Editor: John Michell
Publisher: privately published, Bath
Year: 1975
Size: 310 x 215 x 1 mm
Pages: 12, offset printed and unbound
Language: English
Condition: Very good, slight yellowing of pages
The Fanatic was a short-lived and elusive underground magazine initiated by countercultural spearheads John Michell and William Levy in the mid-1970s. The editors, who knew each other from their work for International Times, conceived a DIY magazine for anybody to compose and publish under the umbrella of The Fanatic. “Make your own Fanatic…” it says in The Fanatic No. 3, “any shape… any size… print as few or as many as you can afford… Yes, you!… Just remember to use The Fanatic logo to show it is the genuine article… And please… send copies to our Post-Apocalypso Archive… Postbus 2080… Amsterdam-C… Holland”. After the first edition had been published in Bath in 1975, editions produced by various editors appeared sporadically in various languages from other locations in Europe and, once, from the US over a period of five years.
The special cosmological issue of The Fanatic was the first in the series, published in Bath in 1975. Although the contributions to this zine were anonymous, John Michell can easily be identified as the most important, if not the only, author of the issue, which contains articles on The New Jerusalem, The Demolition of Darwin, The Fall of Babylon, a spoof interview with Professor A.J. Ayer and more. The condition of this rare copy is very good with only the slightest yellowing of the pages.