Cover of the eiteenth issue Avon published three related magazines in the late 1940s and early 1950s, titled ''Avon Fantasy Reader'', ''Avon Science Fiction Reader'', and ''Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader''. These were

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printin ...

magazines (sometimes classed as a series of anthologies) which reprinted

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

literature by now well-known authors. They were edited by

Donald A. Wollheim Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearso ...

and published by Avon.

Publication history

In 1946 Donald Wollheim was working for Ace Magazines, but asked rival publisher Avon if they were interested in a fantasy title. Herbert Williams, Avon's editor, agreed and Wollheim compiled an anthology, titled ''Fantasy Reader''. The title page was dated February 1947, and it was originally intended to appear every other month, like a magazine, but the schedule was rarely regular; each issue was delayed until the previous one had turned a profit. Both Wollheim and Meyers considered the ''Reader'' to be a book series, but perhaps because the format was similar to a digest magazine, it has commonly been treated by bibliographers as a magazine. The first ''Reader'' sold well, and Wollheim was quickly hired, and shortly took over Williams' position when Joseph Meyers, the publisher, let Williams go. At the end of 1947, Meyers reduced the quality of the paper stock used for the glossy cover, to save money, and changed the binding from perfect to saddle-stapled.Ashley (2000), pp. 197-198. In 1951 Wollheim and Meyers began a companion series, ''Avon Science Fiction Reader'', again as an anthology series, but like the ''Fantasy Reader'' usually treated as a magazine by historians. This lasted for three issues, but in 1952 Wollheim, who disliked his job, left Avon to return to Ace, in order to start

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

. Meyers responding by merging the two series into one, titled ''Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader'', edited by

Sol Cohen Sol Cohen (December 16, 1910 – July 28, 1988) was an American publisher who worked mostly in the science fiction field. Cohen started his long association with Avon Publications in 1947, working as an editor for their comics division from 1947 ...

, but only two issues appeared, both in 1953.Clareson (1985b), pp. 132-134.

Contents and reception

Because Wollheim considered the series to be independent anthologies, rather than a magazine, he never included serials. Most of the contents of the ''Fantasy Reader'' were reprints, ranging from 19th century stories by M.R. James and Ambrose Bierce right up to the 1940s. He drew on magazine sources such as ''Weird Tales'', ''All-Story'', ''Astounding Science-Fiction'', and ''Amazing Stories'', but he also reprinted material that had previously only seen print in book form. Occasionally he obtained first publication rights: for example he printed two stories by Fritz Leiber, "The Man Who Never Grew Young" and "The Dreams of Albert Moreland", before they appeared in Leiber's ''Night's Black Agents''.Clareson (1985a), pp. 127-132. The ''Science Fiction Reader'' also relied heavily on reprints, and drew its material mostly from the pulp magazines from the 1920s onwards. Two exceptions were stories by

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

and

S. Fowler Wright Sydney Fowler Wright (6 January 1874 – 25 February 1965) was a British editor, poet, science fiction author, writer of screenplays, mystery fiction and works in other genres, as well as being an accountant and a conservative political activis ...

; both had appeared in editions from

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...

, a publisher that Wollheim had a good relationship with. Avon strived to bring readers little known stories by then little recognized writers such as H. P. Lovecraft,

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

C. L. Moore Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and ...

A. Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie ...

and

William Hope Hodgson William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction, and sci ...

Bibliographic details

All three magazines were published by Avon, under different company names: Avon Book Company from 1947 to 1948; Avon Publishing Co., Inc. from 1948 to 1949, and Avon Novels, Inc. from 1949 on, including all the issues of the ''Science Fiction Reader'' and ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader''. There were eighteen issues of the ''Fantasy Reader'' and three of the ''Science Fiction Reader''; both were edited by Donald A. Wollheim. Sol Cohen was the editor of the two issues of the ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader''. All were in digest format; the first five issues of the ''Fantasy Reader'' were perfect bound; all remaining issues were saddle-stapled, as were all issues of the other two titles. Every issue of each title was 128 pages and priced at 35 cents.Clareson (1985c), pp. 134-135. In 1969 Avon Books published two paperback books of selections from the original series, each also called ''The Avon Fantasy Reader'' and credited to Donald A. Wollheim and George Ernsberger as editors. The latter, Avon’s science fiction editor then, made the selections and contributed a foreword to each.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

* * * {{ISFDB series, 23085, Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1947 Magazines disestablished in 1952 Magazines published in New York City Science fiction magazines established in the 1940s Speculative fiction magazines published in the United States Triannual magazines published in the United States Avon Periodicals titles