Special Collections is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Edward E. Marsh Golden Age of Science Fiction Library!  Edward Marsh, an Escondido resident who attended San Diego State in 1969, recently donated the bulk of his world-class science fiction collection to Special Collections and University Archives.

This extraordinary collection features signed first editions by numerous Golden Age writers, including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, L. Sprague de Camp and L. Ron Hubbard. Rare and exceptional works by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and other notable authors are especially noteworthy and remarkable. Correspondence, original manuscripts, photographs, memorabilia, film paraphernalia, and artwork comprise a major portion of the collection and provide excellent insights into the growth and history of modern science fiction, particularly during the Golden Age. In addition to science fiction materials, hallmarks of the gift include rare, signed first-editions by George Orwell, Winston S. Churchill, Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming and William Burroughs, as well as a large collection of rare Dianetics and Scientology-related items. His recent donation to the SDSU Library, valued at $2.25 million, is the first portion of the complete collection Mr. Marsh plans to gift to Special Collections.

Selections from Mr. Marsh's donation will be on display in the Donor Hall of Love Library as part of Special Collections’ upcoming science fiction exhibit -- Strange Data, Infinite Possibilities. Much of the remainder of the collection can be viewed in the Louis A. Kenney Reading Room in Special Collections on the 4th floor of the Library Addition.  Please note that this collection is currently being cataloged and is not yet searchable in the library's online catalog.

Other related collections include the Elizabeth Chater Book Collection, the Elizabeth Chater Manuscript Collection, the Larry McCaffery Papers (currently unprocessed), the Alternative Religious Movements Book Collection, and the Kaye Hyde Ephemera Collection.