Calgary — It came from the attic... the garage... and worlds beyond.

A massive collection of science fiction and pulp magazines spanning the last century has been donated to the University of Calgary which officials say will be a boon for literary and pop culture research.

University staff were stunned by the size of the donation: upwards of 35,000 volumes dating back to the 19th century, much of it bought at second-hand stores across North America and Britain.

"It spans the age of science and technology," said retired English professor Susan Stratton, among the first to teach science fiction at the university in the 1970s.

"In it we can study changes in perceptions of the role of women in society, the promises and threats of atomic power, of biotechnology."

The scope of the collection means scholars can chart when the starry-eyed "gosh, wow" view of science began to be challenged by the darker threat of advancing technology.

"It's no longer escapist reading for teenaged boys — if it ever was," Ms. Stratton said Thursday.

The treasure trove of material was donated by the family of William Gibson, who spent decades amassing the collection which eventually took over much of his Calgary home. Mr. Gibson died in 2001 at age 92.

It ranges from 19th century Jules Verne, who wrote classics such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, to almost-complete runs of pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories — dating back to the 1930s — to more recent cyberpunk.

"It's infinitely more usable here than buried in the back of the garage," said Andrew Gibson, noting that his father kept detailed file cards of authors and their works before packing away the magazines and novels in apple crates and plastic.

Those boxes were generally unlabelled, making it impossible to track down a particular story or magazine.

"He'd know that he had it, but he wouldn't have any mechanism to bring it back."

Mr. Gibson would also meticulously put together sci-fi anthologies from magazines such as Saturday Evening Post that were generally considered much more high-brow.

Early works of sci-fi masters such as Ray Bradbury and H.P Lovecraft are expected to be among the boxes that have yet to be unpacked.

No monetary value has been placed on the collection, which is one of the largest in the world.

The university estimates $500,000 is needed to clean, preserve and catalogue the books and magazines. It hopes public donations will cover that cost.

Library officials were shocked to learn some of this material has survived.

"Pulps were designed to be consumable, to be thrown away — and these have all been preserved," said Alan MacDonald, former director of libraries at the university.

"I'm sure we'll still keep finding jewels," he said. "The collection as a whole is fabulous because there is so much. We're going to be mining this for years."

University officials hope the collection will attract donations of other science fiction material and the literary papers of important sci-fi writers.

"Our opinion is that this collection will be a magnet for people from all over the world," said Blane Hogue, director of information services.

Among the University of Calgary's archives are literary collections of authors W.O. Mitchell and Mordecai Richler. The university also has a collection of Harlequin romances dating back to the company's first-run novels.