The Enchanted Duplicator is science fiction fan

Science fiction fandom

Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...

 fiction written by Walt Willis

Walt Willis

Walter Alexander Willis was a well-known Irish science fiction fan, resident in Belfast.Willis was awarded a 1958 Hugo Award as "Outstanding Actifan" , which replaced the Best Fanzine category that year. He was nominated for a best fan writer Hugo in 1969 and two retro-Hugos in the same category...

 and Bob Shaw

Bob Shaw

Bob Shaw, born Robert Shaw, was a science fiction author and fan from Northern Ireland. He was noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980...

. It was originally published in February 1954, in an edition of 200 numbered copies, and has been reprinted many times, notably in an edition illustrated by Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones (artist)

Eddie Jones , born Edward John Jones, was a British science fiction illustrator, who started as a fan artist. He illustrated numerous science fiction book covers, some under the pseudonym S. Fantoni, and provided interior illustrations for books and magazines. Jones was active in the field from...

 in 1962; in Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

in 1972/3; and in Warhoon 28, a hardback fanzine

Science fiction fanzine

A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...

 collection of Willis's writing, in 1980.

It is an allegory of the journey of a science fiction fan, loosely based on John Bunyan

John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...

's The Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been...

(though Shaw and Willis denied having read it beforehand ).

The Tower of Trufandom, the eventual location of the Enchanted Duplicator in the story, was based on Scrabo Tower

Scrabo Tower

Scrabo Tower is located to the west of Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland.The landmark, which is visible from most of north Down, was built on a volcanic plug above the town in 1857 as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry who was one of the Duke of Wellington's...

 in Newtownards

Newtownards

Newtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Borough of Ards. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821 people in...

, near Walt Willis' home in Northern Ireland

A sequel, Beyond the Enchanted Duplicator... To the Enchanted Convention, by Walt Willis and James White

James White (author)

James White was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending his early years in Canada. After a few years in the clothing industry, he worked at Short Brothers Ltd. from 1965 until taking early retirement in...

, was published in 1991 by Geri Sullivan, and illustrated by Stu Shiffman.