Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911
Page 1
Science Fiction by
Gaslight
A HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF SCIENCE FICTION IN THE POPULAR MAGAZINES, 1891-1911
EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
Sam Moskowitz
Books by Sam Moskowitz
The Immortal Storm: A History of Science Fiction Fandom
Men and Milestones in Science Fiction
Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction
Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Modern Science Fiction
Edited by Sam Moskowitz
Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911
Three Stories by Murray Leinster, Jack Williamson and John Wyndham
Great Spy Novels and Stories (with Roger Elwood)
Strange Signposts (with Roger Elwood)
A Martian Odyssey and Other Classics of Science Fiction by Stanley G. Weinbaum
Exploring Other Worlds
The Coming of the Robots
Great Railroad Stories of the World
Editor’s Choice in Science Fiction
Life Everlasting, and Other Tales of Science, Fantasy and Horror by David H. Keller, M.D.
Men and Milestones in Science Fiction
Masterpieces of Science Fiction
Modern Masterpieces of Science Fiction
Photography by Christine E. Haycock, M.D.
The World Publishing Company Cleveland and New York
Published by the World Publishing Company 2231 West 110th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44102 Published simultaneously in Canada by Nelson, Foster & Scott Ltd.
First Printing 1968
Copyright © 1968 by Sam Moskowitz All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, except for brief passages included in a review appearing in a newspaper or magazine. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-24481
Designed by Christine Wilkinson
Printed in the United States of America
To the memory of my father
HARRY MOSKOWITZ
because he would have been proud
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction: A History of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911
CATASTROPHES
The Thames Valley Catastrophe by Grant Allen
(The Strand Magazine, December 1897)
The Doom of London by Robert Barr
{The Idler, November 1892)
A Corner in Lightning by George Griffith
(Pearson’s Magazine, March 1898)
The Tilting Island by Thomas J. Vivian and Grena J. Bennett
(Everybody’s Magazine, September 1909)
Finis by Frank Lillie Pollock
(The Argosy, June 1906)
MARVELOUS INVENTIONS
An Express of the Future by Jules Verne
(The Strand Magazine, January 1895)
The Ray of Displacement by Harriet Prescott Spofford
(The Metropolitan Magazine, October 1903)
Congealing the Ice Trust by Capt. H. G. Bishop, USA
(The New Broadway Magazine, December 1907)
Lord Beden’s Motor by J. B. Harris-Burland
(The Strand Magazine, December 1901)
MONSTERS AND HORRORS
The Death-Trap by George Daulton
(Pearson’s Magazine, March 1908)
The Air Serpent by Will A. Page
(The Red Book Magazine, April 1911)
The Monster of Lake LaMetrie by Wardon Allan Curtis
(Pearson’s Magazine, September 1899)
The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson
(The Red Book Magazine, November 1907)
FUTURE WAR
The Land Ironclads by H. G. Wells
(The Strand Magazine, January 1904)
The Dam by Hugh S. Johnson
(The Red Book Magazine, April 1911)
Submarined by Walter Wood
(Pearson’s Magazine, February 1905)
MAN-EATING PLANTS
The Purple Terror by Fred M. White
(The Strand Magazine, September 1899)
Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant by Howard R. Garis
(The Argosy, August 1905)
FAR-OUT HUMOR
An Experiment in Gyro Hats by Ellis Parker Butler
(Hampton’s Magazine, June 1910)
The Hybrid Hyperborean Ant by Roy L. McCardell
(Hampton’s Magazine, December 1910)
SCIENTIFIC CRIME AND DETECTION
Where the Air Quivered by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace
(The Strand Magazine, December 1898)
In re State vs. Forbes by Warren Earle
(The Black Cat, July 1906)
MEDICAL MIRACLES
Old Doctor Rutherford by D. F. Hannigan
(The Ludgate Monthly, September 1891)
Itself by Edgar Mayhew Bacon
(The Black Cat, May 1907)
ADVENTURES IN PSYCHOLOGY
Citizen 504 by Charles H. Palmer
(The Argosy, December 1896)
The Mansion of Forgetfulness by Don Mark Lemon
(The Black Cat, April 1907)
PREFACE
In Explorers of the Infinite and Seekers of Tomorrow the author presented in the broadest strokes a history of science fiction from its earliest beginnings to the present, with the emphasis on certain era builders and pivotal figures who shaped the contour and general direction of the literature. This method was necessary so that the picture would be more than just an outline, so that it would transfer to the reader and to the student of the field a sample of the detailed richness of the subject.
Quite as obviously such a historical method cannot be definitive. The researcher and writer must make value judgments on what is imperative and what is not. He must establish a cut-off point as to how deep he dare delve before his work becomes unwieldy and confusing. Once he has presented a generally accepted, broad-gauge view of the field, it then becomes not only possible but also desirable to focus on those specific areas that provide a rich lode of important and fascinating historical lore.
Such a period for science fiction began in 1891 and ended in 1911. We have somewhat nostalgically (yet accurately) termed this time the “gaslight era,” but the fact that the days of gas illumination and these writings coincide is but a fortunate accident. 1891 was the year when The Strand Magazine, the first mass-circulation, quality middle-class general publication was issued at a price within the reach of all, the equivalent of ten cents. It was a British magazine, but between its American edition and the mass of imitators, it ushered in a golden age of magazines, which began with its January 1891 publication and ended about 1914, at the beginning of World War I. Never before had the middle class and even the working class had such an incredible selection of superb magazines of well-balanced general interest at a reasonable price, and probably they never will again.
The purpose of this volume is to offer a history and a selection of science fiction from the great general magazines of 1891 to 1911. The cut-off point is set at 1911 because early in 1912 the rise of the women’s magazines, coupled with the discovery of the great storyteller Edgar Rice Burroughs, shifted the mainstream of magazine science fiction from the general popular magazines to t
he specialized adventure pulps, which eventually led to the creation of magazines composed entirely of science fiction.
Having said all this is not to minimize what has been attempted. No one has written a deliberate history of the golden age of magazines, to provide the background and guide for this venture. Frank Luther Mott in his four tremendous volumes titled A History of American Magazines went broadly up to 1905 and died before he could complete the fifth volume that would have covered in great detail the further period and its publications. The Strand, Pearson’s Magazine, Everybody’s, Hampton’s, The Red Book, The Blue Book, The Metropolitan Magazine, and scores of others remained to be done, and we will be fortunate indeed if someone assumes the task and renders it as superbly as Mott covered the previous periodicals.
Even at that, Mott’s history would have been concerned primarily with American publications and the interrelationship and influence of one country upon another would not have been a major current. Theodore Peterson, in his intriguing book, Magazines in the Twentieth Century, titillates us with the socioeconomic factors concerned with the publications of the first sixty years of this century, and tells us just enough about the period under review to make us wish that he had written four volumes like Frank Luther Mott, instead of only one volume of highlights.
The main library in New York City has a great many of these magazines on file, but one cannot spend days on end attempting to read what is unquestionably one of the most extensive collections in the world when that institution is devoted to lighting so dim that the volumes cannot be perused except in the middle of a bright summer’s day by natural light. This fact necessitated contacting scores of dealers and buying as large and representative a selection of magazines from that era as could be found, so that scrutiny and search could proceed without the sure threat of blindness. Such a procedure, one may be assured, is not profitable, but it offers the great advantage of having the magazines always at hand to refer to time and again, instead of worrying about gaps in one’s notes. It also is a great deal of fun.
From these periodicals have been selected the stories in this volume. None has ever appeared in a previous science fiction anthology; the majority have never appeared in hard covers at all. Most of the titles will be unknown to even the hardened collectors of science fiction. In a number of cases, the names of the authors will not be familiar, but as can be seen by the credits, all of these stories came from leading magazines of the period; magazines that maintained respected literary standards.
This is the science fiction that was printed and read during the gaslight era. The intriguing thing about these stories is that, with few exceptions, the action occurs in the times in which the stories were written. Like H. G. Wells’ Martians in The War of the Worlds, who invade the earth in 1898, the events you will read about here include the destruction of the great cities of London and New York; the thrilling tale of a tube under the ocean; the implementation of weather control; systems for walking through walls; the discovery of fantastic monsters on land, sea, and in the air; the unfamiliar wars (did Japan actually invade the United States in 1911?); the man-eating plants; the super but benevolent ants; the incredibly ingenious devices for murders and detection of murderers; the miraculous methods of longevity and cure of disease; the systems of thought control. All have taken place in a familiar yet bewildering “world of if” that once we knew, but not like this!
It was the era of the illustrated magazine, and science fiction was not slighted. Included is a selection of science fiction art, many from the stories in this volume, others from associated sources of the same period. All are from the editor’s own collection. Though they date the stories, the illustrations amaze by their professional competence. They have been photographed especially for this volume by my wife, Christine E. Haycock, M.D., who has displayed extraordinary skill in giving definition to the impressions on aged and fading paper, and retaining enough clarity to make it possible to reproduce them.
Each of the twenty-six stories has an introduction, all the material of which is deliberately planned to be supplemental to the history, giving background on the author, his themes, and magazines not otherwise covered.
Accompanying all this is a history of science fiction in the magazines. This is not intended, except by inadvertence, to be a history of science fiction in hard covers during the period covered. For the first time, the science fiction stories in the magazines of the gaslight era are unified in a serious review. Through necessity, an outline of the great magazines of this era is also provided.
I owe my greatest debt to the rare-magazine dealers, without whom all of this would have been impossible. I must acknowledge special inspiration for the title to Joseph H. Wrzos, formerly managing editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic. A timely bound file of Pearson’s Magazine and particular assistance on the biographical background of George Griffith were the contributions of the able and conscientious British researcher, Peter Coussee. Retyping my manuscripts on science fiction for the past six years has given Mrs. Rhea Finkelstein a knowledge of the field and a special sort of expertise that lifts her contribution to the finished work out of the realm of a purely technical one. Enthusiasm for the project was no small inducement from editor Wallace Exman. To the reader, I can only hope I have illuminated a previously darkened area of science fiction’s development, and for the authors of these stories (most of them deceased), possibly I have restored to some of them a modicum of deserved stature; hopefully I have revived interest in the works of several that would otherwise have been neglected.
Sam Moskowitz
Newark, New Jersey
January 1968
INTRODUCTION
A HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION
IN THE POPULAR MAGAZINES, 1891-1911
Science fiction by gaslight?
A contradiction in terms?
Gaslight conjures up the legendary Baker Street study of Sherlock Holmes; the lavish, rococo generosity of Diamond Jim Brady and his busty companion Lillian Russell; genteel ladies wheeled in elegant horse-drawn carriages through shaded streets; magic lantern slides as the high point of an evening’s entertainment; the grating sound of the ice-cream mixer turning in the kitchen. Where does science fiction fit into so nostalgic a pattern of living?
The seeming dilemma is caused by a profound misunderstanding of the term “gaslight era.” Most people conceive of it as a time before the invention of the electric light in 1879. These same people would be incredulous if they were to see a Gay Nineties moving picture in which one of the characters turned on an electric light.
The electric light was not a single invention at all, but a system of literally hundreds of inventions, ranging from the development of dynamos, switches, cables at one end, and culminating in the electric bulb at the other. In between the invention of the electric light and its universal application lay long years of politics (one did not obtain an exclusive franchise to supply power and light in a community without approval of elected officials) and financing to build power stations, erect phone poles, string lines, and adapt homes and industry for the use of electricity.
All this necessary activity and the political maneuverings would take decades, and peak use of gas for illumination came after the invention of the electric light, sometime in the 1890s. Electricity did not surpass gas as the primary source of light until 1910.
When World War I broke out, public buildings and schools were frequently built with dual gas and electric systems. Such “insurance” can often be found in many homes built after World War I. Conversion when it came was frequently gradual. A family might put electricity in the kitchen and living room first and leave the bedrooms, bathroom, and cellar until later. Large mansions sometimes electrified a single wing. As late as the Roaring Twenties it was still a common sight to see a lamplighter on a bicycle at dusk, riding from lamp to lamp. Certain fashionable suburbs still use gaslights on the streets so that the community may retain a special atmosphere, but automatic pilots from a c
entral switch control them now.
Before 1890, the oil lamp was a more common method of illumination than gas in the American home. In Europe the candle was the mainstay, even in mansions of the wealthy. The great era of gaslight was the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The flickering gas jets gave that period a false aura of a more natural life and a more leisurely pace. Actually, gas was just a transitional phase between oil lamps and the electric light, and the supplanting of gas by electricity was merely the outward manifestation of an orgy of change and development; an incredible procession of invention and scientific discovery that was remaking the world beyond any hope of reversion.
The electric light cleared all shadows away from what had been happening. It was a world, even then, of the typewriter replacing the pen; the telephone bringing fast communication; the automobile putting the horse into pasture; floating hotels providing overseas travel; skyscrapers grasping toward the sky, with electric elevators to make them functional; phonograph records bringing the voices of great artists into the home; Eastman’s little black box outmoding the portrait painter; nickelodeons enchanting crowds with awkwardly jumpy motion pictures; and, almost forgotten but equally wonderful, it was the golden age of the marriage between educated masses and the popular magazine.
Progress had improved production methods and lowered the price of paper. Electrotype and linotype machines speeded up composition and drastically lowered costs. A little-known researcher, Frederic Ives, working at Cornell University with the camera, had come up with a satisfactory method of photoengraving which cut costs of illustrating magazines down to a fraction of that for wood cuts, steel engravings, or other procedures. Electric engines powered giant presses, increasing speed and improving quality of printing as well as making it possible to print more pages simultaneously. A nationwide distribution system, American News, evolved in the United States, which made practical the sale of magazines in railroad stations, ferry terminals, candy stores, street stands, and almost anywhere that groups of people congregated. Publishers were no longer dependent upon subscription solicitation by mail to obtain readers.