Nepenthe

Nepenthe, nicknamed Neppie, was a fanzine published at MIT in the early 1940s by Earl Singleton that focused on poetry, allegedly the first such zine. The first issue appeared in December 1940 and carried a dedication that read:

 This 
 the first issue of Nepenthe
 is for Trudy-- 
 who 
 if we are not 
 mistaken 
 was at the Chicon.

"Trudy" was Trudy Kuslan, co-editor of The Nucleus, who attended the Chicon as well as Singleton, with whom she had a brief romantic relationship.

After seeing the second issue, A. Merritt wrote to Roy V. Hunt that "If Singleton can only keep it up, he's got something." No further issues were published.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

Neppie - Pet name for Nepenthe, fanzine of Singleton's.

Issue	Date	Pages	Notes
1	December 1940		Contributors: Louis Russell Chauvenet, Del Cross, Ian Davies, Corinne Ellsworth, E. Everett Evans, Larry B. Farsaci, John Francis, Paul Freehafer, "Curl Gradient", B. M. Hendrick, Jr., Richard Kraft, Arthur Lambert, Allan Lang, Grady L. McMurtry, A. Merritt, Jack Chapman Miske, "P. Tex Sigma", Charles R. Tanner, Dale Tarr, Harry Warner, Jr., and Stanley G. Weinbaum. Cover art by Marie Johnson and illustrations by Grady L. McMurtry.
2	Spring 1941		Hektographed. Contributors: Spencer Bailey, Louis Russell Chauvenet, Del Cross, Arthur Cusp, E. Everett Evans, Dale Harding Exum, Larry B. Farsaci, "Curl Gradient", Dale Hart, Arthur Lambert, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Grady L. McMurtry, A. Merritt, John B. Michel, Jack Chapman Miske, Edgar Salute, Oliver King Smith, Bob Tucker as 'Hoy Floy Doy', Donald A. Wollheim, and Christopher Samuel Youd (John Christopher). Cover art by Leslie Perri (Doris Baumgardt), and was silkscreened by John B. Michel. Final issue.

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Publication

1940—1941

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