Visit "Biblio Ballard: Selections from the McGrath Collection" at Special Collections

Biblio Ballard: Selections from the McGrath Collection at Special Collections

Biblio Ballard: Selections From The McGrath Collection at Special Collections is on display on the 7th floor at W.A.C. Bennett Library

Author photo of J.G. Ballard, taken by Fay Godwin, 1984. Courtesy of the British Library.
The author: J.G. Ballard
8 editions of Ballards work, including Billenium, The Voice of Time, The Wind from Nowhere, The Drowned World, The Crystal World, The Impossible Man, Terminal Beach, and Passport to Eternity
Early Ballard sci fi paperbacks, ca. 1962-1967
Image of the donor, Rick McGrath standing next to 23 boxes filled with his donated Ballard collection
The collector:  Rick McGrath, July '24 with his Ballard collection boxed up and ready for pick up.

"Ballardian"

[ in British English ]
(bælˈɑːdɪən)
 
adjective
resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in the works of J. G. Ballard, esp dystopian modernity, bleak artificial landscapes, and the psychological effects of technological, social, or environmental developments.

— Collins English Dictionary

About J.G. Ballard

J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) was a renowned British author of speculative fiction, often surreal, dystopian and disturbing. He is recognized as a highly original explorer of inner space and psychological dislocation, a pioneer of climate-apocalypse fiction, and a prophet of modern malaise. His best-known book is Empire of the Sun (1984).

About the collection

The McGrath J.G. Ballard Collection, recently donated to SFU Library by charter student Rick McGrath, is a major collection of the publications and editions of J.G. Ballard together with significant archival material and memorabilia. It is the largest Ballard collection outside of the British Library. 

About the exhibit

Biblio Ballard displays a number of choice selections from the McGrath collection, including several of the author's rarest first editions, notably the seldom encountered first American edition of The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), as well as memorabilia and archival material.  
 
The exhibit will run from January 3-April 29 on the 7th floor of W.A.C. Bennett Library outside Special Collections & Rare Books.

What's on display?

  • The rarest first edition in 20th-century science fiction
  • Editions of some of Ballard's best-known books
  • Memorabilia and ephemera in the form of a brick from the Shanghai internment camp in which Ballard and family were placed during WWII.
Two rare editions of Crash (1973)
1st U.S. and first British editions of Crash (1973).

 

A rare American edition of The Atrocity Exhibition (1970) signed by Ballard
Extremely rare 1st U.S. edition of The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), withdrawn before publication, signed by author and illustrator.
Empire of the Sun (1984) with brick from the building in which Ballard and family were interned during Japanese occupation of Shanghai during WW II, plus an account of life under occupation with foreword by Ballard.

 

 

 

Date(s)
January 3 to April 29
Location
7th floor, W.A.C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby)
Contact for further information
For further information, contact Tony Power (power@sfu.ca) or Special Collections & Rare Books (scrb@sfu.ca).