The Joys of the Archive
So far when researching my dissertation I’ve spent most of my time with secondary sources, trying to get an idea of where the scholarship in the field stands and what kinds of questions other historians are asking of science fiction, as well as what kinds of sources they’re using. But I think most historians will agree that the real fun is in working with the primary sources themselves.
That said, trying to find the right primary sources is just as challenging as it is exciting, and raises a whole host of questions. Today I found The Visual Index of Science Fiction Cover Art. I haven’t spent much time poking around yet, but already I’ve found some great material:
It’s hard to know the story behind this image without knowing the actual, well, story behind this image. But it demonstrates how complex of a resource visual sources are to understanding science fiction. Getting my hands on these visual sources will be interesting enough; it will be another challenge all together to see if I can pair the text with the visuals, or find accounts from the artists about their creations. As the entire archive of Analog covers is available to me, I’ll also have to situate this image in the context of the other illustrations that appeared on the cover.
It’s not clear is there is a existent archive of the magazines themselves, which demonstrates both the value and limitations of digital research. But this is a great starting point, and I can’t wait to find more gems.
