Science Fiction Series
Entry updated 26 May 2025. Tagged: Publication.
A series of eighteen pamphlets published between 1929 and 1932 by Hugo Gernsback's Stellar Publishing Corporation, and seemingly edited by him. The pamphlets were either 24 or 28 pages long, and were published without cover illustrations; though early ads do show illustrated covers for the first twelve, they were only in the event internally illustrated (#1-#6 by Frank R Paul). Most volumes contained a single novelette, such as Jack Williamson and Miles J Breuer's The Girl from Mars (1929 chap), or Manly Wade Wellman's The Invading Asteroid (1932 chap), and in several instances, including these two titles, constituted their authors' first book publications. Five volumes in the series were anthologies, each containing two stories. In Science-Fiction: The Early Years (1990), E F Bleiler speculates that, considering the low quality of most of the series, at least some of these titles may have been rejected submissions to one or another of Gernsback's magazines. This may have been the case; but the cachet of book publication may well have at the same time helped stimulate some of the contributors into embarking upon significant careers.
The loss of so many dustjackets from newly published books – especially from UK titles, many of which were issued in hardback – has made dubious any claim about what was said and what was not 1929-1932 in the evolving theatre of presentation of what came to be called science fiction. It does seem plausible, though, to suggest that The Girl from Mars may the first standalone volume to use the term "science fiction" on its cover. [JC]
Series titles
- 1: Jack Williamson and Miles J Breuer. The Girl from Mars (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1929) [chap: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]
- 2: David H Keller. The Thought Projector (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1929) [chap: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]
- 3: Reg Michelmore. An Adventure in Venus (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1929) [chap: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]
- 4: Leslie F Stone. When the Sun Went Out (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1929) [chap: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]
- 5: Lilith Lorraine. The Brain of the Planet (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1929) [chap: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]
- 6: Morrison Colladay. When the Moon Fell (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1929) [chap: illus/Frank R Paul: pb/nonpictorial]
- 7: Frank Bourne. The Thought Stealer and The Mechanical Man by Amelia Reynolds Long (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1930) [anth: chap: illus/Butterfield: pb/nonpictorial]
- 8: Jack Bradley. The Torch of Ra (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1930) [chap: illus/Jno Rugier: pb/nonpictorial]
- 9: Merab Eberle. The Thought Translator and The Creation by Milton Mitchell (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1930) [anth: chap: illus/Fisher: pb/nonpictorial]
- 10: H W Higginson. The Elixir (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1930) [chap: illus/Rosumoff: pb/nonpictorial]
- 11: Pansy E Black. The Valley of the Great Ray (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1930) [chap: illus/Jno Rugier: pb/nonpictorial]
- 12: Clyde Farrar. The Life Vapor with Thirty Miles Down by Drury D Sharp (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1930) [anth: chap: illus/Pearsall: pb/nonpictorial]
- 13: Pansy E Black. The Man from the Meteor (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1932) [chap: pb/nonpictorial]
- 14: Maurice Renard. The Flight of the Aerofix (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1909; trans anon 1932) [chap: pb/nonpictorial]
- 15: Manly Wade Wellman. The Invading Asteroid (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1932) [chap: pb/nonpictorial]
- 16: Clark Ashton Smith. The Immortals of Mercury (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1932) [chap: pb/nonpictorial]
- 17: Thomas Mack. The Spectre Bullet and The Avenging Note by Alfred Sprissler (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1932) [anth: chap: pb/nonpictorial]
- 18: Sidney Patzer. The Ship from Nowhere with The Moon Mirage by Raymond Z Gallun (New York: Stellar Publishing, 1932) [anth: chap: pb/nonpictorial]
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