Galaxy Science Fiction
Encyclopedia
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
digest-size
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
science fiction magazine
Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L. Gold
H. L. Gold
Horace Leonard Gold was a science fiction writer and editor. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two...
, who rapidly made Galaxy the leading science fiction (sf) magazine of its time, focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology.
Gold published many notable stories during his tenure, including Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
's "The Fireman", later expanded as Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books...
; Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's The Puppet Masters
The Puppet Masters
The Puppet Masters is a 1951 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space...
; and Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...
's The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
. In 1952, the magazine was acquired by Robert Guinn, its printer. By the late 1950s, Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
was helping Gold with most aspects of the magazine's production. When Gold's health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time.
Under Pohl Galaxy had continued success, regularly publishing fiction by major writers such as Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare...
, Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
, and Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
. However, Pohl never won the annual Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for his stewardship of Galaxy, winning three Hugos instead for its sister magazine, If
If (magazine)
If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...
. In 1969 Guinn sold Galaxy to Universal Publishing and Distribution Corporation (UPD) and Pohl resigned, to be replaced by Ejler Jakobsson
Ejler Jakobsson
Ejler Jakobsson was a Finnish-born science fiction editor.Jakobsson moved to the United States in 1926 and began a career as an author in the 1930s. He worked on Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories briefly before they shut down production due to paper shortages...
. Under Jakobsson the magazine declined in quality. It recovered under James Baen, who took over in mid-1974, but when he left at the end of 1977 the deterioration resumed, and there were financial problems—writers were not paid on time and the schedule became erratic. By the end of the 1970s the gaps between issues were lengthening, and the title was finally sold to Vincent McCaffrey, who brought out just one issue in 1980. A brief revival as a semi-professional magazine followed in 1994, edited by H. L. Gold's son, E. J. Gold
E. J. Gold
Eugene Jeffrey "E.J." Gold is an artist, author, jazz musician and spiritual teacher in the "Fourth Way" tradition of G.I. Gurdjieff. Gold's large-scale JazzArt paintings have served as backdrops for Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Oscar Peterson, and Toots Thielemans...
; this lasted for eight bimonthly issues.
At its peak, Galaxy greatly influenced in the science fiction field. It was regarded as one of the leading sf magazines almost from the start, and its influence did not wane until Pohl's departure in 1969. Gold brought a "sophisticated intellectual subtlety" to magazine science fiction according to Pohl, who added that "after Galaxy it was impossible to go on being naive." SF historian David Kyle agrees, commenting that "of all the editors in and out of the post-war scene, the most influential beyond any doubt was H. L. Gold". Kyle suggests that the new direction Gold set "inevitably" led to the experimental New Wave
New Wave (science fiction)
New Wave is a term applied to science fiction produced in the 1960s and 1970s and characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, a "literary" or artistic sensibility, and a focus on "soft" as opposed to hard science. The term "New Wave" is borrowed from the French...
, the defining science fiction literary movement of the 1960s.
Publication history
The first science fiction magazine, Amazing StoriesAmazing Stories
Amazing Stories was 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...
, appeared in 1926. By the end of the 1930s, the genre was flourishing in the United States, but World War II and its attendant paper shortages led to the demise of several magazines. In the late 1940s, the market began to recover. From a low of eight active US magazines in 1946, the field expanded to 20 just four years later. Galaxys appearance in 1950 was part of this boom. According to sf historian and critic Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley (writer)
Michael Ashley is a British bibliographer, author and editor of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.He edits the long-running Mammoth Book series of short story anthologies, each arranged around a particular theme in mystery, fantasy, or science fiction...
, its success was the main reason for a subsequent flood of new releases: 22 more science fiction magazines appeared by 1954, when the market dipped again as a side effect of US Senate hearings into the putative connection between comic books and juvenile delinquency.
Origins and 1950s
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | |||||||||
| 1951 | 1/4 | 1/5 | 1/6 | 2/1 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/6 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 |
| 1952 | 3/4 | 3/5 | 3/6 | 4/1 | 4/2 | 4/3 | 4/4 | 4/5 | 4/6 | 5/1 | 5/2 | 5/3 |
| 1953 | 5/4 | 5/5 | 5/6 | 6/1 | 6/2 | 6/3 | 6/4 | 6/5 | 6/6 | 7/1 | 7/2 | 7/3 |
| 1954 | 7/5 | 7/5-A | 7/6 | 8/1 | 8/2 | 8/3 | 8/4 | 8/5 | 8/6 | 9/1 | 9/2 | 9/3 |
| 1955 | 9/4 | 9/5 | 9/6 | 10/1 | 10/2 | 10/3 | 10/4 | 10/5 | 10/6 | 11/1 | 11/2 | |
| 1956 | 11/3 | 11/4 | 11/5 | 11/6 | 12/1 | 12/2 | 12/3 | 12/4 | 12/5 | 12/6 | 13/1 | 13/2 |
| 1957 | 13/3 | 13/4 | 13/5 | 13/6 | 14/1 | 14/2 | 14/3 | 14/4 | 14/5 | 14/6 | 15/1 | 15/2 |
| 1958 | 15/3 | 15/4 | 15/5 | 15/6 | 16/1 | 16/2 | 16/3 | 16/4 | 16/5 | 16/6 | 17/1 | 17/2 |
| 1959 | 17/3 | 17/4 | 17/5 | 17/6 | 18/1 | 18/2 | ||||||
| Issues of Galaxy from 1950 to 1959, showing volume/issue number. H. L. Gold was editor throughout the 1950s. |
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H. L. Gold
Horace Leonard Gold was a science fiction writer and editor. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two...
, Galaxys first editor, had worked at Standard Magazines
Thrilling Publications
Thrilling Publications, aka Beacon Magazines , Better Publications and Standard Magazines , was a pulp magazine publisher run by Ned Pines, publishing such titles as Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories.A native of Malden, Massachusetts, Pines became the president of Pines Publications...
in the early 1940s as an assistant editor, reading for Standard's three science fiction pulps: Startling Stories
Startling Stories
Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...
, Thrilling Wonder, and Captain Future
Captain Future
Captain Future is a science fictional hero pulp character originally published in self-titled American pulp magazines during the 1940s and early 50s.-Origins:...
. With the advent of the war, Gold left publishing and went into the army, but in late 1949 he was approached by Vera Cerutti, who had once worked for him. Cerutti was now working for an Italian publisher, Edizione Mondiale, that had opened an office in New York as World Editions. She initially asked Gold for guidance on how to produce a magazine, which he provided. World Editions took a heavy loss on Fascination, its first attempt to launch a US magazine, and Cerutti returned to Gold asking for recommendations for new titles. Gold knew about The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, a digest launched in the fall of 1949, but felt that there was still room in the market for another serious science fiction magazine. He sent a prospectus to World Editions that included a proposal for a series of paperback sf novels as well as a periodical. He proposed paying three cents a word, an impressively high rate, given that most competing magazines were paying only one cent a word. World Editions agreed, hired Gold as the editor, and the first issue appeared in October 1950. The novel series subsequently appeared as Galaxy Science Fiction Novels.
Gold initially suggested two titles for the magazine, If and Galaxy. Gold's art director, Washington Irving van der Poel, mocked up multiple layouts and Gold invited hundreds of writers, editors, artists, and fans to view them and vote for their favorite; the vote was strongly for Galaxy as the title. For the first issue, Gold obtained stories by several well-known authors, including Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, Fritz Leiber
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
, and Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
, as well as part one of Time Quarry by Clifford D. Simak
Clifford D. Simak
Clifford Donald Simak was an American science fiction writer. He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1977.-Biography:Clifford Donald Simak was born in...
(later published in book form as Time and Again). Along with an essay by Gold, Galaxy
Groff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...
, which ran until 1955, and a Willy Ley
Willy Ley
Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...
science column. Gold sought to implement high-quality printing techniques, though the quality of the available paper was insufficient for the full benefits to be seen. Within months, the outbreak of the Korean War led to paper shortages that forced Gold to find a new printer, Robert M. Guinn. The new paper was of even lower quality, a disappointment to Gold. According to Gold, the magazine was profitable within five issues: an "incredible" achievement, in his words.
In the summer of 1951, disagreements within World Editions led to attempts to disrupt Galaxys distribution. According to Gold, the circulation director and the head of the American office stockpiled many issues instead of distributing them, and made sure that the ones that did get distributed went to areas of the United States, such as the South, where there was little or no audience for the magazine. The head of the French office of World Editions came to the United States to find out what the problem was, and recommended that the magazine be sold to the two Americans, for $3,000—a very low price. They tried to recruit Gold, but he contacted the Italian office, which rejected the sale and eventually agreed to sell Galaxy to the printer, Robert M. Guinn. It was only after the sale was complete that the sabotaged distribution came to light; World Editions wanted to buy back the magazine, but Guinn quoted a price four times as high as he had paid. In Gold's words, "he, Guinn, knew what he was buying, whereas World Editions hadn't known what they were selling".
Guinn's new company was named Galaxy Publishing Corporation, and it took over beginning with the October 1951 issue. Gold remained as editor, but lost the assistance of staff at World Editions, relying instead on help from Jerome Bixby
Jerome Bixby
Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby was an American short story writer, editor and scriptwriter, best known for his work in science fiction. He also wrote many westerns and used the pseudonyms D. B. Lewis, Harry Neal, Albert Russell, J. Russell, M. St...
, Algis Budrys
Algis Budrys
Algis Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names "Frank Mason", "Alger Rome", "John A. Sentry", "William Scarff", and "Paul Janvier."-Biography:...
, Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
, and Gold's wife, Evelyn Paige. Science fiction author Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
, then working as a literary agent, was also helpful in connecting writers with Gold.
By the late 1950s, the science fiction magazine boom was over, and the relatively low circulation of the magazines did not endear them to distributors, the middlemen who transported magazines from the publishers to the newsstands and other outlets. Gold changed the title from Galaxy Science Fiction to Galaxy Magazine with the September 1958 issue, commenting that the term science fiction "scares many people away from buying". Galaxy
1960s
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 18/3 | 18/4 | 18/5 | 18/6 | 19/1 | 19/2 | ||||||
| 1961 | 19/3 | 19/4 | 19/5 | 19/6 | 20/1 | 20/2 | ||||||
| 1962 | 20/3 | 20/4 | 20/5 | 20/6 | 21/1 | 21/2 | ||||||
| 1963 | 21/3 | 21/4 | 21/5 | 21/6 | 22/1 | 22/2 | ||||||
| 1964 | 22/3 | 22/4 | 22/5 | 22/6 | 23/1 | 23/2 | ||||||
| 1965 | 23/3 | 23/4 | 23/5 | 23/6 | 24/1 | 24/2 | ||||||
| 1966 | 24/3 | 24/4 | 24/5 | 24/6 | 25/1 | 25/2 | ||||||
| 1967 | 25/3 | 25/4 | 25/5 | 25/6 | 26/1 | 26/2 | ||||||
| 1968 | 26/3 | 26/4 | 26/5 | 26/6 | 27/1 | 27/2 | 27/3 | 27/4 | 27/5 | |||
| 1969 | 27/6 | 28/1 | 28/2 | 28/3 | 28/4 | 28/5 | 128/6 | 129/1 | 129/2 | 129/3 | 29/4 | |
| Issues of Galaxy from 1960 to 1969, showing volume/issue number. Issues are color-coded to show when each editor was in charge; the editorship passed from H.L. Gold to Frederik Pohl and then to Ejler Jakobsson during the 1960s. Note that the apparent error in volume numbering in late 1969 is in fact correct. |
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If (magazine)
If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...
, another science fiction magazine, in 1959, and gave it to Gold to edit as well. The July 1959 issue of If was the first under Gold's editorship. Galaxys shift to a bimonthly schedule had been intended to help reduce the workload on Gold, who was not in good health; he was able to take on If as well because the two magazines alternated months of publication. Towards the end of the 1950s Frederik Pohl began to help Gold, occasionally to the extent of performing all the editorial duties, including writing the editorials and blurbs and working with the printer. Gold, who was agoraphobic, was making efforts at this time to leave his apartment, but in 1960 he was seriously injured in a taxi accident, and proved unable to continue as editor. Pohl took over at some point in early 1961, though he was not listed on the masthead as editor until the December 1961 issue.
Pohl attempted to persuade Guinn to double the pay rate of one and a half cents a word back to the former level of three. Guinn refused, but Pohl was able to find enough material that he could purchase at a low rate to allow him to offer some authors three cents per word. The strategy was successful in improving circulation, and Guinn eventually acceded to the rate increase.
Pohl also tried hard to persuade Guinn and Sol Cohen
Sol Cohen
Sol Cohen 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 1947–1956. During this same period, from 1947–1949, Cohen was the circulation director and...
, whom Guinn had hired to help with the publishing duties, to switch both Galaxy and If to monthly schedules. In late 1962, they agreed, but soon changed their minds and decided to start a third science fiction magazine instead. This was Worlds of Tomorrow
Worlds of Tomorrow (magazine)
Worlds of Tomorrow was an American science fiction magazine published from 1963 to 1967, after it was merged into If. It briefly resumed publication in 1970 and 1971. The magazine was edited by Frederik Pohl in its first period of publication, and by Ejler Jakobsson in the second. It has published...
, which was launched in April 1963 and lasted until mid-1967 (it was briefly revived in 1970–71). Another companion magazine, International Science Fiction, was tried in late 1967, but lasted only two issues; it showcased stories translated from other languages, and sales were very weak. Finally, in 1968 Guinn launched Worlds of Fantasy, edited initially by Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey was the author of many of the Winston Science Fiction juvenile SF series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.-Birth...
, Galaxy
1970s and after
In 1969, Guinn sold Galaxy to Universal Publishing and Distribution Corporation (UPD). Pohl was in Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
at a World Science Fiction Symposium when the sale went through; he heard the news when he returned to the Galaxy office afterwards and within a few days decided to resign. He remained on the masthead as "editor emeritus", a post invented to keep Pohl from moving to one of the other sf magazines, and went back to his writing career. His place was taken by Ejler Jakobsson
Ejler Jakobsson
Ejler Jakobsson was a Finnish-born science fiction editor.Jakobsson moved to the United States in 1926 and began a career as an author in the 1930s. He worked on Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories briefly before they shut down production due to paper shortages...
, who was working in UPD's book department. Lester del Rey stayed on as features editor, and Judy-Lynn Benjamin
Judy-Lynn del Rey
Judy-Lynn del Rey née Benjamin was a science fiction editor.Born with dwarfism, she was a fan and regular attendee at science fiction conventions and worked her way up the publishing ladder, starting with work at the science fiction magazine Galaxy.Judy-Lynn was friends with Lester del Rey and...
took his place as managing editor. Jack Gaughan
Jack Gaughan
Jack Gaughan was an American science fiction artist and illustrator who won the Hugo Award several times. Working primarily with Donald A...
was made art editor.
Galaxys circulation had held relatively steady in the mid-1960s, ranging between 73,000 and 78,000, but the UPD acquisition coincided with a precipitous drop—from 75,300 for the year ended October 1968, circulation fell to 51,479 just one year later. Difficulties with distribution also cut into income, and Arnold Abramson, UPD's owner, decided to cut costs and maximize profits. Galaxy went bimonthly in August 1970, ending a two-year spell of monthly scheduling (though a couple of months had been missed). The page count, which had been cut from 196 to 160 when UPD bought it, was increased again, and the price was raised from 60 cents to 75 cents. A British edition began in May 1972, published by Tandem Books, which was owned by UPD. The net effect of all these changes was a substantial increase in profitability. Circulation in 1972 also rose by about 6,000 issues, though it is possible that this was solely due to the new British edition.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 29/5 | 29/6 | 30/1 | 30/2 | 30/3 | 30/4 | 30/5 | 30/6 | 31/1 | |||
| 1971 | 31/2 | 31/3 | 31/4 | 31/5 | 31/6 | 32/1 | 32/2 | 32/3 | ||||
| 1972 | 32/4 | 32/5 | 32/6 | 33/1 | 33/2 | 33/3 | ||||||
| 1973 | 33/4 | 33/5 | 33/6 | 34/7 | 34/8 | 34/1 | 34/2 | 34/3 | ||||
| 1974 | 34/4 | 34/5 | 34/6 | 34/7 | 35/5 | 35/6 | 35/7 | 35/8 | 35/9 | 35/10 | 35/11 | 35/12 |
| 1975 | 36/1 | 36/2 | 36/3 | 36/4 | 36/5 | 36/6 | 36/7 | 36/8 | 36/9 | |||
| 1976 | 37/1 | 37/2 | 37/3 | 37/4 | 37/5 | 37/6 | 37/7 | 37/8 | 37/9 | |||
| 1977 | 38/1 | 38/2 | 38/3 | 38/4 | 38/5 | 38/6 | 38/7 | 38/8 | 38/9 | 39/1 | ||
| 1978 | 39/2 | 39/3 | 39/4 | 39/5 | 39/6 | 39/7 | 39/8 | |||||
| 1979 | 39/9 | 39/10 | 39/11 | |||||||||
| 1980 | 40/1 | |||||||||||
| 1994 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 1/5 | 1/6 | ||||||
| 1995 | 2/1 | 2/2 | ||||||||||
| Issues of Galaxy from 1970 to the last issue, including the revival in 1994, showing volume/issue number; the apparent errors at July and September 1973, and the odd numbering of volume 35, are in fact correctly shown. The editors, in sequence, were Ejler Jakobsson, James Baen, J.J. Pierce, Hank Stine, Floyd Kemske, and E.J. Gold. |
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Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
—the October issue was his last.
Baen was replaced by John J. Pierce, but the situation only worsened. Pierce resigned within a year: the company was in increasing debt, and his office assistant recalls that the office appeared inefficiently run, though he commented that Pierce "clearly loved what he did and knew what he was talking about". Pierce's replacement was Hank Stine, who took over in late 1978, though because of Galaxys irregular schedule Pierce's last issue was March–April 1979. Stine managed to produce only two more issues, June–July 1979 and September–October 1979, before UPD's financial problems spelled the end. Rights to the title were transferred to a new company, Galaxy Magazine, Inc., owned by Vincent McCaffrey, proprietor of Avenue Victor Hugo, a second-hand book store in Boston; UPD retained a ten percent interest in order to receive income from future sales to pay off their debts. Stine had compiled two more issues, but neither ever appeared; McCaffrey, who had also launched a separate magazine, Galileo, had cash-flow problems that prevented him from distributing the magazine as he had planned. One more issue did finally appear from McCaffrey, in July 1980, in a large format; it was edited by Floyd Kemske. A subsequent issue, to be dated October 1980, was assembled, but never distributed.
The last few years of Galaxys life were marked by stories of unpaid contributors. John Varley
John Varley (author)
John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
, for example, reported that he was still owed money for his stories five years after they appeared. Submissions from well-known writers fell away, and the lack of financial support from UPD meant that the pay rate was an unattractive one cent per word. Higher postal rates, higher paper costs, and continuing competition from the paperback science fiction market all added to the pressure on Galaxy. These problems were not resolved by the sale to McCaffrey, who did not even have enough money to pay for circulation postage, with the result that not every Galaxy subscriber received a copy of the final issue. Frederik Pohl places the blame for Galaxy
In 1994, the magazine reappeared briefly as a semi-professional publication under the editorship of E. J. Gold
E. J. Gold
Eugene Jeffrey "E.J." Gold is an artist, author, jazz musician and spiritual teacher in the "Fourth Way" tradition of G.I. Gurdjieff. Gold's large-scale JazzArt paintings have served as backdrops for Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Oscar Peterson, and Toots Thielemans...
, son of H. L. Gold. E. J. Gold produced eight issues on a regular bimonthly schedule, starting with the January–February 1994 issue, and ending with March–April 1995.
Early years
Gold intended Galaxy to publish stories of sufficient literary quality to attract readers of the slick magazines, as well as those who came to Galaxy already familiar with genre science fiction. His editorial policy was broader than that of John W. Campbell, the editor of the leading magazine in the field, Astounding Science Fiction: Gold was interested in sociology, psychology, and other "soft" sciences, and was also willing to publish humorous and satirical stories. Gold managed to persuade the publisher to let him offer three to four cents a word, which exceeded the highest rates paid in the field at that time. In addition to the high rates, Galaxy was an attractive market for writers because Gold bought only first magazine rights, unlike the other leading magazines. Galaxy was quickly established as one of the three leading science fiction magazines, along with Campbell's Astounding and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (usually abbreviated to F&SF). Campbell had been enormously influential over the previous decade, but the appearance of Galaxy and F&SF, launched just a year before, marked the end of his dominance of the genre.The cover for the first issue was by David Stone, depicting a scene from Simak's Time Quarry. The image was muted, in contrast to the sensational art typically found on the covers of the sf pulps; the intention was that Galaxy should look like an sf magazine, but one "that you were not embarrassed to hold", in the words of Mike Ashley. The early artwork was generally unremarkable, though Ed Emshwiller
Ed Emshwiller
Ed Emshwiller was a visual artist notable for illustrations of many science fiction magazine covers and for his pioneering experimental films...
's humorous cover for the June 1951 issue, his first professional sale as an artist, was a positive sign. "Emsh", as he was known to science fiction readers, soon became a regular contributor. The relatively expensive production processes that Gold had insisted on enabled more sophisticated internal artwork, which could be integrated with type in ways not possible with cheaper letterpress printing
Letterpress printing
Letterpress printing is relief printing of text and image using a press with a "type-high bed" printing press and movable type, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image...
.
On the rear cover of the first issue, Gold ran a feature called "You'll Never See It In Galaxy!", with two paragraphs side by side—one a parody of the introduction to a space western, the other the same story translated to become a true western, with spaceships replaced by horses. A sample: "He cut out his super-hyper-drive for the landing ... and at that point, a tall, lean spaceman stepped out of the tail assembly, proton gun-blaster in a space-tanned hand" became "He spurred hard for a low overhang of rimrock ... and at that point a tall, lean wrangler stepped out from behind a high boulder, six-shooter in a sun-tanned hand". The feature drew much attention, though James Blish
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling, Jr.-Biography:...
commented that Galaxy did not always avoid printing the kind of fiction it parodied.
In the first issue, Gold asked for reader feedback on what should be included in the magazine—letters, editorials, book reviews, or other features. The response was against a letter column, but the readers wanted editorials, and short book reviews with recommendations that would help them identify what books to buy, as opposed to in-depth criticism. Gold was also concerned that harsh critical reviews would scare away new authors who might otherwise submit their work. Groff Conklin began a book review column, called "Galaxy
The first six issues contained stories by well-known authors, including some that became highly regarded such as Fritz Leiber's "Coming Attraction", Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
's "To Serve Man", and Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
's "The Fireman", later expanded as Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books...
. Gold, however, considered these early issues exploratory, and some of the material by major names was clearly lesser work. With its second volume, beginning in April 1951, Galaxy achieved consistently high quality, with virtually every issue featuring a story that would have a lasting reputation, including C. M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
's "The Marching Morons", Wyman Guin
Wyman Guin
Wyman Woods Guin was a pharmacologist and advertising executive best known for writing science fiction....
's Beyond Bedlam, and Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters
The Puppet Masters
The Puppet Masters is a 1951 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space...
, whose serialization overlapped volumes 2 and 3. Early feedback from readers had been opposed to serialized novels, but here Gold did not follow their opinion, and Galaxy is remembered for featuring some very successful serials. A contemporary anthology of science fiction stories, E. F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty
T. E. Dikty
Thaddeus Maxim Eugene Dikty was one of the earliest science fiction anthologists.He started the first "Best of the Year" anthologies, called The Best Science Fiction, which ran from 1949 until 1957. In 1953, he married writer Julian May, and in 1957 the two started an editorial service for...
's The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1951, commented in an editorial that Gold's work "will succeed in placing science-fiction on an equal basis with any other field of modern literature". With a circulation of over 100,000 in its second year, Galaxy surpassed Astounding.
Mid- and late 1950s
Gold maintained Galaxys high standards for most of the 1950s. Alfred BesterAlfred Bester
Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...
's The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
—according to critic Peter Nicholls
Peter Nicholls (writer)
Peter Nicholls is an Australian literary scholar and critic. He is the creator and a co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ....
, "among the few genuine classics of genre sf"—was serialized in early 1952. Pohl and Kornbluth's The Space Merchants
The Space Merchants
The Space Merchants is a science fiction novel, written by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth in 1952. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since...
followed a few months later, serialized as Gravy Planet; Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
, in his critical genre study Trillion Year Spree, calls it "one of the most famous books in SF". James Blish's "Surface Tension" and Theodore Sturgeon's "Baby is Three", both widely acclaimed, also appeared in 1952. Readers had expressed support for science articles, and in March 1952, Willy Ley, who had contributed occasional essays since the first issue, began a column, "For Your Information", in which he replied to readers' scientific questions. Running uninterrupted until Ley's death in 1969, Frederik Pohl describes it as "the most popular single feature Galaxy ever had". The Hugo Awards were inaugurated the following year: The Demolished Man won the first Hugo for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
and Galaxy shared the first Hugo for Best Magazine
Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
with Astounding.
While Gold published a wide range of material, Galaxy became known in particular for irony and satire; the work of authors able to adopt the wry style he favored, such as Knight and Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley was a Hugo- and Nebula-nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical.Sheckley was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and...
, appeared regularly in the magazine. In 1953, with McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
at its height, Gold refused to publish "The Liberation of Earth", a story by William Tenn satirizing both the Russian and American sides in the Korean War. Tenn quotes Gold, an ex-radical, as saying the idea made him "sweat green", though the year before he had published Isaac Asimov's "The Martian Way", a thinly veiled anti-McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
story.
L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
commented that Gold "sets an extremely high standard of literary excellence for his writers", and observed that he often demanded multiple revisions and rewrites. Gold was also infamous for making sweeping changes to the stories he printed. In meetings and in phone calls he became well known as a difficult editor whose determination to achieve perfection sometimes alienated his writers. He was unapologetic, declaring, "I worked hard with writers, and they didn't always enjoy it". The results were often very positive: some successful stories are said to have begun with an idea he provided to one of his authors. In the case of The Demolished Man, his involvement extended almost to the point of collaboration. Gold was agoraphobic, and rarely left his apartment, but writers often visited him, and he held regular parties and weekly poker games; in addition to the members of the science fiction community, the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
composer John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
often attended.
In March 1953 Gold announced a novel-writing contest, but it failed to attract any usable submissions. He asked Pohl and Kornbluth if they would be willing to allow him to print Gladiator-at-Law, which they had just completed, under a pseudonym, so he could claim that the contest had found a new talent. They refused, but shortly afterwards Pohl and Lester del Rey agreed to let Gold take their recently completed novel Preferred Risk and publish it as the winner, under the pseudonym Edson McCann. Pohl and del Rey constructed a fake identity for McCann, but the news leaked out and Gold never ran another fiction competition. In July 1953, he launched a companion magazine, Beyond Fantasy Fiction
Beyond Fantasy Fiction
Beyond Fantasy Fiction was a US fantasy fiction magazine edited by H. L. Gold, with only ten issues published from 1953 to 1955. The last two issues carried the cover title of Beyond Fiction, but the publication's name for copyright purposes remained as before.Although not a commercial success, it...
, dedicated to fantasy material, which Galaxys editorial policy did not favor. It lasted for ten bimonthly issues, with the final one appearing in January 1955. After it failed, Gold opened Galaxy to more fantasy, publishing writers such as Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare...
.
The ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
radio series Tales of Tomorrow
Tales of Tomorrow
Tales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as Frankenstein, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo, and many others...
, which began in 1952 as an offshoot of the TV series of the same name, used stories from Galaxy; the connection was announced at the start of each of its fifteen episodes. On April 24, 1955, another radio series, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's X Minus One
X Minus One
X Minus One was a half-hour science fiction radio drama series broadcast from April 24, 1955 to January 9, 1958 in various timeslots on NBC.-Overview:...
, started a much longer run of 125 episodes, lasting until January 1958. From February 1956 onwards the scripts were adapted exclusively from stories in Galaxy, and from the April 1956 issue Galaxy ran advertisements for the series, which included work by Pohl, Sturgeon, and Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
.
Through the 1950s, Galaxys contributors routinely dominated the Hugo ballots, but neither the magazine nor the fiction it published won many awards, despite what sf historians Marshall Tymn
Marshall Tymn
Marshall Benton Tymn is an editor, academic and bibliographer of science fiction and fantasy.-Bibliography:* A Directory of Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing Houses and Book Dealers...
and Mike Ashley describe as its "deserved reputation for excellence". After several years of being shut out of the Hugos, Galaxy published two works in 1958 that won the honor: Fritz Leiber's novel The Big Time
The Big Time
The Big Time is a short science fiction novel by Fritz Leiber. It won the Hugo Award in 1958.The Big Time is a vast, cosmic back story, hidden behind a claustrophobic front story with only a few characters.-Plot:...
and Avram Davidson
Avram Davidson
Avram Davidson was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche...
's short story "Or All the Seas with Oysters
Or All the Seas with Oysters
"Or All the Seas with Oysters" is a science fiction short story by Avram Davidson. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1958.-Plot summary:...
".
1960s
When Pohl took over as editor in 1961, he broadened the magazine's scope, including more fantasy material. Regular contributors in the 1960s included Jack VanceJack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
, Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
, Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
, and Cordwainer Smith. Galaxy stories from this era that won awards include Vance's The Dragon Masters and "The Last Castle"; Clifford Simak's Way Station, serialized as Here Gather the Stars; Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
's "'Repent, Harlequin,' Said the Ticktockman" and "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World"; and Silverberg's "Nightwings". Pohl never succeeded in winning a Hugo Award as editor of Galaxy, although he won the award three consecutive times from 1966 to 1968 as editor of If
If (magazine)
If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...
, Galaxys sister magazine, and in theory the junior of the two publications.
The quality of fiction in Galaxy had dipped towards the end of Gold's editorship, and Pohl worked hard to restore the magazine's high standards. Gold's difficult editorial personality had driven away some of his contributors, but Pohl, who had worked as an agent in the 1950s, was a central figure in the sf community and was able to attract submissions from the star writers of his day. In the case of one of these stars, he offered an unusual arrangement: Robert Silverberg could write whatever he wished and Pohl promised that he would almost invariably buy it. Silverberg, who had been a high-volume producer of competent but unremarkable science fiction, began writing more ambitious work as a result, much of which was published in Galaxy throughout the 1960s.
In February 1965, Pohl brought in Algis Budrys as book reviewer, after a year in which no review column had appeared. Budrys's insightful reviews drew much praise, and editor David Hartwell has ranked him as one of the best sf critics of his generation.
The difference between Pohl's approach and Gold's was apparent in the editorials Pohl wrote, which were informal, entertaining, and rooted in his deep familiarity with the genre. With Pohl at the helm, Galaxy moved back toward the knowledgeable science fiction fan, and away from the mainstream market that Gold had targeted.
1970s
Ejler Jakobsson's tenure began with a large backlog of stories that Pohl had acquired, but within a year or two substantial changes were apparent. In the early 1970s, Jakobsson attempted to update Galaxys image, adding a comic strip, "Sunpot", by Vaughn BodéVaughn Bodé
Vaughn Bodē was an artist involved in underground comics, graphic design and graffiti. He is perhaps best known for his comic strip character Cheech Wizard and artwork depicting voluptuous women. His works are noted for their psychedelic look and feel...
, for example. Theodore Sturgeon took over from Budrys as the regular book reviewer in January 1972 and held the post until mid-1975. Jakobsson did not manage to give Galaxy a new and distinctive character: "Sunpot" lasted only four issues, Sturgeon's reviews were undistinguished, and many of the new authors he published have been, in the words of Mike Ashley, "mercifully unknown ever since". The paper quality and printing quality also dropped, and early cover designs were very weak. Jakobsson initially printed guest editorials rather than writing his own; when he took over the editorial page his work was unremarkable. However, he did manage to attract some of the new writers who were just becoming well known in the sf scene, including George R.R. Martin, Joe Haldeman
Joe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
, and Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
. Three novels published in Jakobsson's Galaxy won awards: Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves and Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's Rendezvous with Rama each won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, in 1972 and 1973 respectively, and Robert Silverberg's A Time of Changes won the Nebula in 1971. Sturgeon's short story "Slow Sculpture" won both the Hugo and the Nebula in 1970.
A letter column was added at the end of 1971; this was the first time Galaxy had published reader's letters. Galaxys long-time science columnist, Willy Ley, died in 1969, and was replaced by Donald Menzel. He was replaced in turn by Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
in April 1974.
Jakobsson's successor, James Baen, was able to publish some high-quality fiction, including material by Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
, John Varley, Larry Niven, and Pohl, whose novel, Gateway, won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Baen raised the level of the magazine substantially, and Ashley refers to his editorship as Galaxys "Indian summer". Under Baen the review columnist was Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...
, who won a Locus Award
Locus Award
The Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
in 1977, primarily for his work in Galaxy. Baen also published a series of essays by authors discussing their own work. Apart from Gateway, Baen published only one award-winning story: Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
's "The Day Before the Revolution", which appeared in August 1974 and won the Nebula.
Baen's successors, Pierce, Stine, and Kemske, were unable to maintain his standard. Pohl remained loyal to the magazine, but the serialization of his novel Jem exemplified Galaxys growing problems. Due to the magazine's increasingly erratic schedule, the serialization stretched from the last issue of 1978 into 1980, well after it had appeared in book form. In November 1977, Paul Walker took over the book column from Spider Robinson, and Jerry Pournelle left the science column at the end of 1978. The artwork quality dropped to an amateurish level, and despite the appearance of a few successful stories and novels, such as C.J. Cherryh's The Faded Sun: Kesrith, the overall quality was dramatically worse than it had been under Baen. Galaxys deterioration was largely due to the financial troubles of the publisher, Arnold Abramson, who reduced the pay rate (at a time of high inflation) to a penny a word. Even that low rate did not guarantee timely disbursement, and many writers stopped submitting because of Galaxys reputation for paying slowly, if at all. Costs were increasing for paper, postage, and production, and the paperback anthology market was booming, adding to the competition that Galaxy faced. Floyd Kemske's only issue never received newsstand distribution, doomed by the financial troubles of the magazine's publisher, Vincent McCaffrey.
Cover layout and artwork
Galaxy had a characteristic cover style in the 1950s with an inverted white "L" shape framing the cover art; this style was copied by several magazines, including Authentic Science FictionAuthentic Science Fiction
Authentic Science Fiction was a British science fiction magazine published in the 1950s that ran for 85 issues under three editors: Gordon Landsborough, H.J. Campbell, and E.C. Tubb...
and Startling Stories
Startling Stories
Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...
. When Astounding followed suit in late 1951, Gold commented sarcastically in an editorial that Galaxy "would like to know when we may have it [the format] back again". The first variation came with the September 1956 issue, which widened the left hand strip of white to allow room to print story titles and author names. The December 1961 issue was the first to eliminate the strip on the left, and until July 1969 the magazine varied between this layout, the inverted "L", and a version with no white at all, first used on the August 1965 issue. Another change visible in that issue is the reversal of the title coloring to white lettering on a block of red; this was used from August 1963 to December 1965. In August 1969 the title was enlarged to fill the width of the magazine; this issue had the white inverted "L", but it was the last one to do so till 1980. After August 1969 the cover paintings spanned the entire cover, though with some minor variations in layout such as can be seen in the October 1976 issue. Then in September 1978 (undated on the cover, but numbered vol. 39 no. 7) the original typeface for "Galaxy" was abandoned for the last few issues. The final issue, edited by Kemske, returned to the previous layout and typeface, although with a magazine twice the size of the original digest. When E. J. Gold revived Galaxy in 1994, he restored the inverted "L" and employed a predominantly black-and-white look for the eight issues he published.
Notable artists who contributed regularly to Galazy included Ed Emshwiller, who won several Hugo Awards for his work, and Jack Gaughan, who won three Hugos in the late 1960s, partly for his work in Galaxy. Gaughan was commissioned by Pohl to provide the cover and interior art for Jack Vance's The Dragon Masters in 1962; the resulting illustrations made Gaughan immediately famous in the science fiction field. In the 1950s and 1960s, Galaxy retained the original artwork sent in by its artists, though Emshwiller, much of whose best color work appeared there, was able to negotiate an exception to this rule, retaining the art for his portfolios. In 1972 much of this artwork—including both interior and cover illustrations—was sold off by Robert Guinn, who had kept it when he sold Galaxy to UPD in 1969.
Influence on the field
Science fiction historian and critic Mike Ashley regards GalaxyBrian Stableford
Brian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...
argues that Galaxy quickly usurped Astoundings position as "pioneer of hardcore sf's progress" because it "embraced and gleefully pursued a new series of challenges to moral orthodoxy." Isaac Asimov, in his memoirs, recalled being deeply impressed by the first issue, adding that many fans, including himself, felt that Galaxy became the field's leader almost immediately. In critic John Clute's assessment, Galaxy indeed swiftly supplanted Astounding and remained the leading magazine in the field until Pohl resigned as editor in 1969.
SF historian David Kyle ascribes Galaxys influence specifically to Gold, saying that "of all the editors in and out of the post-war scene, the most influential beyond any doubt was H. L. Gold" and that the new direction he set led, "inevitably", to the New Wave
New Wave (science fiction)
New Wave is a term applied to science fiction produced in the 1960s and 1970s and characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, a "literary" or artistic sensibility, and a focus on "soft" as opposed to hard science. The term "New Wave" is borrowed from the French...
, the celebrated science fiction literary movement of the 1960s. Kyle's assessment of Gold is echoed by writer Barry Malzberg
Barry N. Malzberg
Barry Nathaniel Malzberg is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.-Overview:Initially in his post-graduate work Malzberg sought to establish himself as a playwright as well as a prose-fiction writer. His first two published novels were issed by Olympia Press...
, who calls Gold "perhaps the greatest editor in the history of all fields for the first half of his tenure". SF authors and historians Brian Aldiss and David Wingrove
David Wingrove
David Wingrove is a British science fiction writer. He is well-known as the author of the Chung Kuo novels . He is also the co-author of the three Myst novels....
summarize Galaxys history by saying that it lasted for "thirty mainly glorious years": it "brought into the sunlight a number of excellent satirists, comedians and ironists" and, through the influence of its reduced focus on technology, played an important role in attracting women to write science fiction.
Editors
The list below, and the charts above, follow the mastheads in the magazines. However, because of Gold's poor health, Pohl was acting as editor for some time before he officially took over the role at the end of 1961.- H. L. Gold (October 1950 – October 1961)
- Frederik Pohl (December 1961 – May 1969)
- Ejler Jakobsson (July 1969 – May 1974)
- James Baen (June 1974 – October 1977)
- John J. Pierce (November 1977 – March–April 1979)
- Hank Stine (June–July 1979 – September–October 1979)
- Floyd Kemske (Summer 1980)
Overseas editions
Galaxy had multiple foreign editions. This was in part because the original publisher, World Editions, had a European base, which Gold had planned to take advantage of when the magazine launched. Overseas editions included:- Argentina. Two magazines, Más Allá (June 1953 – June 1957) and Geminis (July 1965 – August 1965), reprinted stories primarily from Galaxy, though they also published some original material and some stories reprinted from other sources.
- Finland. Aikamme tieteislukemisto (August 1958 – December 1958) was a Finnish edition of Galaxy, edited by Mary A. Wuorio and published by Viikkosanomat Oy.
- France. There were two separate French editions of Galaxy, both titled Galaxie. The first ran from November 1953 to April 1959 (a total of 65 issues), and was published by Editions OPTA, Paris. The first 11 issues were edited by Irina Orloff, the next 16 by Jacqueline Boissy, and the remainder by Jeannine Courtillet. The stories were badly translated, and printed in shortened form. Poor sales led to the cancellation of this version. The second version ran for 158 issues, from May 1964 to August–September 1977, and was also published by Editions OPTA. The editor was Alain DorémieuxAlain DorémieuxAlain Dorémieux is a writer and translator of French science-fiction, born August 15 1933 at Paris and died on July 26 1998 in Paris .He is best known as editor of Fiction, the leading journal of science fiction and fantasy in France until 1990, which he edited for over twenty years.He has...
for the first 67 issues, and Michel Demuth thereafter. This version, which contained original French stories as well as translated material from Galaxy, was much more successful and for a time outsold Fiction, the leading French science fiction magazine. From November 1974, more French authors were included, but publication ceased three years later when sales fell. - Germany. Fifteen issues of a German version, titled Galaxis, was released from March 1958 to May 1959 by Moewig Verlag, Munich. The editor was Lothar Heinecke. Fourteen numbered paperbacks titled Galaxy appeared between 1965 and 1970, published by Heyne Verlag, Munich. The editor was Walter ErnstingWalter ErnstingWalter Ernsting was a German science fiction and fantasy author who mainly published under the pseudonym Clark Darlton.-Biography:...
, with Thomas Schlück as co-editor for the last five issues. The contents were reprints from the American edition. - Italy. An Italian reprint edition titled Galaxy ran from June 1958 to May 1964; there were 70 physical issues, with two issues containing double numbers, so that the last issue was numbered 72. The publisher was Editrice Due Mondi, Milan, for the first ten issues; the remaining issues were published by Casa Editrice La Tribuna, Piacenza. The editors were R. Valente (issues 1–26/27), Mario Vitali (28/29–39), and Lella Pollini Rambelli (40–72). The magazine included some stories by Italian authors in addition to translated material.
- Netherlands. Five issues, titled Galaxis, appeared from October 1966 to February 1967, from Vector, Dordrecht. The editor was Theo Kemp. The translations were of poor quality.
- Norway. The Norwegian magazine Tempo-Magasinet, published by Greens Forlag, printed translations from US science fiction, mostly from Galaxy. It lasted for five issues, from November 1953 to March 1954. The editor was Arne Ernst.
- Sweden. A Swedish edition, titled Galaxy, appeared from September 1958 to June 1960 (19 issues); the publisher is unknown, though it is known to be the same company that published the Swedish edition of MadMad (magazine)Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
. This version, which included some original Swedish stories, was edited by Henrik Rabe. - UK. Several British editions of Galaxy were produced. From 1953 to 1962 Strato Publications published 94 numbered issues. The early issues were labeled vol. 3 no. 1 to no. 12. With the 13th issue the "vol. 3" was dropped. Until issue 72 (February 1959) they were shortened versions of the US edition, with one or more stories or features being cut. From no. 72 Strato reprinted the full US issue with a different title page, and from issue 80 the US edition was used with a variant cover. In 1967 a British edition appeared from Gold Star Publications; there were five bimonthly issues, identical to the US edition dated six months previously. The British issues were dated January–February 1967 through September–October 1967; the corresponding US issues were June, August, October, and December 1966, and February 1967. Universal-Tandem Publishing Co LtdUniversal-Tandem Publishing Co LtdUniversal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd was a United Kingdom paperback publishing company established in the early 1960s as Tandem Books. Its principal imprint was Tandem. The hyphenated name Universal-Tandem was adopted as a corporate identity in 1968 after Tandem Books was bought by the American group...
published 25 issues of Galaxy in the UK; the original US issues were May–June 1972 to January 1975. These were re-covered for UK distribution. The numbering was erratic: it ran 1–10, then 11, 11, 12, 12, 12, 14, and finally 17–25.
Other bibliographic details
The following table shows which issues appeared from which publisher.| Dates | Publisher |
|---|---|
| October 1950 – September 1951 | World Editions, Inc., New York |
| October 1951 – May 1969 | Galaxy Publishing Corp., New York |
| July 1969 – March 1977 | UPD Corp., New York |
| May 1977 – September–October 1979 | UPD, Scarsdale, New York |
| Summer 1980 | Avenue Victor Hugo |
The title changed multiple times, and was frequently inconsistently given between the cover, spine, indicia, and masthead.
| Start month | End month | Cover | Spine | Indicia | Masthead | Number of issues |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct–50 | Aug–58 | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | 94 |
| Sep–58 | Oct–62 | Galaxy Magazine | Galaxy Magazine | Galaxy Magazine | Galaxy Magazine | 27 |
| Dec–62 | Dec–65 | Galaxy | Galaxy | 19 | ||
| Feb–66 | Sep–68 | 18 | ||||
| Oct–68 | Oct–69 | Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine | 12 | |||
| Nov–69 | Jan–72 | Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine | 20 | |||
| Mar–72 | Mar–72 | Galaxy Magazine | 1 | |||
| May/Jun–72 | Jan–73 | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | 5 | ||
| Mar/Apr–73 | Mar/Apr–73 | Galaxy | Galaxy | Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine | 1 | |
| May/Jun–73 | Nov–73 | Galaxy | Galaxy Science Fiction | 5 | ||
| Dec–73 | Dec–73 | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine | 1 | ||
| Jan–74 | Jan–75 | Galaxy | 13 | |||
| Feb–75 | Jan–76 | Galaxy Incorporating Worlds of If | 9 | |||
| Feb–76 | Oct–77 | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | 16 | |
| Nov–77 | Dec-77/Jan–78 | Galaxy | Galaxy | Galaxy | 2 | |
| Feb–78 | Oct–79 | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | 10 | |
| Summer–80 | Summer–80 | Galaxy | Galaxy | Galaxy | Galaxy | 1 |
Galaxy remained a digest-sized magazine from the beginning until 1979; the very last issue was published in pulp format, as were the semi-professional issues produced by E. J. Gold. The page count began at 160; it dropped to 144 in January 1955, but went up to 192 in February 1959. In July 1969 the count went back down to 160; it returned to 192 pages with the August–September 1970 issue and stayed there till May–June 1971, when it dropped to 176. From June 1974 to June–July 1979 it was back at 160 pages, and then went to 128 pages for the final digest issue, September–October 1979. The single 1980 issue was 72 pages long. The eight issues published in the 1990s all had 96 pages, except the first, January–February 1994, which had 56 pages. The initial price was 25 cents. Price changes were as follows: 35 cents from May 1958; 50 cents from February 1959; 60 cents from December 1964; 75 cents from August–September 1970; $1.00 from April 1975; 79 cents for the August 1975 issue; 95 cents from September 1975; $1.00 from May 1976; $1.25 from June 1977, and $1.50 for the final professional issue in 1980.
Derivative anthologies
Several anthologies of stories from Galaxy have been published. The following list does not include reprint editions though in some cases these varied in contents, as for example with the UK editions of some of the early volumes.| Year | Editor | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | H. L. Gold | Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction | Crown: New York |
| 1954 | H. L. Gold | Second Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction | Crown: New York |
| 1958 | H. L. Gold | Third Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction | Doubleday: New York |
| 1958 | H. L. Gold | Five Galaxy Short Novels | Doubleday: New York |
| 1959 | H. L. Gold | The World That Couldn't Be and Eight Other Novelets From Galaxy | Doubleday: New York |
| 1959 | H. L. Gold | The Fourth Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction | Doubleday: New York |
| 1960 | H. L. Gold | The Bodyguard and Four Other Short Novels From Galaxy | Doubleday: New York |
| 1961 | H. L. Gold | The Mind Partner and Eight Other Novelets From Galaxy | Doubleday: New York |
| 1961 | H. L. Gold | The Fifth Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction | Doubleday: New York |
| 1962 | H. L. Gold | The Sixth Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction | Doubleday: New York |
| 1962 | Frederik Pohl | Time Waits for Winthrop and Four Other Short Novels From Galaxy | Doubleday: New York |
| 1964 | Frederik Pohl | The Seventh Galaxy Reader | Doubleday: New York |
| 1965 | Frederik Pohl | The Eighth Galaxy Reader | Doubleday: New York |
| 1966 | Frederik Pohl | The Ninth Galaxy Reader | Doubleday: New York |
| 1967 | Frederik Pohl | The Tenth Galaxy Reader | Doubleday: New York |
| 1969 | Frederik Pohl | The Eleventh Galaxy Reader | Doubleday: New York |
| 1972 | "The Editors of Galaxy" | The Best From Galaxy, Volume I | Award Books: New York |
| 1974 | "The Editors of Galaxy" | The Best From Galaxy, Volume II | Award Books: New York |
| 1975 | Jim Baen | The Best From Galaxy, Volume III | Award Books: New York |
| 1976 | Jim Baen | The Best From Galaxy, Volume IV | Award Books: New York |
| 1980 | Jim Baen | Galaxy: The Best of My Years | Ace: New York |
| 1980 | Frederik Pohl, Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph D. Olander | Galaxy Magazine: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction | Playboy Press: Chicago |
Related publications
Two series of companion novels were issued by the publishers. The first series, Galaxy Science Fiction Novels, began in 1950 with Eric Frank RussellEric Frank Russell
Eric Frank Russell was a British author best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction and other pulp magazines. Russell also wrote horror fiction for Weird Tales, and...
's Sinister Barrier; seven titles were released by World Editions, and a further twenty-eight by Guinn's Galaxy Publishing Corporation. The books were initially in digest format but this was changed to a standard paperback format for the last four titles. In 1959 the line was sold to Beacon Books, which produced another 11 volumes. Beacon specialized in softcore pornography, and changed the titles of most of the books they published to be more suggestive. The last title, Sin in Space (originally Outpost Mars), by Cyril Judd (a pseudonym for Cyril Kornbluth and Judith Merril
Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman , who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist....
) appeared in 1961. Two years later a second series, Galaxy Magabooks, appeared; each of these consisted of two short novels, both by the same author, published in a single volume. Only three were released; the last, And My Fear Is Great/Baby Is Three by Theodore Sturgeon, appeared in 1964.