illo n.

an illustration

Fancyclopedia


SF Fandom

  • 1945 A. Yeager Letter in Startling Stories Summer 88 page image Albert Yeager, Jr.

    And then come the inside illos. It would be nice to see a Finlay every now and then., if only to relieve the monotony.

  • 1947 L. Shaw Letter in Planet Stories Winter 127/1 page image Larry T. Shaw bibliography

    The illos were almost universally stupid in conception, and poor to fair in execution.

  • 1949 Planet Stories Spring 120/2

    That illo is the best in the ish, but sort of nutz.

  • 1955 R. de Soto Revolving Fan in Amazing Stories May 75 page image Roger De Soto bibliography

    Over the years, they [sc. fanzines] have developed a special argot: ‘ish’ for ‘issue’; ‘illo’ for ‘illustration’; ‘faned’ (rhymes with ‘Slan head’) for ‘fan editor’, to give a few examples.

  • 1959 R. Eney Fancyclopedia II (1979) 87 Dick Eney bibliography

    Illo, an illustration. Either the original or a reproduction may be meant.

  • 1961 G. H. Scithers in Amra July 2 George H. Scithers

    The illo to the immediate left is an experiment—our second try at multicolor work.

  • 1979 Science Fiction Review Jan. 34/1

    Seventy-six genzines led the Locus poll With one hundred and ten one-shots close at hand. They were followed by rows and rows of the finest offset illos, The dream of every bigname fan.

  • 1984 Not Tonight, Spock! Jan. (front cover)

    Special feature! Fold out illo of Spock.

  • 1994 Interzone July 5/3

    The illos are getting better and you are (wisely) not filling up the magazine with inferior illos but letting many of the stories stand alone.

  • 2015 P. Di Filippo On Books in Asimov’s Science Fiction Mar. 108/1 page image Paul Di Filippo

    A gorgeous cover by Richard Corben and interior illos by Rodger Gerberding add to the sepulchral luster.

Research requirements

antedating 1945
Earliest cite

in 'Startling Stories'
Research History
Geri Sullivan submitted a 1959 cite from Fancyclopedia II.
Jesse Sheidlower submitted a 1955 cite from Amazing Stories.
Sue Surova submitted a 1961 cite from Amra.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1958 cite from Ralph M. Holland's "Ghu's Lexicon".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1979 cite from Darrell Schweitzer's "Occasionally Mentioning Science Fiction".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1949 cite from a letter to the editor of Planet Stories by Radell Faraday Nelson.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1946 cite from a letter by Travis Willis in Startling Stories.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1947 cite from a letter by Larry Shaw to Planet Stories.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1948 cite from a letter by Dan Lesperance to Startling Stories.

This entry originally had a quotation attributed to "1965 A. Kuhfeld in Twilight Zine ?Aug.—Sept. 27", reading "Well, I can take a hint as well as the next man, so find enclosed seven fillos, an illo, and a cartoon.". While Al Kuhfeld contributed art to Twilight Zine on various occasions, there doesn't seem to be an issue that could be dated in the way that this one is, and this quote does not appear in any mid-1960s issues of Twilight Zine, at least in the ones available on fanac.org (they seem to be missing issue #15). Though it's not crucial, we'd be grateful if anyone could explain these bibliographical details.

Besides any antedatings, we would be interested to see any cites for this term outside SF fandom.

Last modified 2023-12-12 03:37:00
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.