The Journal of Science Fiction

A fanzine published between 1951 and 1953 by Lester Fried, Edward Wood, and Charles Freudenthal.

According to Marshall Tymm and Mike Ashley in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, 1985, "Ostensibly the Official Organ of the University of Chicago Science Fiction Club, The Journal of Science Fiction was anything but the typical club publication. It ranks as one of the most mature and important fanzines of the 1950s. ... This magazine is every bit as professional as any major publication, as was the intention of the editors. They were attempting to provide the field with a serious, central annual which surveyed the field of SF."

From Golden Atom 1955:

One of the most promising of all, which only lasted four issues, due to the great expense, (Almost all fanzines are personally fin­anced), was “The Journal of Science-Fiction,” by Charles Freu­denthal and Edward Wood, of Chicago. Third and fourth issues featured a 1951 and 1952 Magazine Index, respectively; in addi­tion, the fourth had photographs taken at the Tenth Anniversary World Science Fiction Convention held in Chicago in August and September, 1952. (The 1953 Index has been published by “Destiny”; the Thirteenth World Convention is being held in Cleve­land this year.) One sentence in “The Journal’s” last editorial is especially worthy of attention: “The cynical transformation of science fiction from a literature of ideas into a literature of style is just about complete”; however, it ended on a note of faith for science fiction as “more than a sub-literature” and as “an art form of the highest importance.”

An extensive, retrospective review of the first issue (Fall, 1951) by Jon D. Swartz was published in Scientifiction: The First Fandom Report (New Series #9, 1st Quarter 2006).

Issue	Date	Pages	Notes
1	Fall 1951	32
2	Fall 1952	32
3	August 1952	32
4	1953	80	Final issue

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