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''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American
pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...
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 ...
magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958.
Charles Hornig Charles Hornig (May 25, 1916 – October 11, 1999) was one of the earliest contributors to the science fiction genre. He not only created one of the first fanzines in 1933, as a teenager, he became the managing editor for ''Wonder Stories'' magaz ...
served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainder. ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was launched by publisher
Louis Silberkleit Louis Horace Silberkleit (; 17 November 1900 – 21 February 1986) was an American publisher of magazines, books, and comic books; together with Maurice Coyne and John L. Goldwater, he co-founded MLJ Magazines (later known as Archie Comics), and ...
during a boom in science fiction magazines at the end of the 1930s. Silberkleit launched two other science fiction titles (''
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 ''
Future Fiction ''Future Science Fiction'' and ''Science Fiction Stories'' were two American science fiction magazines that were published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig fo ...
) ''at about the same time: all three ceased publication before the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, falling prey to slow sales and paper shortages. In 1950 and 1951, as the market improved, Silberkleit relaunched ''Future Fiction'' and ''Science Fiction Quarterly''. By the time ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' ceased publication in 1958, it was the last surviving science fiction pulp magazine, all other survivors having changed to different formats. ''Science Fiction Quarterly''s policy was to reprint a novel in each issue as the lead story, and Silberkleit was able to obtain reprint rights to two early science fiction novels and several of
Ray Cummings Ray Cummings (born Raymond King Cummings) (August 30, 1887 – January 23, 1957) was an American author of science fiction literature and comic books. Early life Cummings was born in New York City in 1887. He worked with Thomas Edison as a ...
' books. Both Hornig and Lowndes were given minuscule budgets, and Hornig in particular had trouble finding good material to print. Lowndes did somewhat better, as he was able to call on his friends in the
Futurians The Futurians were a group of science fiction (SF) fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom i ...
, a group of aspiring writers that included
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
,
James Blish James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his ''Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel ''A Case of Conscienc ...
, and
Donald 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 Pear ...
. The second incarnation of the magazine also had a policy of running a lead novel, though in practice the lead stories were often well short of novel length. Among the better-known stories published by the magazine were "Second Dawn", by Arthur C. Clarke; "
The Last Question "The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was anthologized in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac A ...
", by Isaac Asimov; and "
Common Time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
", by James Blish.


Publishing history

Although science fiction (sf) had been published before the 1920s, it did not begin to coalesce into a separately marketed genre until the appearance in 1926 of ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is 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. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...
'', a
pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
published by
Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish–American editor and magazine publisher, whose publications including the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publ ...
. By the end of the 1930s, the field was booming.
Louis Silberkleit Louis Horace Silberkleit (; 17 November 1900 – 21 February 1986) was an American publisher of magazines, books, and comic books; together with Maurice Coyne and John L. Goldwater, he co-founded MLJ Magazines (later known as Archie Comics), and ...
, a publisher who had once worked for Gernsback, launched a pulp magazine in March 1939 titled ''Science Fiction'', under his
Blue Ribbon Magazines Columbia Publications was an American publisher of pulp magazines featuring the genres of science fiction, westerns, detective stories, romance, and sports fiction. The company published such writers as Isaac Asimov, Louis L'Amour, Arthur C. Cl ...
imprint.Ashley & Thompson (1985), pp. 518–519. For an editor, Gernsback recommended
Charles Hornig Charles Hornig (May 25, 1916 – October 11, 1999) was one of the earliest contributors to the science fiction genre. He not only created one of the first fanzines in 1933, as a teenager, he became the managing editor for ''Wonder Stories'' magaz ...
, who had edited ''
Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...
'' for Gernsback from 1933 to 1936. Silberkleit took the recommendation, and Hornig was hired in October 1938.Davin (1999), p. 102.Davin (1999), pp. 111–112. Hornig had no office; he worked from home, coming into the office as needed to drop off manuscripts and dummy materials, and pick up typeset materials to proof. He was given broad freedom to select what he wanted to publish, since Silberkleit's chief editor, Abner J. Sundell, knew little about sf and did not get involved in running the magazine. To spread his costs over more magazines, Silberkleit soon decided to launch two additional titles.Ashley (2000), pp. 147–149. In November 1939 the first issue of ''
Future Fiction ''Future Science Fiction'' and ''Science Fiction Stories'' were two American science fiction magazines that were published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig fo ...
'' appeared; it was followed in July 1940 by ''Science Fiction Quarterly''. Hornig was editor for all three of the magazines. In October 1940, Hornig, who was a pacifist, received his military call-up. He decided to move to California and register as a
conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
; he continued to edit the magazines from the west coast, but Silberkleit was unhappy with the arrangement. Silberkleit allowed Hornig to retain his post as editor of ''Science Fiction'', and offered the editorship of the other two titles to
Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch of ...
.Ashley & Thompson (1985), p. 512. Moskowitz declined, saying afterwards that he "would never strike at a man's job", but
Donald 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 Pear ...
, a member of a group of aspiring writers called the
Futurians The Futurians were a group of science fiction (SF) fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom i ...
, heard about the offer. Wollheim told
Robert W. Lowndes Robert Augustine Ward "Doc" Lowndes (September 4, 1916 – July 14, 1998) was an American science fiction author, editor and fan. He was known best as the editor of ''Future Science Fiction'', ''Science Fiction'', and ''Science Fiction Quarterl ...
, another member of the Futurians, about the opening, and urged him to write to Silberkleit. Lowndes later recalled Wollheim's idea: "In the letter, I'd suggest that it might be a good idea to add a science fiction title to the list, offering my services as editor at a slightly lower price than Hornig was being paid, and also find fault with all the other sf titles presently out, but particularly with Hornig's".Ashley (1985a), p. 278. Lowndes relates that Silberkleit took the bait and hired him in November 1940; Hornig recalls the separation as being by mutual consent because of his move to California. Lowndes subsequently agreed that this was likely to be the real reason Silberkleit replaced Hornig.Davin (1999), pp. 122–123. The first issues Lowndes was responsible for were the Spring 1941 issue of ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' and the April 1941 issue of ''Future Fiction''.Ashley (1985a), p. 284. Initially Silberkleit kept tighter control on Lowndes' editorial selections than he had over Hornig, vetoing five of the seven stories Lowndes proposed for the April 1941 ''Future'', but by the August 1941 issue, Lowndes later recalled, Silberkleit "was satisfied that I knew what I was doing, and ..didn't need to oversee any story I had accepted". In 1950 Silberkleit revived ''Future Fiction'', and the following year he brought back ''Science Fiction Quarterly'', with the first issue of the new series dated May 1951.Ashley (2005), pp. 41–42. A new magazine, ''
Dynamic Science Fiction ''Dynamic Science Fiction'' was an American pulp magazine which published six issues from December 1952 to January 1954. It was a companion to ''Future Science Fiction'', and like that magazine was edited by Robert W. Lowndes and published by C ...
'', followed in 1952.Ashley (2005), p. 44. All three were edited by Lowndes and all were in pulp format. Sales were satisfactory, but Silberkleit decided to experiment with the digest format, which was starting to become more popular. By the end of 1955 he had cancelled ''Dynamic Science Fiction'', switched ''Future'' ''Fiction ''to digest format, and relaunched ''Science Fiction'' as a digest under a new title, ''Science Fiction Stories''. Only ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was left in pulp format—Silberkleit felt that a quarterly digest would not be as successful as a quarterly pulp. The pulps were dying off, and when '' Other Worlds'' switched to digest format in 1956, ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' became the only remaining sf magazine still being published as a pulp. In 1957 American News Company, one of the biggest magazine distributors, was liquidated, and the resulting changes in the national magazine distribution network, along with poor sales, finally killed ''Science Fiction Quarterly''. The last issue was dated February 1958.Ashley (1985b), pp. 549–550.


Contents and reception

Silberkleit's magazines were given very limited budgets. Hornig worked with
Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various t ...
, a literary agent who was a friend of his; this gave him access to stories by the writers Schwartz represented, but Schwartz would not allow his authors' real names to be used unless they were paid at least one cent per word. Hornig could not afford to pay the one cent rate for everything he bought, so he paid half a cent a word for much of what he acquired through Schwartz, and ran those stories under pseudonyms. Unsurprisingly, given the low rates, the stories sent to Hornig had usually already been rejected by the better-paying markets. The result was mediocre fiction, even from the better known writers that Hornig was able to attract.Ashley (2000), pp. 147–148. The magazines paid on publication, rather than acceptance, and this slower payment also discouraged some authors from submitting material. ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was intended by Silberkleit to include a full-length novel in each issue. Silberkleit obtained permission from Hugo Gernsback to reprint two novels from ''Science Wonder Quarterly'': ''The Moon Conquerors'' by R.H. Romans, and ''The Shot Into Infinity'' by Otto Willi Gail. Although these stories were somewhat dated, they were better quality than the fiction Hornig was able to obtain for his other magazines. When Lowndes took over, the policy of including a novel in every issue continued, and Silberkleit again obtained reprint rights to fill some of these slots, this time with
Ray Cummings Ray Cummings (born Raymond King Cummings) (August 30, 1887 – January 23, 1957) was an American author of science fiction literature and comic books. Early life Cummings was born in New York City in 1887. He worked with Thomas Edison as a ...
, five of whose novels would appear in ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' over the next two years, starting with ''Tarrano the Conqueror'' in the Summer 1941 issue.Ashley (1985b), pp. 546–547. Lowndes bought many stories from the Futurians to fill the remaining space in the magazine. These were of variable quality, but overall ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' improved once Lowndes took control, and the fiction was as good as or better than the stories to be found in many of the contemporary magazines. When the magazine was revived, the stated policy was still to publish lead novels and fill the remaining space with short stories, but in fact, with few exceptions, the lead fiction was not of novel length. There were no more reprints, as there had been for the first series. Lowndes was unable to pay his writers rates that were competitive with the magazines that were leading the field, but he was an able editor and produced a magazine of reasonable quality every quarter. The Futurians still occasionally appeared in ''Science Fiction Quarterly'', but Lowndes also attracted some of the newer writers, such as
Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
,
William Tenn William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass (May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010), a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements. Biography Born to a Jewish family in London, Phillip Klass mo ...
, and Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's "Second Dawn", which appeared in the August 1951 issue, is among the better stories Lowndes was able to obtain; he also published Isaac Asimov's "
The Last Question "The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was anthologized in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac A ...
" in the November 1956 issue, and James Blish's "
Common Time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
", in August 1953. Lowndes was also able to acquire some good quality nonfiction for the magazine, including a series of articles by James Blish on science in sf, and articles on science fiction by
Thomas D. Clareson The Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service is presented by the Science Fiction Research Association for outstanding service activities. Particularly recognized are: promotion of SF teaching and study, editing, reviewing, editorial writ ...
and
L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...
. Blish, writing as William Atheling, Jr., commented in 1953 that Lowndes was doing a "surprisingly good job" with all of Silberkleit's science fiction magazines, despite the low rates and the slow payment to authors.


Bibliographic details

Charles Hornig was the editor of the first two issues of the first incarnation of ''Science Fiction Quarterly''; Robert W. Lowndes edited all the subsequent issues. The magazine was printed in pulp format throughout both series. The price was 25 cents throughout the first run, for 144 pages; the second series began at 25 cents, but the price increased to 35 cents for the August 1957 issue. The page count for the second series was 128 pages for much of the run, but from the November 1953 issue to the May 1957 issue it was 96 pages. The publisher for the first issue was Double Action Magazines, with offices in Holyoke, Massachusetts; thereafter the publisher was
Columbia Publications Columbia Publications was an American publisher of pulp magazines featuring the genres of science fiction, westerns, detective stories, romance, and sports fiction. The company published such writers as Isaac Asimov, Louis L'Amour, Arthur C. Clar ...
for both versions of the magazine. Both Double Action and Columbia were owned by Louis Silberkleit. There were three British reprints of the first series, all published by Gerald Swan. The Summer 1940 issue was reprinted twice. It appeared first (with cuts) as ''Yankee Science Fiction'', issue 3, in February 1942, and then again, uncut, as a paperback, titled ''The Moon Conquerors'', in 1943. The Winter 1941/42 issue was also reprinted in 1943, titled ''Into the Fourth Dimension and Other Stories''. Ten issues of the second series were reprinted in the U.K. by
Thorpe & Porter Thorpe & Porter (widely known as T & P) was a British publisher, importer, and distributor of magazines and comic books. At first, the company was known for repackaging American comics and pulp magazines for the UK market. Later on, it became a pu ...
. The issues, which were cut from the U.S. editions, appeared between February 1952 and August 1955, and corresponded to 10 of the first 13 issues, from May 1951 to May 1954. The omitted issues were November 1951, May 1952, and August 1953. The order of publication was not the same as for the US editions: the sequence was May 51/August 51/February 52/November 52/August 52/May 53/February 54/November 53/February 53/May 54. The first issue was 132 pages; the count was reduced to 130 pages for the second issue, then to 100 pages for two issues, and to 98 pages thereafter. The price was 2/- (10p) for the first two issues, and 1/- (5p) for the remaining eight issues. There are no anthologies of stories drawn solely from ''Science Fiction Quarterly.'' However, in the 1960s Ivan Howard edited several anthologies for Silberkleit's publishing imprint,
Belmont Books Belmont Books, also known as Belmont Productions, was an American publisher of genre fiction paperback originals founded in 1960. It specialized in science fiction, horror fiction, horror and fantasy, with titles appearing from 1961 through 1971. T ...
, with contents drawn solely from Silberkleit's magazines. One of these, ''Rare Science Fiction'' (1963), included three stories from ''Science Fiction Quarterly.''Ashley (1985a), p. 283. Rhoades (2008), p. 72.


Notes


References


Sources

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External links


''Science Fiction Quarterly''
on the
Internet Speculative Fiction Database The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...
{{ScienceFictionPulpMagazines 1940 establishments in the United States 1958 disestablishments in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1940 Magazines disestablished in 1958 Pulp magazines Science fiction magazines established in the 1940s Magazines published in Massachusetts Columbia Publications