CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Anatomy of Wonder

reference book by Neil Barron

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ96372034 ↗
Source-derived summary

Anatomy of Wonder — A Critical Guide to Science Fiction is a reference book by Neil Barron. It covers hundreds of works of science fiction.

Publication history

The book received a total of five editions, each updated and expanded compared to the previous ones:

Anatomy of Wonder: Science Fiction (1976)

Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction: Second Edition (1981)

Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction: Third Edition (1987)

Anatomy of Wonder 4: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction (1995)

Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction: Fifth Edition (2004)

Reception

Dave Langford reviewed Anatomy of Wonder for White Dwarf #39, and stated that "The book records hundreds of 'major' SF works from antiquity to 1980, with useful plot summaries [...] and idiosyncratic recommendations for building up a collection of fine SF. A unique reference book, shortlisted for the 1982 Hugo Award, non-fiction category."

The book was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work for 1982, but lost to Danse Macabre.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Anatomy of Wonder” as reference book by Neil Barron. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Anatomy, Wonder and book.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1976, 1981, 1987, 1995—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Anatomy, Wonder and book providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Anatomy of Wonder”, the useful work is to connect “reference book by Neil Barron” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q96372034. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1995.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Anatomy of Wonder”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Anatomy of Wonder primary sources, Anatomy of Wonder archive and Anatomy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Anatomy of Wonder”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Anatomy of Wonder” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.