Leeds, P.5 Professor Cyril Oakley

Professor C.L. Oakley (1907-1975)

David I. Masson was previously featured on this blog for his role in founding the University of Leeds SF collection by donating books from his personal library. The rest originated in the gift of Professor Cyril Leslie Oakley, who began in 1971 to present his own extensive collection of science fiction literature to the Brotherton Library's Special Collections.

Appointed Brotherton Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Leeds in 1953, Professor Oakley was a founding fellow of the College of Pathologists and at various times edited the Journal of Pathology and the Journal of Medical Microbiology. He was awarded a D.Sc. by the University of London in 1953, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1957 and made a CBE in 1970. He died in 1975.

Sadly, there are few that now remember Professor Oakley but SF was just one of his many and varied interests. Former students and colleagues can recall a lecture on ‘Bug-eyed Monsters’ addressed to members of the Medical and other student societies. These were illustrated with slides of the magazine covers that later formed part of his gift, notably Amazing Stories and Wonder Stories, which have recently been made available online. It doesn't seem too much of a stretch to assume that Oakley's interest in SF was informed by his career as a scientist, and whether his lecture was delivered in a serious manner or just for fun (one would guess the latter), it is still indicative of the extent to which these realms were more closely aligned in the past than perhaps they are today. The time when SF stories were regarded as the speculative branch of science as opposed to complete fictions are therefore within living memory, and it's a period I'd like to explore further in this blog.

This post adapts text from the booklet Visions of the Future: The Art of Science Fiction by Paul Whittle and Liz Stainforth.

Guardian Books - Five Science Fiction Novels for People who Hate SF

Guardian Books recently featured the article, 'Five Science Fiction Novels for People who Hate SF'. This title is in-keeping with a slightly annoying tendency of some literature feature writers:- to offer a pre-emptive apology, assuming that readers will be automatically put off by the SF label.

But is this really reflective of what people think? So often has the well-worn, albeit legitimate, argument about SF's resonance with societal issues been stated that it seems contrived to make it the opening gambit of the article. Nevertheless, we are told, 'science fiction is all around us, from clandestine electronic surveillance to robots taking our jobs', echoing J.G. Ballard's 1971 observation that, 'everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the 20th century'.

In this case the writer, Damien Walter, is obviously an SF fan, so the early disclaimer is soon forgotten because of his evident enthusiasm for the genre. His picks are:

5. China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
4. The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
3. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
2. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
1. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Le Guin's exploration of gender and race issues, Gibson's prophetic vision of the disturbing progress of technology and Banks' end-of-history based adventure story offer plenty for readers to get their teeth into. All things considered, this list is less 'Five SF Novels for people that hate SF', and more five novels for those that enjoy reading (less catchy, I know!) That being said, I recently joined a book group where the first novel we read will be my suggestion of The Female Man by Joanna Russ. It'll be a good opportunity to find out if the old sterotypes about SF come out in a group of voracious, library-based readers. Watch this (outer)space...

UPDATE: November 2015

Apparently others have also found critics' separation of literary and genre fiction frustrating. See the following articles in The Guardian and The Norwich Radical:

https://thenorwichradical.com/2015/11/03/literature-vs-genre-seconds-out-part-1/

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/nov/10/david-mitchell-and-literary-and-genre-fiction-world-fantasy-award

Life in Wax: Teaching Collections at Leeds

Still from Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

For many years now, arguably since the advent of the SF genre, insects have enjoyed an association with aliens in the popular imagination. From the archetypal bug-eyed monster depicted on the covers of early SF magazines, to the nightmarish insectoids of Starship Troopers, to the ant-like physiology of the creatures in Quatermass' pit, writers and filmmakers have drawn much inspiration from the insect world in their representation of martians, forms often regarded as frightening and strange.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the first thing I thought of when I saw the wax models of Hydrophilus piceus, or 'The Great Water Beatle' (see image below) were dormant, chrysalis-like aliens. These are part of the collection at the University of Leeds' Museum of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, and were formerly used in University teaching from the late 19th century onwards. What is unique about Hydrophilus is that it is the only insect to have been reproduced by the noted embryo modeler Adolf Ziegler (1820-1889). Louis Compton Miall (1842-1921), former Professor of Biology at Leeds, was widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost experts on The Great Water Beatle, second only to Karl Heider (1856-1935), who provided the drawings that the wax series was based on.

Hydrophilus piceus, or 'The Great Water Beatle'

While scaled up in size, the models replicate even the minutest features of the beetle throughout different stages of its life cycle, making them ideal for the study of biology and zoology, since they could be observed by a class of students. With real specimens being both expensive and difficult to present, wax models provided a clear visual aid to teachers trying to explain the development of human and animal embryos as three-dimensional structures.

During the latter part of the 19th century, wax models became instruments not just for teaching, but for research. Embryological development was called upon as key evidence in evolutionary debates and the models' great detail and accuracy meant they could be used in new investigations. Due to the public interest in embryology, wax models, along with text and print images, were displayed in a number of private and public museum collections. 

As well as Ziegler's water beetle, the collection holds series detailing the development of the pig, the vertebrate eye, the human heart, and the convolutions of the human brain. For further information, please visit: http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/museum-of-hstm/  

Amazing Stories and Wonder Stories now in Leeds University's Digital Library

Just a quick post to alert any interested parties to the fact that selected covers of the Hugo Gernsback-edited magazines Amazing Stories and Wonder Stories are now available to access via the University of Leeds' Digital Library (some images may require a University login). The covers viewable online are designed by Frank R. Paul, the artist most closely associated with Gernsback’s publications. Paul had studied to be an architect and, working in bright colours to offset the poor paper quality of low-cost printing, he became regarded as the most influential artist in the development of modern science fiction artwork. Here's a full list of issues with Paul's cover artwork in the Library's collection:

Amazing Stories

1927: April, May
1928: January-April, July-September, November
1929: January-March, June

Wonder Stories

1930: June, July, August

1931: April, June, August-December

1932: January-December

1933: January-June, August, October-December

1934: January, February, April-June, August, September, November, December

1935: January-October, December

1936: February, April

The completion of this project would not have been possible without the support of the Frank R. Paul estate, and is a step towards preserving these very fragile magazines.

Start the Week: Hari Kunzru and Dystopia - 17 June 2013

Lots to interest SF fans here. The episode focused on Hari Kunzru and his dystopian novella, Memory Palace, where books and the act of remembering have been banned. This work of fiction sits alongside 20 original commissions from leading graphic designers, illustrators and typographers to create a multidimensional story exhibition at the V&A. Jane Rogers discussed her apocalyptic tale, The Testament of Jessie Lamb, which is running as part of R4's Dangerous Visions season. This encompasses a selection of contemporary dramas with near-future dysopian themes, as well as new dramatisations of J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World and Concrete Island. James Robertson spoke about his latest novel, The Professor of Truth, which explores grief, justice and the truth, and the photographer Adam Broomberg raised questions about how far images of war capture the truth.

Futures Past: SF History in Leeds, P.4 Fan Fiction

As mentioned in an earlier post, a comprehensive history of science fiction fandom in the UK can be found at Rob Hansen’s excellent website. The subject of Leeds SF fandom has also been an ongoing topic in Peter Weston's Relapse. Added to which, I was recently in touch with Philip Turner about digitising copies of Leeds-based magazine The Futurian War Digest (FWD) illustrated by his Father, Harry Turner.

Futurian War Digest, Vol. 1, No. 9 (June 1941)

This correspondence prompted an interest in the fanzine itself and about the history of fan fiction in Leeds generally. FWD was published by J. Michael Rosenblum, one of Britain's earliest generation of science fiction fans. Active from the mid-1930s, he attended the the world's first SF convention in Leeds in 1937, and in June 1938 he launched his fanzine, The Futurian. In New York, a group of enthusiasts known as ‘the Michelists’ were looking for a new name, and they liked Rosenblum’s title to the extent of renaming themselves the Futurian Science Literary Society. Eventually abbreviated to ‘the Futurians’, the members included many who would go on to become prominent figures in the development of science fiction, such as Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Cyril Kornbluth, Frederik Pohl and Donald Wollheim. However, it was 1945 before they acknowledged their debt to Rosenblum’s fanzine. He continued to self-publish fanzines under various Futurian titles throughout the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, including FWD, which first appeared in October 1940. The zine ran for 39 issues, the last being released in March 1945, and is notable for coining the term 'fanzine' in an article from Vol 1, No 6 by Leslie Croutch. The fact that the publication ran throughout the entirety of the war heavily influenced the themes of the issues. Topics included 'Post-War Prospects As Seen by the President of the British Fantasy Society' and 'Post War Plans'. Of his Father's friendship with Rosenblum, Philip Turner said:

My father knew Mike Rosenblum [...] pretty well -- the Manchester and Leeds science fiction fans used to visit one another regularly, and go to London for events. So when M.R. wanted someone to put an illustration on the front page of issue 6 of FWD, after 5 text-only issues, my father was a logical choice of artist. He also did covers for 7, 9, 11, 13 and 14.

Other cover artists included R.L. Bradbury, D. Elder, Bob Gibson, Edwin MacDonald and Arthur Williams. Rosenblum's early efforts, along with the 1937 convention, made a significant contribution to the fan fiction movement in Leeds, and nationally. However, by the following year, the focus was already beginning to shift to London. The second SF Convention, which was far better attended, was held in Holborn on 10 April 1938, and it was decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association (SFA) to transfer its headquarters from Leeds to London.

By way of an aside, in the course of reading through back issues of Relapse, I found this reference to the University's own exhibition, which I helped put together:

The 75th anniversary of the world’s first SF convention (in Leeds) [...] was due to fall on 2nd January 2012. This was something we simply couldn’t miss! Rob suggested we should visit Leeds and scout-out the location at the Theosophic Hall, which he’d discovered was still standing. And we need to do it soon, he said, because there was an exhibition at the University (‘Visions of the Future: The Art of Science Fiction’) which closed on 11th June. Rob had supplied material for this, and had put the curator in touch with Jill Godfrey, daughter of Harold Gottliffe (who took the historic photographs of the 1937 con) and he was anxious to see how the promised panels on fandom had turned out.

This passage reminded me of how exciting it was to see a resurgence of interest in SF at the time (largely due to Andy Sawyer's exhibition at the BL), and how much I learned about the University's collection through being involved. It was also great to have contributions from local experts and SF enthusiasts as part of the project, and to be able to put on an exhibition in Leeds, the place where it all began.  

Dreams of a Low Carbon Future - New Graphic Novel Project

Artwork by James Mckay

Scientists based in the Energy Building at the University of Leeds have won £25k funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering to produce a graphic novel entitled Dreams of a Low Carbon Future. The novel will be a collaboration between scientists, artists, and school children, and will examine the issues of climate change and how we adapt our society to achieve a low carbon sustainable future.

The project is currently seeking artists and designers from the University's UGs, PGs, academics and support staff who are interested in participating in this project.

5,000 copies of the graphic novel will be printed. It will be launched at Thought Bubble Comics Festival in Leeds (23-24 November 2013), and exhibitions of artwork will be held at the Cartoon Museum London and the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery on campus in early 2014.

High profile contributors include the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy & Climate Change, Prof. David Mackay, Futurologist and author of You, Tomorrow, Dr Ian Pearson, and US environmental activist and author of Endgame, Derrick Jensen.

The project is managed by James Mckay, a professional comics artist working for 2000AD magazine and manager of the Doctoral Training Centre for Low Carbon Technologies.

Participants are invited to contribute:   

* Comic strip art   
* Single images e.g. sketches/paintings
* Text e.g. poems, stories that could be illustrated by other artists   
* Design – help design, format the book and promotional material (e.g. posters, flyers etc.)   
* Concepts – what do you think the future will look like?

Anyone with Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Futurist/comics/graphic novels interests, or with interests in the environment, technology or science in general will hopefully find this a fascinating, unusual project to be involved in.

ANY contribution, no matter how small, will be valuable. Please contact James at j.mckay@leeds.ac.uk for further information.