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Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.

defunct American small press

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 28, 2022
Entity authorityQ5434324
Source-derived summary

Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc., or FPCI, was an American science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing company established in 1946. It was the fourth small press company founded by William L. Crawford.

Crawford's first company was Fantasy Publications which he started in 1935 in Everett, Pennsylvania, primarily to publish his magazines Marvel Tales and Unusual Stories. However, three books were published under the imprint.

In 1936, Crawford initiated his second company, Visionary Publishing Company, with the intention of publishing books with this imprint. Visionary is notable for publishing the only hardcover book by H. P. Lovecraft that was published during his lifetime.

Later in 1936, Crawford assumed management of publication of Fantasy Magazine from Conrad H. Ruppert and ceased all book publications in order to concentrate on the magazine. After relocating to California, Crawford again published books as "A Crawford Publication".

Finally, he incorporated as Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in December 1946.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.” is defunct American small press. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Fantasy, Publishing and Company, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1946, 1935, 1936—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1946. For this dossier, Fantasy, Publishing and Company is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “defunct American small press” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 28, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q5434324. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1946, 1935 and 1936.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. primary sources, Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. archive and Fantasy 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 “Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.” 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.