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Cover of the eighteenth issue Avon published three related magazines in the late 1940s and early 1950s, titled ''Avon Fantasy Reader'', ''Avon Science Fiction Reader'', and ''Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader''. These were
digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately . It is also a and format, similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing ...
magazines (sometimes classed as a series of anthologies) which reprinted
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
and
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
literature by now well-known authors. They were edited by Donald A. Wollheim and published by Avon.


Publication history

In 1946 Donald Wollheim was working for Ace Magazines, but asked rival publisher Avon if they were interested in a fantasy title. Herbert Williams, Avon's editor, agreed and Wollheim compiled an anthology, titled ''Fantasy Reader''. The title page was dated February 1947, and it was originally intended to appear every other month, like a magazine, but the schedule was rarely regular; each issue was delayed until the previous one had turned a profit. Both Wollheim and Meyers considered the ''Reader'' to be a book series, but perhaps because the format was similar to a digest magazine, it has commonly been treated by bibliographers as a magazine. The first ''Reader'' sold well, and Wollheim was quickly hired, and shortly took over Williams' position when Joseph Meyers, the publisher, let Williams go. At the end of 1947, Meyers reduced the quality of the paper stock used for the glossy cover, to save money, and changed the binding from perfect to saddle-stapled.Ashley (2000), pp. 197-198. In 1951 Wollheim and Meyers began a companion series, ''Avon Science Fiction Reader'', again as an anthology series, but like the ''Fantasy Reader'' usually treated as a magazine by historians. This lasted for three issues, but in 1952 Wollheim, who disliked his job, left Avon to return to Ace, in order to start
Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...
. Meyers responding by merging the two series into one, titled ''Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader'', edited by Sol Cohen, but only two issues appeared, both in 1953.Clareson (1985b), pp. 132-134.


Contents and reception

Because Wollheim considered the series to be independent anthologies, rather than a magazine, he never included serials. Most of the contents of the ''Fantasy Reader'' were reprints, ranging from 19th century stories by M.R. James and Ambrose Bierce right up to the 1940s. He drew on magazine sources such as ''Weird Tales'', ''All-Story'', ''Astounding Science-Fiction'', and ''Amazing Stories'', but he also reprinted material that had previously only seen print in book form. Occasionally he obtained first publication rights: for example he printed two stories by Fritz Leiber, "The Man Who Never Grew Young" and "The Dreams of Albert Moreland", before they appeared in Leiber's ''Night's Black Agents''.Clareson (1985a), pp. 127-132. The ''Science Fiction Reader'' also relied heavily on reprints, and drew its material mostly from the pulp magazines from the 1920s onwards. Two exceptions were stories by Lord Dunsany and S. Fowler Wright; both had appeared in editions from
Arkham House Arkham House was an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...
, a publisher that Wollheim had a good relationship with. Avon strived to bring readers little known stories by then little recognized writers such as
H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...
,
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...
, C. L. Moore, A. Merritt,
Murray Leinster Murray Leinster () was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975), an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of List of science fiction authors, science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 ...
and
William Hope Hodgson William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror fiction, horror, fantasy, fan ...
.


Bibliographic details

All three magazines were published by Avon, under different company names: Avon Book Company from 1947 to 1948; Avon Publishing Co., Inc. from 1948 to 1949, and Avon Novels, Inc. from 1949 on, including all the issues of the ''Science Fiction Reader'' and ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader''. There were eighteen issues of the ''Fantasy Reader'' and three of the ''Science Fiction Reader''; both were edited by Donald A. Wollheim. Sol Cohen was the editor of the two issues of the ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader''. All were in digest format; the first five issues of the ''Fantasy Reader'' were perfect bound; all remaining issues were saddle-stapled, as were all issues of the other two titles. Every issue of each title was 128 pages and priced at 35 cents.Clareson (1985c), pp. 134-135. In 1969 Avon Books published two paperback books of selections from the original series, each also called ''The Avon Fantasy Reader'' and credited to Donald A. Wollheim and George Ernsberger as editors. The latter, Avon's science fiction editor then, made the selections and contributed a foreword to each.


Notes


References


Sources

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External links

* * * {{ISFDB series, 23085, Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1947 Magazines disestablished in 1952 Magazines published in New York City Science fiction magazines established in the 1940s Speculative fiction magazines published in the United States Triannual magazines published in the United States Avon Periodicals titles