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The Portable Phonograph

Walter Van Tilburg Clark

First published 1951
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

After the apocalypse: "All that remains of culture is the doctor's collection of four books—Shakespeare, The Bible, Moby Dick and The Divine Comedy—and a portable phonograph and a few records. Now the few survivors realize the precious value of culture. However, after the others leave, the doctor hears in the empty world a cough not far away, so, in fear, he hides his books and phonograph and records." (RayS)

First appeared in the Spring 1941 issue of the "The Yale Review".

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1951 Adventures in Tomorrow Ambassador Anthology
April 1951 Cover Adventures in Tomorrow Greenberg Anthology 34
April 1951 Cover Adventures in Tomorrow Greenberg Anthology 34
September 1952 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 33
1953 Cover Adventures in Tomorrow The Bodley Head Anthology 42
July 1958 The Art of Modern Fiction: Alternate Edition Rinehart Anthology 343
1959 Cover The Armchair Science Reader Simon & Schuster Anthology |12
1960 Cover Masters and Masterpieces of the Short Story: Second Series Holt-Dryden Books / Henry Holt Anthology 81
December 1961 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
January 1962 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology
1963 Cover Of Men and Machines E. P. Dutton Anthology 159
March 1967 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
January 1968 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
February 1968 Cover Adventures in Tomorrow Belmont Books Anthology 19
February 1968 Cover Adventures in Tomorrow Belmont Books Anthology 19
September 1968 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
November 1968 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
August 1970 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
August 1972 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
1973 Speculations Glencoe Press Anthology
1973 Cover A Collection of Prose and Poetry on the Theme of Tomorrow: Science Fiction and the Future Scholastic Anthology 39
October 1973 Cover Tomorrow and Tomorrow Simon & Schuster Anthology 215
1974 Cover Another Tomorrow Pflaum Anthology 95
1974 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
August 1974 Cover Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gollancz Anthology 215
November 1974 Cover Transformations II: Understanding American History Through Science Fiction Fawcett Crest Anthology 135
September 1976 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
August 1977 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 28
1987 Cover A Collection of Prose and Poetry on the Theme of Tomorrow Scholastic Anthology 155
October 1999 Cover Bangs and Whimpers: Stories About the End of the World Roxbury Park / Lowell House Anthology 149
July 2000 Cover Bangs and Whimpers: Stories About the End of the World Roxbury Park / SFBC Anthology 149