Bob Girard Collection

“My dream was to have one business in which the entire worlds literature on these subjects was all under one roof”

– Bob Girard to Clas Svahn, April 19th 1987

Robert Charles Girard, Collector and Seller of Rare UFO & Paranormal Books and “Zines” for over 30 years via his Arcturus Books Service. Thanks to the UFO Research Coalition (CUFOS, FUFOR, & MUFON). Special Thanks to Tom Deuley!

Anomaly Archives Non-Circulating

Reference Catalogs

Bob Girard Collection* (Updated 5/17/15)

Bob Girard Periodicals Collection* (Updated 5/17/15)

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Read the interview here (published first in the Winter 2015 Issue of Steamshovel Press) [Available Here]

We are proud to announce our latest acquisition: the personal collection of rare book seller and proprietor of the long-running Arcturus Books service, Robert C. Girard.

“He saw his Arcturus [Book Service] … as a way to connect to people, strange and wonderful people that he would never had been able to find without his book list.”
– Clas Svahn, Journalist and Vice Chairman of the Archives for the unexplained

“Bob Girard is an American institution”
– Colin Bennett, Fortean and flying saucer historian, 2004

“The Marcel Proust of the UFO phenomenon” … “The proprietor of Arcturus Books–arguably the biggest and best UFO bookstore in the world.”
– John Chambers, Paranormal journalist, 2004

“The greatest national bookseller of used books ranging from cryptozoology to Forteana, from ufology to parapsychology”
– Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist, 2011

“Robert C. Girard… ran what was probably the world’s premier Fortean mail-order book service”
– Ronan Coghlan, Fortean zoologist, 2011

Bob Girard (1942-2011) was a legendary collector and seller of rare books, specializing in UFO literature and related fringe subject matter. In today’s age of internet ubiquity, instant gratification, and declining print media outlets, Robert Girard’s name is not widely known among UFO believers nor paranormal enthusiasts. His name is, however, remembered among many long-time UFO researchers, paranormal writers, and the DIY self-publishers of the 1980s and ’90s alt-media “Zine Scene.” He is remembered as the brutally frank bibliophile who published his incisive insights in concise micro-reviews, monthly, distributed world-wide across six continents. Despite his contribution of a handful of small books (The Revolt of the Free and Futureman to name only two) and over 30 years of service to the book-hungry global network of para-cultural knowledge seekers, he has yet to be acknowledged by the history books. Though in fact, he and his Arcturus Books service are mentioned in several UFO books including within the source citations of academic (and scholar of new religious movement studies) author James R. Lewis’ The Gods Have Landed.

Read the interview here (published first in the Winter 2015 Issue of Steamshovel Press) [Available Here]

 Books by Robert C. Girard

 

• Mice (1988)
• Elements of the Equation (1988)
• The Revolt of the Free (1990)
• FUTUREMAN: A Synthesis of Missing Links, the Human Infestation of Earth, and the Alien Abduction Epidemic (1994)

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 [Photo Credits: Clas Svahn / AFU]