This "quarterly of speculative fiction," in slightly pricey for the time original paperbacks, was the most experimental, overtly New Wave series of the era. Delany and his poet wife Hacker included poetry, pages of illustrations (e.g. 12 over 20 pages, some erotic, by Russell Fitzgerald, in the first volume), and (also in the first volume) an essay by Delany on critical methods in science fiction. While most contributors were new the field (e.g. an early Gardner Dozois story) there were also veterans like A.E. van Vogt and Larry Niven. Niven's relatively conventional story (in volume four) was the only story to be nominated for a Hugo (or Nebula).
The series was notable for placing author names at the end of each story, rather than below the title, as if to encourage the reader to approach each story without preconceptions. Authors were nevertheless listed on the table of contents--except for volume two, where the TOC was omitted.
SFE notes that the series, lasting only four volumes, "sold well, but the hostile critical reaction caused the publisher to close it down."
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QUARK/1, (Paperback Library, 1970)
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QUARK/2, (Paperback Library, 1971)
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QUARK/3, (Paperback Library, 1971)
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QUARK/4, (Paperback Library, 1971)
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Combined Contents by Author and Title
Helen Adam
Daughter of Roses
-- Vol. #1
The True Reason for the Dreadful Death of Mr. Rex Arundel
-- Vol. #4
Hilary Bailey
Dogman of Islington
-- Vol. #1
Twenty-Four Letters from Under the Earth
-- Vol. #3
Gregory Benford
Inalienable Rite
-- Vol. #1
Joan Bernott
My Father's Guest
-- Vol. #1
The Way Home
-- Vol. #2
Sandy Boucher
Shades
-- Vol. #1
John Brunner
The Inception of the Epoch of Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid
-- Vol. #2
Edward Bryant
Adrift on the Freeway
-- Vol. #1
Among the Dead
-- Vol. #2
Marco Cacchioni
The Song of Passing
-- Vol. #4
Avram Davidson
Basileikon: Summer
-- Vol. #4
Samuel R. Delany
Dog in a Fisherman's Net
-- Vol. #3
Thomas M. Disch
Bodies
-- Vol. #4
Let Us Quickly Hasten to the Gate of Ivory
-- Vol. #1
The Planet Arcadia
-- Vol. #2
Sonya Dorman
Bitching It
-- Vol. #2
Vanishing Points
-- Vol. #3
Gardner Dozois
The Sound of Muzak
-- Vol. #1
Gordon Eklund
Home Again, Home Again
-- Vol. #3
Ramona, Come Softly
-- Vol. #1
Carol Emshwiller
A Possible Episode in the Picaresque Adventures of Mr. J.H.B. Monstrosee
-- Vol. #2
Philip José Farmer
Brass and Gold, or Horse and Zeppelin in Beverly Hills
-- Vol. #4
The Voice of the Sonar in My Vermiform Appendix
-- Vol. #2
Russell Fitzgerald
The Last Supper
-- Vol. #2
Marilyn Hacker
Landscape for Insurrection
-- Vol. #2
Nightsong
-- Vol. #4
M. John Harrison
Ring of Pain
-- Vol. #3
H. B. Hickey
Gone Are the Lupo
-- Vol. #1
Richard Hill
Brave Salt
-- Vol. #3
James Keilty
The People of Prashad
-- Vol. #2
Virginia Kidd
Balls: A Meditation at the Graveside
-- Vol. #3
R. A. Lafferty
The Cliff Climbers
-- Vol. #1
Incased in Ancient Rind
-- Vol. #3
Ursula K. Le Guin
A Trip to the Head
-- Vol. #1
Fritz Leiber
Gold, Black, and Silver
-- Vol. #2
Link
Getting to Know You
-- Vol. #1
Gail Madonia
Acid Soap Opera
-- Vol. #4
Vonda N. McIntyre
Cages
-- Vol. #4
Michael Moorcock
Voortrekker
-- Vol. #4
Larry Niven
The Fourth Profession
-- Vol. #4
Marek Obtulowicz
A Man of Letters
-- Vol. #4
Trojak
-- Vol. #2
Alexei Panshin
Arpad
-- Vol. #2
Christopher Priest
Fire Storm
-- Vol. #1
Joanna Russ
The View from This Window
-- Vol. #1
The Zanzibar Cat
-- Vol. #3
James Sallis
Field
-- Vol. #3
Mensuration
-- Vol. #2
Josephine Saxton
Nature Boy
-- Vol. #3
John Sladek
The Interstate
-- Vol. #2
George Stanley
Orion
-- Vol. #1
To the Child Whose Birth Will Change the Way the Universe Works
-- Vol. #3
Leland Stoney
The Village
-- Vol. #2
A. E. van Vogt
Carthing
-- Vol. #1
Tom Veitch
A Sexual Song
-- Vol. #3
Brian Vickers
The Coded Sun Game
-- Vol. #3
Kate Wilhelm
Where Have You Been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
-- Vol. #3
Laurence Yep
The Electric Neon Mermaid
-- Vol. #2