Most of the reviews in the present listing were written by one of the editors; no attempt has been made to divide the reviews written by MZB from those written by Damon. In general, these reviews have been gathered from so many sources that the awarding of individual credit would be impossible.
This Checklist, 1960, is the last of the cumulative Checklists. Plans at present are to publish brief supplements annually, listing only new titles, new reprints of old titles, or new discoveries of overlooked titles. Since this is the case, we feel that some brief history of the Checklist might be of interest to the readers.
Nearly 10 years ago, in the mailing of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association, a very bitter discussion was raging on the subject of censorship—pro and con. Complicating this discussion, a man who is now dead, and shall therefore be nameless, published a scathing attack on homosexuals. By way of subtle reproof, and partially as a deadpan joke on this man, your senior editor, with Royal Drummond (whose “Digression” was highly praised by Checklist readers last year ...) published a 12-page offset leaflet, with editorials attacking censorship, and extensive reviews of perhaps a dozen of the best known homosexual novels. This leaflet had a cartoon cover and the general light-hearted tone of the publication was indicated by the title, which was _Fairy Tales for Fabulous Faps_. Reaction to this leaflet was mixed, but in general the readers enjoyed it, and said, “Do this again some time — ”. However, soon after this, Mr. Drummond dropped out of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association, and your present editor had no impetus to continue the series single-handed.
Early in the history of the publication known as THE LADDER, your senior editor had the privilege of reviewing the Foster book mentioned above, while the junior editor was in charge of the _Lesbiana_ column. After reading the Foster work, your editor (MZB) resolved to publish a list of the omitted titles; when I began cutting the mimeograph stencils, however, I resolved to review not only the titles which Dr. Foster had omitted, but all of those which I had read, for the purpose of putting into print my own personal opinions and reactions. This first Checklist was called _Astra’s Tower #2_, and the number 2 seems to have baffled a good many people—they all wrote in, inquiring about #1. Number 1, however, was a mimeographed booklet of my own fiction, published during my late teens for the FAPA, mentioned above.