From March 1923 to May/June/July 1924, The Rural Publishing Corporation of Chicago and Indianapolis published thirteen issues of its new magazine, Weird Tales. There was one bimonthly issue during that time, July/August 1923, and one month with no issue at all, December 1923. Weird Tales was otherwise a monthly magazine until the thirteenth issue, which did triple duty, covering May through July 1924. Then came a hiatus and reorganization, which ended with the issue of November 1924 and Farnsworth Wright brought on as the new editor.
The publishers of Weird Tales in that first year and more were Jacob Clark Henneberger and John M. Lansinger. The editor of the first twelve issues was Edwin Baird. A recent exchange of comments and some research seems to have established that Baird, Wright, and Otis Adelbert Kline were involved in the editorship of the thirteenth issue. See the comments in the previous posting to learn more.
Following is a summary of Weird Tales during its first year and more.
Weird Tales, March 1923 (Vol. 1, No. 1)--Whole Number 1
Cover story: "Ooze" by Anthony M. Rud.
Cover art by Richard R. Epperly; no interior illustrations.
192 pages
26 stories, plus non-fiction fillers and "The Eyrie"
First stories by Anthony M. Rud, Otis Adelbert Kline, Farnsworth Wright.
Weird Tales, April 1923 (Vol. 1, No. 2)--Whole Number 2
Cover story: Presumably "The Whispering Thing" by Laurie McClintock & Culpeper Chunn.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; no interior illustrations.
192 pages
21 stories, plus non-fiction fillers and "The Eyrie"
Weird Tales, May 1923 (Vol. 1, No. 3)--Whole Number 3
Cover story: None. (The cover is partly a swipe from an older illustration.)
Cover art by William F. Heitman; interior illustrations by Heitman.
120 pages
21 stories, plus non-fiction fillers and "The Eyrie"
First story by Vincent Starrett; first weird fiction reprint, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
Cover story: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Cover art by William F. Heitman; interior illustrations by Heitman.
120 pages
21 stories, plus non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "The Cauldron"
Weird Tales, July/August 1923 (Vol. 2, No. 1)--Whole Number 5
Cover story: Presumably "Sunfire" by Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett).
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
16 stories, 1 essay, and two poems, plus non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "The Cauldron"
First verse in Weird Tales, two poems by Clark Ashton Smith, his first works for the magazine.
Weird Tales, September 1923 (Vol. 2, No. 2)--Whole Number 6
Cover story: Presumably "People of the Comet" by Austin Hall.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
16 stories and 1 essay, plus non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "The Cauldron"
First and only story by Ambrose Bierce. First letter by H.P. Lovecraft.
Cover story: "The Amazing Adventure of Joe Scranton" by Effie W. Fifield.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
14 stories, plus non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," "The Cauldron," and "Weird Crimes"
First stories by H.P. Lovecraft and Frank Owen; first work, an essay, by Seabury Quinn.
Weird Tales, November 1923 (Vol. 2, No. 4)--Whole Number 8
Cover story: "The Closed Room" by Maybelle McCalment.
Cover art by R.M. Mally, misattributed to Washburn; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
17 stories, plus non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "Weird Crimes"
Weird Tales, January 1924 (Vol. 3, No. 1)--Whole Number 9
Cover story: None.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
14 stories, plus three poems, non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "Weird Crimes"
Weird Tales, February 1924 (Vol. 3, No. 2)--Whole Number 10
Cover story: None.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
16 stories, plus one poem, non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "Weird Crimes"
First poem by a woman, Mary Sharon.
Weird Tales, March 1924 (Vol. 3, No. 3)--Whole Number 11
Cover story: "The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstadt" by Harry Houdini.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
17 stories, plus one poem, non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "Weird Crimes"
First stories by Harry Houdini and C.M. Eddy, Jr.
Weird Tales, April 1924 (Vol. 3, No. 4)--Whole Number 12
Cover story: "The Hoax of the Spirit Lover" by Harry Houdini.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
96 pages
18 stories, plus one poem, non-fiction fillers, "The Eyrie," and "Weird Crimes"
First poem by H.P. Lovecraft within the contents of the magazine.
Weird Tales, May/June/July 1924 (Vol. 4, No. 2)--Whole Number 13
Cover story: "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" by Harry Houdini.
Cover art by R.M. Mally; interior illustrations by Heitman.
192 pages
37 stories, plus the essay "Why Weird Tales?", non-fiction fillers, "Ask Houdini," and "Weird Crimes"
First story by Henry S. Whitehead.
Some notes: First, the number of pages shown here is for interior pages only. Second, the count that I have here for stories, poems, and essays is my own. If you see any mistakes, let me know and I will correct them. Third, I'm not sure about some of the cover illustrations, thus the qualifier "presumably." Fourth, there wasn't any Volume 4, Number 1. Fifth, the issues in that first year and more were otherwise gathered into three volumes of four issues each.
I wanted to make this list mostly to compare these thirteen issues, particularly the number of interior pages and the number of stories in each. As you can see, the first two issues were pretty close in that regard. The next two can also be taken as a pair. Then came eight issues with 96 pages each. I have been calling the May/June/July issue of 1924 a jumbo-sized issue, but it's not really when you compare it to the first two. All three of these issues contain 192 pages. The triple-issue, though, has thirty-seven stories in all, plus an essay, non-fiction fillers, and two features. Not counting non-fiction fillers, that's about half again as many items as in the first issue.
Although it came along in May/June/July 1924, more than a year after the magazine began, the triple issue of Weird Tales was called on the cover "Anniversary Number." That was the first of many observances of anniversaries in the one hundred years plus one of Weird Tales. The most recent issue of Weird Tales also observes an anniversary on its cover. I'd like to write about that issue next.
Text copyright 2024 Terence E. Hanley
No comments:
Post a Comment