Le Vombiteur

Zine
Title:	Le Vombiteur
Publisher:	Ghu Publishing
Editor(s):	Robert A. W. Lowndes
Organizer(s):
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Date(s):	1938-1940
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Medium:	Print
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Fandom:	Science Fiction
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Language:	English
External Links:	Several issues online at Fanac.org
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Le Vombiteur was a science fiction fanzine edited by Robert A. W. Lowndes from 1938-1940. It published for 37 issues.

Spelling

For some time Le Vombiteur used "Ackermanese", a simplified phonetic spelling that was popular at the time among certain SF fans. Lowndes wrote to Voice of the Imagi-Nation in September 1939:

"Dear VOM-bi:- Aftr readng th lovlicus messag relayd to me from Madge (VOM #2, Introduction), how can I tel U th horribl news that soonr or latr must b told? Alas, I sift ashes down my back, pul titer th sackcloth, & bang my head against th wall. For, o grievus day!, with th chang of publishrs of Levy, to tak place with th commencing of Volum 3, my lovly simplified speling must go. Nonstoparafng I hope to retain, but Michel positibly refuses to mimeo Levy for me unles I spel orthodoxly, & sine, othrwis Levy wuld be no mor, as it is impossibl for me to keep going with hecto, I must yield. Th brief period between BC (befor Capitulation) & AD (aftr duress) was a happy 1, wasn't it. But — cheer thee well — beneath his reactionary clothing, Levy's radicl heart bangs steadily, & by th grace of GhuGhu, we shal includ at least 1 item in each forthcoming FAPA mailing dedicatd to th glorius revolution in speling!

Voice of the Imagi-Nation 3, page 6 (September 1939)

In standardized spelling:

Dear VOM-bi:- After readng the lovlicus message relayed to me from Madge (VOM #2, Introduction), how can I tell you the horrible news that sooner or later must be told? Alas, I sift ashes down my back, pull tighter the sackcloth, & bang my head against the wall. For, o grievous day!, with the change of publishers of Levy, to take place with the commencing of Volume 3, my lovely simplified spelling must go. Nonstoparafng I hope to retain, but Michel positively refuses to mimeo Levy for me unless I spell orthodoxly, & since, otherwise Levy would be no more, as it is impossible for me to keep going with hecto, I must yield. The brief period between BC (before Capitulation) & AD (after duress) was a happy one, wasn't it. But — cheer thee well — beneath his reactionary clothing, Levy's radical heart bangs steadily, & by the grace of GhuGhu, we shall include at least 1 item in each forthcoming FAPA mailing dedicated to the glorious revolution in spelling!

Ibid.

Reviews

Published weekly. one of the finest of the smaller fan mags, especially to the fan who knows his onions. Published by Robert W. Lowndes... for five cents a copy, this hecktoed publication knows no editorial restriction or limitations. Almost anything is included in its pages---poetry, short articles, communications, and the like. And very often are included supplements also. At present, the sheet is making a poll of the ten favorite science-fiction stories of all fans. Each issue consists of 2 or 4 large size pages, and is well worth any fan's money. You may not like it---but again, there's a very strong possibility that you will.

Harry Warner, Jr.: Among Our Neighbors. Spaceways #4 pg. 2. March 1939.

Lowndes printed a review for his own zine after its demise in 1940:

"Le Vombiteur" never gave real competition as a newsheet, nor did it attempt to do so. Its editor clearly stated that the sheet [existed sheerly] for the sake of expressing whatever he felt like expressing (and publishing anything sent to him he liked). It was a fore-runner of unorthodoxy and whimsy in fan-publications, and, despite the ultra leftness of its tenor, the many items of little interest to non-Marxist fans, and the many occasions upon which it tore into personalities (as often wrong as right), it did succeed in building up circulation and gaining friends. Publication was suspended shortly before July and it ceased to exist as a weekly publication. It is more than likely that it will appear as an irregular publication divested of the more esoteric aspects of leftism but retaining the unorthodoxy and whimsy.

Scientifan issue 2 page 4 (January 1940)