Checklists

If

If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the editorial position himself. He stayed in that role until late 1958, though Larry T. Shaw took over most editorial duties for a year from mid-1953. In 1958 Damon Knight was hired as editor, but within three issues Quinn sold the magazine to Robert Guinn at Galaxy Publishing.

The new editor at Galaxy Publishing was Horace L. Gold, who was also editing Galaxy Science Fiction. After two years Frederik Pohl took over as editor, and it was under Pohl that If reached its greatest success, winning the Hugo Award for best professional magazine three years running from 1966 to 1968. In 1969 Guinn sold all his magazines to Universal Publishing and Distribution (UPD). Pohl decided not to continue as editor as he wanted to return to his writing career. Ejler Jakobsson became editor; the magazine was not successful under his management and circulation plummeted. In early 1974 Jim Baen took over from Jakobsson as editor, but increasing paper costs meant that UPD could no longer afford to publish both Galaxy and If. Galaxy was regarded as the senior of the two magazines, so If was merged into Galaxy after the December 1974 issue, its 175th issue overall.

A semi-professional magazine named If appeared in 1986, intended as a revival of the original, but it folded after a single issue.

Somewhat confusingly there were actually five different series of British reprint editions between 1953 and 1974, some with very strange numbering, representing 67 issues in total.

1952
v1 #1
Mar
v1 #2
May
v1 #3
Jul
v1 #4
Sep
v1 #5
Nov

1953
v1 #6
Jan
v2 #1
Mar
v2 #2
May
v2 #3
Jul
v2 #4
Sep
v2 #5
Nov

1954
v2 #6
Jan
v3 #1
Mar
v3 #2
Apr
v3 #3
May
v3 #4
Jun
v3 #5
Jul
v3 #6
Aug
v4 #1
Sep
v4 #2
Oct
v4 #3
Nov
v4 #4
Dec

1955
v4 #5
Jan
v4 #6
Feb
v5 #1
Mar
v5 #2
Apr
v5 #3
May
v5 #4
Jun
v5 #5
Aug
v5 #6
Oct
v6 #1
Dec

1956
v6 #2
Feb
v6 #3
Apr
v6 #4
Jun
v6 #5
Aug
v6 #6
Oct
v7 #1
Dec

1957
v7 #2
Feb
v7 #3
Apr
v7 #4
Jun
v7 #5
Aug
v7 #6
Oct
v7 #6
Dec

1958
v8 #2
Feb
v8 #3
Apr
v8 #4
Jun
v8 #5
Aug
v8 #6
Oct
v9 #1
Dec

1959
v9 #2
Feb
v8 #6
Jul
v9 #4
Sep
v9 #5
Nov

1960
v9 #6
Jan
v10 #1
Mar
v10 #2
May
v10 #3
Jul
v10 #4
Sep
v10 #5
Nov

1961
v10 #6
Jan
v10 #6
Mar
v11 #2
May
v11 #3
Jul
v11 #4
Sep
v11 #5
Nov

1962
v11 #6
Jan
v12 #1
Mar
v12 #2
May
v12 #3
Jul
v12 #4
Sep
v12 #5
Nov

1963
v12 #6
Jan
v13 #1
Mar
v13 #2
May
v13 #3
Jul
v13 #4
Sep
v13 #5
Nov

1964
v13 #6
Jan
v14 #1
Mar
v14 #2
May
v14 #3
Jul
v14 #4
Aug
v14 #5
Oct
v14 #6
#84
Nov
v14 #7
#85
Dec

1965
v15 #1
#86
Jan
v15 #2
#87
Feb
v15 #3
#88
Mar
v15 #4
#89
Apr
v15 #5
#90
May
v15 #6
#91
Jun
v15 #7
#92
Jul
v15 #8
#93
Aug
v15 #9
#94
Sep
v15 #10
#95
Oct
v15 #11
#96
Nov
v15 #12
#97
Dec

1966
v16 #1
#98
Jan
v16 #2
#99
Feb
v16 #3
#100
Mar
v16 #4
#101
Apr
v16 #5
#102
May
v16 #6
#103
Jun
v16 #7
#104
Jul
v16 #8
#105
Aug
v16 #9
#106
Sep
v16 #10
#107
Oct
v16 #11
#108
Nov
v16 #12
#109
Dec

1967
v17 #1
#110
Jan
v17 #2
#111
Feb
v17 #3
#112
Mar
v17 #4
#113
Apr
v17 #5
#114
May
v17 #6
#115
Jun
v17 #7
#116
Jul
v17 #8
#117
Aug
v17 #9
#118
Sep
v17 #10
#119
Oct
v17 #11
#120
Nov
v17 #12
#121
Dec

1968
v18 #1
#122
Jan
v18 #2
#123
Feb
v18 #3
#124
Mar
v18 #4
#125
Apr
v18 #5
#126
May
v18 #6
#127
Jun
v18 #7
#128
Jul
v18 #8
#129
Aug
v18 #9
#130
Sep
v18 #10
#131
Oct
v18 #11
#132
Nov
v18 #12
#133
Dec

1969
v19 #1
#134
Jan
v19 #2
#135
Feb
v19 #3
#136
Mar
v19 #4
#137
Apr
v19 #5
#138
May
v19 #6
#139
Jul
v19 #7
#140
Sep
v19 #8
#141
Oct
v19 #9
#142
Nov
v19 #10
#143
Dec

1970
v20 #1
#144
Jan
v20 #2
#145
Feb
v20 #3
#146
Mar
v20 #4
#147
Apr
v20 #5
#148
May
v20 #6
#149
Jul
v20 #7
#150
Sep
v20 #8
#151
Nov

1971
v20 #9
#152
Jan/Feb
v20 #10
#153
Mar/Apr
v20 #11
#154
May/Jun
v20 #12
#155
Jul/Aug
v21 #1
#156
Sep/Oct
v21 #2
#157
Nov/Dec

1972
v21 #3
#158
Jan/Feb
v21 #4
#159
Mar/Apr
v21 #5
#160
May/Jun
v21 #6
#161
Jul/Aug
v21 #7
#162
Sep/Oct
v21 #8
#163
Nov/Dec

1973
v21 #9
#164
Jan/Feb
v21 #10
#165
Mar/Apr
v21 #11
#166
May/Jun
v21 #12
#167
Jul/Aug
v22 #1
#168
Sep/Oct
v22 #2
#169
Nov/Dec

1974
v22 #3
#170
Jan/Feb
v22 #4
#171
Mar/Apr
v22 #5
#172
May/Jun
v22 #6
#173
Jul/Aug
v22 #7
#174
Sep/Oct
v22 #8
#175
Nov/Dec

1986
v23 #1
#176
Sep/Nov

2024
v1 #1
Feb