Groff Conklin was a prolific anthologist from the 1940s to the 1960s; his first major book, The Best of Science Fiction, appeared a few months before the more famous Adventures in Time and Space, but since the latter had been contracted first, Conklin was prohibited from using any of the same stories. (Indeed, Conklin never did use any of those stories in any of his anthologies.) Conklin's scope in his first book was broader than that of AT&S; he includes 19th century stories by Poe, Doyle, and Wells. Still, of his 40 stories, 25 were from Astounding, and the book has an introduction by John W. Campbell, Jr.

Conklin went on to edit three other 500+ page 'tomes' -- Treasury, Big Book, and Omnibus, for the same publisher -- and eight other hardcovers for different publishers, and then over two dozen additional titles as paperback originals. Many of these focused on a specific science fictional theme, and Conklin is credited with being the first anthologist to compile such 'theme anthologies.'

Numerous other Conklin titles can be found than those listed below; they were the same books retitled, or selections in paperback editions from earlier hardcovers. For exhaustive lists of Conklin titles, see his SFE entry and isfdb bibliography. The list here includes 40 of the 41 titles described in Bud Webster's book, omitting a book of detective stories.

The photo shows a first edition sans dustjacket of his first anthology. Second is an example of a 'Permabook,' a paperback sized book with thin, laminated, hardcover boards. The middle book is a paperback derivation (isfdb) from the original hardcover (isfdb).

The most-reprinted authors in these 40 anthologies: Theodore Sturgeon (23); Isaac Asimov and Murray Leinster (17 each); Eric Frank Russell (16); Ray Bradbury (15); Arthur C. Clarke (12); Poul Anderson (11); Robert A. Heinlein and Clifford D. Simak (10 each).