COPYRIGHT (C) 1970 BY SAM MOSKOWITZ
"UNDER THE MOONS OF MARS" ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED
IN THE ALL-STORY MAGAZINE. COPYRIGHT 1912 BY
EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, INC. COPYRIGHT RENEWED
1939 BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE
THIS BOOK OR PORTIONS THEREOF IN ANY FORM
PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN CANADA BY
HOLT, RINEHART & WINSTON OF CANADA, LIMITED
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 72-80355
FIRST EDITION
DESIGNER: CHRISTINE AULICINO
SBN: 03-081858-3
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
To Vern Coriell
and the Burroughs Bibliophiles
CONTENTS
PREFACE
UNDER THE MOONS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs
(The All-Story Magazine, February-July, 1912)
DARKNESS AND DAWN by George Allan England
(The Cavalier and the Scrap Book, January [undated]-January 20, 1912)
POLARIS OF THE SNOWS by Charles B. Stilson
(All-Story Weekly, December 18, 1915-January 1, 1916)
PALOS OF THE DOG STAR PACK by J. U. Giesy
(All-Story Weekly, July 13-August 10, 1918)
FRIEND ISLAND by Francis Stevens
(All-Story Weekly, September 7, 1918)
THE MOON POOL by A. Merritt
(All-Story Weekly, June 22, 1918)
THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM by Ray Cummings
(All-Story Weekly, March 15, 1919)
THE MAD PLANET by Murray Leinster
(The Argosy, June 12, 1920)
THE BLIND SPOT by Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint
(Argosy All Story Weekly, May 14-June 18, 1921)
A HISTORY OF "THE SCIENTIFIC ROMANCE" IN THE MUNSEY MAGAZINES, 1912-1920, by Sam Moskowitz The Discovery of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Science Fiction in "The Argosy"
Competition — "The Popular Magazine"
Frank A. Munsey
Robert H. Davis and "The All-Story Magazine"
The Scrap Book — Strangest of All Magazines
The Advent of "The Cavalier"
George Allan England and "The Scientific Romance"
"The All-Story Magazine" Loses Tarzan
"The All-Story Magazine" and "The Cavalier" Combine
H. P. Lovecraft and the Munsey magazines
The Pulps Woo Women Readers
The Challenge of the Detective Pulps
The Development of the Burroughs' Imitators
The Dawn of the "Different" Story
Torrent of Fantastic Talent
Golden Age of the Scientific Romance
The Thrill Book
"Argosy" and "All-Story Weekly" Combine — End of an Era
PREFACE
THE PUBLICATION of Under the Moons of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs in THE ALL-STORY MAGAZINE in 1912 brought onto the magazine scene a writer whose instantaneous and phenomenal popularity shaped the policies of the early pulp magazines, making them the focal center of science fiction and inspiring a school of writers who made the scientific romance he wrote the most accepted form for more than twenty years. This book tells the history of the early years of that colorful writing cycle and puts it into perspective of the publishing world of the period. It also includes a selection from each of the most acclaimed who wrote in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The history does not confine itself to the scientific romance, but gives a broad picture of science fiction in the Munsey magazines from their beginnings up through 1920. In the process it provides the first coordinated account of the early years of pulp-magazine publishing in the United States and covers the highpoints of the science fiction of the other pulps as well as the interrelationship of the policies of the various magazines.
The history is chronological, with appropriate flashbacks, and written to be read for entertainment as well as information. Yet it is in every sense a reference, for careful attention has been paid to precise accuracy of titles, dates, rates of payment, biographical matter, and factuality. The bulk of the information provided was obtained from primary sources and has not appeared elsewhere.
This volume is a continuation of the editor's Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911. That volume showed how, with the advent of the ten-cent magazine aimed at the middle classes which originated in England with THE STRAND MAGAZINE, coupled with the arrival of a literary genius specializing in science fiction, H. G. Wells, science fiction became a familiar part of the popular magazines. Such publications as PEARSON'S MAGAZINE, COSMOPOLITAN, MUNSEY'S, MCCLURE'S, HAMPTON'S MAGAZINE, and THE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE were family publications with something for every member and age group.
The strengthening of the advertising agencies, and their discovery that women either actually bought or influenced the buying of most items sold, found those magazines with strongest appeal to women receiving the most advertising. Because the advertisers wanted a better showcase for their merchandise, they also tended to favor publications with the larger-size page. Prior to World War I, the majority of the mass-circulation magazines were roughly about ten inches high and seven inches wide, the identical format of the pulp magazines. Of the big-circulation magazines, COSMOPOLITAN, HAMPTON'S, EVERYBODY'S, RED BOOK, and METROPOLITAN were among those who went to the larger size to accommodate the standard advertising plates of ten by eight inches. This usually meant a magazine eleven inches high and eight and one-half inches wide.
Change in size alone was not enough. To attract the maximum number of women readers, the magazine had to feature in its fiction as well as its articles the subject matter that most appealed to women. Science fiction rated very low on that list, since it was read primarily by men and teen-agers.
Yet the pulp magazines, which depended more and more upon the newsstand price for expenses and profits, and who were patronized primarily by men, went out of their way to present fiction that would also interest women. From the standpoint of entertainment, the pulp magazines up through 1920 were family magazines, and with few exceptions the big smooth-paper magazines, not excluding even THE SATURDAY EVENING POST and COLLIER'S, were women's magazines.
The pulps had always run science fiction, but they now became the primary source of it, and they found that such material had a very salutary effect on their sales. The pulp magazines that ran the most science fiction were those published by Frank A. Munsey and edited by Robert H. Davis. They both knew it pulled in the men and boys, but were afraid an excess might drive away the women. Edgar Rice Burroughs, with his 1912 novel Under the Moons of Mars gave them the answer they needed in a type of science fiction which emphasized exotic, colorful settings on other planets, little-explored areas of the earth, and unknown dimensions, and featured considerable dramatic action yet incorporated a romantic interest into the mix. Accuracy of the science was not important, but the elements of the story should provide the key to "escape."
The horrors of World War I caused readers to turn from the brutal realities of life and prefer fiction that permitted them to "get away from it all." Greatly encouraged by Munsey's editor Robert H. Davis, a score or more of writers began to specialize in a type of fiction
best described as the "scientific romance." They all obtained their inspiration from the success formula of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but they were not all imitators. Actually they belonged to a "school" of writing and developed characteristics individually their own.
This book has collected selections from the most popular and successful practitioners of the "scientific romance" tradition of the Munsey magazines for the period 1912 to 1921. The final story, The Blind Spot, was purchased in 1920 and held more than a year before publication, but in the history it belongs in 1920. Every one of the writers represented in this collection was a "giant" in his day, and the fame of some of them has survived more than fifty years. The novel was the most popular form of the scientific romance, not only because an author needed space to build his new worlds, situations, and characters but also because the Munsey magazines specialized in running from four to seven serial novels an issue. This makes it necessary to reprint segments of certain of the stories instead of the complete work; but almost all of these segments are the beginnings of the novels (with the exception of the Burroughs which eliminates introductory chapters), are not cut or revised, and make up complete episodes in themselves.
The embarrassment of riches to be found in this volume owes a great deal to Hulbert Burroughs, one of the sons of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and to Robert M. Hodes, vice-president of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Those two gentlemen permitted access to the files and records of the late Edgar Rice Burroughs, which have a historical value out of all proportion to the light they reflect upon him as an author, since they also provide a superb picture of the individuals and the business practices of the pulp magazines for which he wrote. Burroughs kept literally every scrap of paper sent him and even made written records of telephone calls which in any important way affected his business.
The volume of material available is staggering, and is providing the background for the first authorized biography of Edgar Rice Burroughs, now being written by Irwin Porges, noted for a previous biography of Edgar Allan Poe. This forthcoming Burroughs biography will almost certainly be the definitive work. Irwin Porges, who is the brother of science-fiction author Arthur Porges, lives only a few miles from Tarzana, California, repository of the records. He also has the assistance of his wife, Cele, who has spent months carefully reading through the Burroughs archives and photocopying all relevant material. This is a monumental work in preparation, a milestone for Burroughs fans to look forward to, and despite the volume of material to peruse, Irwin Porges found time to check on some facts for this book which had not been located during the initial visit.
The problem for the editor of this book was to hunt down the materials needed, bid against other collectors for their possession, with no quarter shown by them, despite the fact that my motives involved basic research rather than acquisitiveness.
A number of dealers must be singled out for their understanding of my problem and for their remarkable ability to locate the magazines needed. First among them was certainly Richard H. Minter, of Eden, North Carolina, who has kept packages of rarities flowing in an unbroken stream for more than three years. A substantial quantity of needed periodicals was supplied by Thomas Altshuler, of Able-Man Book Shop, Hamtramck, Michigan; and some particularly difficult Edgar Rice Burroughs issues were sold to me by Camille Cazedessus, Jr., publisher of the Burroughs fan magazine ERB-DOM, Evergreen, Colorado.
The noblest figure of all, a man whose kindness must be listed as transcendental, was Harold Nevin Carey, a long-term buff from Phoenix, Arizona. He sent me, for shipping costs, roughly seven entire years of ARGOSY, which proved invaluable for reference.
A runner-up for commendation was author Sam Peeples, who offered to lend me runs of his almost mint ALL-STORY WEEKLYS. I felt that was too much to ask of any sincere collector and refused his magnificent gesture.
An old friend whose offer I did accept was Oswald Train, of Philadelphia, who owns one of the really fine fantasy collections in the country. He had volumes which provided invaluable background information on a number of the authors and editors referred to in this volume, information extraordinarily difficult to come by, so I gratefully accepted a short-term loan of those most useful.
Many of the truly outstanding collectors of science fiction and old pulp magazines are little known; among them is Lester Mayer, of Wellington, New Jersey, who was nothing if not generous in digging out nuggets of out-of-the-way information and lending items he felt might be of particular value. In my own city of Newark, New Jersey, Alan Howard, an Edgar Rice Burroughs supporter of long standing, was able to contribute valuable assistance on several occasions, with a spontaneousness that was greatly appreciated.
It would be hard to equate the value of the cooperation extended by Alden H. Norton and Leo Lucke, who preside over the ancient files of Popular Publications (who purchased the Munsey chain), which include thousands of cards from the old Munsey magazines, replete with information going back to the turn of the century. Many hours of eyestrain and discovery were spent delving into those dusty records and coming up with nuggets of information which have been passed on to the readers of this book, giving it a guarantee of authenticity it could not otherwise have claimed.
The long years that Rhea Finkelstein has persevered at casting these manuscripts into a form ready-for-publication makes her a candidate for steadfastness that has all the earmarks of dedication.
Most important, Wallace Exman, imaginative editor of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, must be singled out for the clarity with which he has grasped the intent of this and previous of my books and carried them through in a manner which involved a minimum of compromise of objectives. This is especially important to me, for though the subject matter of this book has an obvious wide appeal, its intent goes beyond supplying a few hours of pleasant entertainment and nostalgia. In a very conscious sense it has been written and edited for those men and women I have the greatest affinity for—those people whose serious interest in this field has been its bastion and whose judgment I respect—the experts and long-term advocates of science fiction and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who above all I would not want to disappoint.
September 1969
Sam Moskowitz
Newark, New Jersey
The All-Story Magazine
February-July, 1912
v.v.wv.v.v.
UNDER THE MOONS OF MARS
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs, one of the world's most famous authors, was born September 1, 1875, in Chicago. He received his early education in the public schools and spent some time in his early teens in Idaho, where he became a good horseman. Dismissed from Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, after a single term, he was sent to a military academy at Orchard Lake, Michigan. Completing his senior year, he failed to pass a test for admission to West Point and returned to Orchard Lake as "assistant commandant, tactical officer, and cavalry instructor," finally enlisting in the United States Cavalry the spring of 1896.
A release from the Cavalry was obtained by his father, who was president of the American Storage Battery Company in Chicago. He enlisted in the Army as a private instead of entering business with his father, but after a year a heart condition developed, and a discharge was arranged. His brothers set him up with a stationery store in Pocatello, Idaho, but he had to sell within a year. Three years with his father's battery business enabled him to marry, even though his salary was only twenty dollars a week.
Tiring of the business, he packed up and went west, to fail at mining with his brothers in Idaho, and then took a job as a railway cop in Salt Lake City. His wife permitted him to auction off their furniture in order to raise the money to return to Chicago. Burroughs then took a variety of selling jobs, bluffed his way into an accounting position, situated himself with Sears, Roebuck for two years, and finally went into his own mail-order business, selling aluminum pots and pans. It was during this time that he wrote courses on how to be a successful businessman.
A brother, Harry, secu
red a position for him placing ads in the pulp magazines for a patent-medicine cure for alcoholism called Alcola. This position lasted only two months, but it had great significance, because it acquainted Burroughs with the contents of periodicals like THE ARGOSY and THE ALL-STORY MAGAZINE, which published and presumably paid for fiction.
It was to these he turned in sheer and utter desperation as he failed at job after job and business venture after business venture. He had written business advice, doggerel, little stories for children (which he never tried to have published), but in concentrating on the scientific romance as in Under the Moons of Mars, he found his metier. Burroughs took pride in his work, even when he seemed to concede some of the unkind inferences of his critics.
He said repeatedly in interviews that he turned to writing only to feed his family. The facts make it difficult to argue with that assertion. A thirty-seven-year-old failure at the time he sold his first novel, penniless, with two children to support, and a third on the way, his behavior when money began to come in could have provided substance for a sermon. He purchased a fine home for his wife and children and spent virtually all of his spare time with the family, chauffeuring them around in the big automobiles he had always promised to buy when he struck it rich. His tolerance of small children as they wandered in and out of his study while he was trying to write was positively saintly. He drove a hard bargain in selling the products of his imagination, but in the incredible mass of his papers which his family opened to his biographer, Irwin Porges, it was impossible to find a hint of scandal. People who worked for him speak of him in hushed supernal whispers. His primary goal in writing appeared to be to provide security for his family. Millions of his old readers remember him with kindly nostalgia, and millions of new ones seem unable to detect the glaring flaws that the critics attributed to his work.
It is obvious that Tarzan of the Apes has become one of the literary treasures of America, and if one is to trust to the reality of recent events, it will be bracketed by a good many of his other works for some generations to come.
Under the Moons of Mars: A History and Anthology of the Scientific Romance in the Munsey Magazines, 1912-1920 Page 1