The Beinecke holds one of the largest collections in the world of gay and lesbian periodicals published before the gay liberation era of the 1970s, as well as an extensive collection of more recent serials. Gathered by Knud Rame, a Danish bookseller and astrologer, the Rame collection contains more than 3,400 issues of some 200 different titles, dating from 1906 to 1993. This extraordinarily expansive group of periodicals features items in English, French, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Japanese. The earliest item is a 1906 issue of Adolf Brand’s Der Eigene, which is generally regarded as the world’s first homosexual periodical.
The Rame collection includes homophile movement, entertainment, and pictorial physique magazines. In addition to further issues of Der Eigene (Germany, 1906-1933), highlights include complete runs of four seminal homophile movement magazines, Der Kreis(Switzerland, 1938-1967), One (USA, 1953-1972), Arcadie (France, 1954-1972), and The Ladder (USA, 1956-1972). Other significant titles include Die Freundschaft (Germany, 1924-1933), Die Insel(Germany, 1930-1933), Vennen (Denmark, 1949-1970), Pan(Norway, 1954-1972), Physique Pictorial (USA, 1954-1990), Dorian Book Quarterly (USA, 1960-1964), Man and Society (UK, 1963-1971), Vector (USA, 1964-1976), Tangents (USA 1965-1969), andGay Power (USA, 1969-1970). There are a number of specialized underground newsletters that are practically impossible to find in other research libraries. Many of the homophile periodicals include membership flyers, announcements, and other inserts.
For a complete list, see the List of Gay & Lesbian Serials from the Rame Collection (PDF)
These titles are in the process of being cataloged in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog. Any titles not yet in Orbis can be found in the Beinecke Library’s Uncataloged Acquisitions Database.