Columbia Publications is an American publisher of books and magazines featuring the genres of
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 ...
,
westerns
The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...
,
detective stories
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
,
romance
Romance may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...
, and sports fiction. The company published such writers as
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...
,
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known West ...
,
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.
Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...
Edward D. Hoch
Edward Dentinger Hoch (February 22, 1930 – January 17, 2008) was an American writer of detective fiction. Although he wrote several novels, he was primarily known for his vast output of over 950 short stories. He was one of the few Ame ...
, and
William Tenn
William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass (May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010), a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family in London, Phillip Klass mo ...
Carol Emshwiller
Carol Emshwiller (April 12, 1921 – February 2, 2019) was an American writer of avant-garde short stories and science fiction who won prizes for her work including the Nebula Award to the Philip K. Dick Award. Ursula K. Le Guin has called her ...
,
Edward D. Hoch
Edward Dentinger Hoch (February 22, 1930 – January 17, 2008) was an American writer of detective fiction. Although he wrote several novels, he was primarily known for his vast output of over 950 short stories. He was one of the few Ame ...
and
Kate Wilhelm
Kate Wilhelm (June 8, 1928 – March 8, 2018) was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning '' Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang''. Wilhelm establish ...
.
Operating from the mid-1930s to 1960, Columbia's most notable magazines were the science fiction pulps ''
Future Science Fiction
''Future Science Fiction'' and ''Science Fiction Stories'' were two American science fiction magazines that were published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig f ...
'', ''
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 ''
Science Fiction Quarterly
''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainde ...
''. Other long-running titles included ''Double Action Western Magazine'', ''Real Western'', ''Western Action'', ''Famous Western'', ''Today's Love Stories'', ''Super Sports'', and ''Double Action Detective and Mystery Stories''. In addition to pulp magazines, the company also published some paperback novels, primarily in the science fiction genre.
Columbia Publications was the most prolific of a number of pulp imprints operated in the 1930s by
Louis Silberkleit
Louis Horace Silberkleit (; 17 November 1900 – 21 February 1986) was an American publisher of magazines, books, and comic books; together with Maurice Coyne and John L. Goldwater, he co-founded MLJ Magazines (later known as Archie Comics), an ...
. Nominally, their offices were in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
and
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...
Ashley, Mike; Thompson, Raymond H. (1985). "Science Fiction". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike. ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines''. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 511–519. . (the addresses of their printers, binders, and mailers for subscriptions), but they were actually produced out of 60 Hudson Street in New York City.
History
Louis Silberkleit
Louis Horace Silberkleit (; 17 November 1900 – 21 February 1986) was an American publisher of magazines, books, and comic books; together with Maurice Coyne and John L. Goldwater, he co-founded MLJ Magazines (later known as Archie Comics), an ...
and Maurice Coyne (two out of three of the men who later founded
MLJ Magazines
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jughead ...
(
Archie Comic Publications
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jughead ...
)) started publishing pulps in Sept. 1934 with the publisher brand Winford Publications and the title ''Double Action Western Magazine'', soon joined by ''Real Western''. The two men launched the Northwest Publishing imprint in 1935, Chesterfield Publications in 1936, Blue Ribbon Magazines in 1937, and Double Action Magazines in 1938.Saunders, David "LOUIS H. SILBERKLEIT (1900–1986)," ''Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists''. Retrieved February 26, 2017. Silberkleit ran the companies while Coyne acted as a silent partner and business manager.
Meanwhile, Silberkleit and Coyne had started Columbia Publications in late 1937. ''The New York Times'' (February 25, 1986) (last visited on July 19, 2015). Columbia's first titles were
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
pulps: ''Western Yarns'' debuted in January 1938 and ''Complete Cowboy'' in January 1939. Beginning with the June 1940 issue, Columbia took over publication of ''Western Action'' from Winford Publications. The same happened in November 1940 with ''Double Action Western Magazine'' and ''Real Western''.
Editor
Charles Hornig
Charles Hornig (May 25, 1916 – October 11, 1999) was one of the earliest contributors to the science fiction genre. He not only created one of the first fanzines in 1933, as a teenager, he became the managing editor for ''Wonder Stories'' magaz ...
was hired in October 1938.Davin, Eric Leif (1999). ''Pioneers of Wonder: Conversations with the Founders of Science Fiction''. Amherst NY: Prometheus Books. , p. 102.Davin (1999), pp.111–112. He had no office; he worked from home, coming into the office as needed to drop off manuscripts and dummy materials, and pick up typeset materials to proof. He was given broad freedom to select what he wanted to publish; he reported to Silberkleit's chief editor, Abner J. Sundell.
In 1941, Silberkleit essentially consolidated all his pulp publishing companies under the Columbia Publications umbrella. Extant titles Columbia took on that year included ''Famous Western'', ''
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 ...
'', ''Hooded Detective'' (started in 1938 under a different title), ''
Future Fiction
''Future Science Fiction'' and ''Science Fiction Stories'' were two American science fiction magazines that were published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig f ...
'', ''Sports Winners'' and ''Super Sports''. At that point, in mid-1941, Robert A. W. Lowndes came on board, becoming Columbia's lead editor. In late 1941, Silberkleit merged ''Science Fiction'' with ''Future Fiction.''
Two years later Columbia cancelled both ''Future'' and ''
Science Fiction Quarterly
''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainde ...
'' (launched in 1941), deciding to use the limited paper they could acquire for their line of Western and detective titles instead.Ashley, Mike (1985d). "Future Fiction". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike. ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. , p. 280. (The U.S.'s 1941–1942 entry into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
brought about a paper shortage, which equally effected other pulp publications.) Both magazines, as well as ''Science Fiction'', were revived in the 1950s.
In addition to pulp magazines, Columbia published a few
paperback books
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...
, most notably
Noel Loomis
Noel Loomis (April 3, 1905 – September 7, 1969) was an American writer, principally of western, mystery and science-fiction.
Born and raised in the American West, he was sufficiently familiar with that territory to write a useful history of t ...
' ''City of Glass'' (1955) (a "Double Action Pocketbook"; originally published in 1942 as a shorter piece in Standard Magazines' ''
Startling Stories
''Startling Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by publisher Ned Pines' Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of '' Thrilling Wonder Stories ...
'') and the five-issue series ''Science Fiction Classics'' (1942), which included novellas by Earl Binder and
Otto Binder
Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...
writing as "John Coleridge," and
John Russell Fearn
John Russell Fearn (5 June 1908 — 18 September 1960) was a British writer, one of the first to appear in American pulp science fiction magazines. A prolific author, he published his novels also as Vargo Statten and with various pseudonyms inc ...
writing as "Dennis Clive".
As television supplanted magazines as the dominant form of mass entertainment in the 1950s, the pulps suffered from slumping sales. In February 1960, when Columbia's distributor refused to carry any more of the company's titles, that signaled the end of Columbia Publications.Feldman, Michael "The Secret Origin of Tower Comics," in ''The Thunder Agents Companion'' by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2005), p. 85.
Silberkleit, Coyne, and fellow Archie founder
John L. Goldwater
John Leonard Goldwater (born Max Leonard Goldwasser,Saunders, David ''Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists''. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018. February 14, 1916 – February 26, 1999) co-founded (with Maurice Coyne and Louis Silberkleit) MLJ Comics ...
immediately founded
Belmont Books
Belmont Books, also known as Belmont Productions, was an American publisher of genre fiction paperback originals founded in 1960. It specialized in science fiction, horror and fantasy, with titles appearing from 1961 through 1971. The company pu ...
, a low-rent paperback publisher devoted to science fiction, horror, and mystery titles.Hyfler, Richard "Books For Bus Terminals: Whatever Happened to Belmont Productions?" ''Forbes'' (September 15, 2010).
In its early years, Belmont published a number of science fiction anthologies that featured content from ''Science Fiction'', ''Future Fiction'', ''
Science Fiction Quarterly
''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainde ...
'', and ''
Dynamic Science Fiction
''Dynamic Science Fiction'' was an American pulp magazine which published six issues from December 1952 to January 1954. It was a companion to '' Future Science Fiction'', and like that magazine was edited by Robert W. Lowndes and published b ...
'', all of which had been published by Columbia Publications.
Gerald G. Swan reprints
British publisher Gerald G. Swan (1902–1980)"Gerald G. Swan," Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 22, 2017. published 16 issues of ''Swan American Magazine'' from 1946 to 1950, the contents of which were culled from Columbia Publications titles. The ''Swan'' issues focused on Western and detective titles, with a couple of science fiction-themed issues thrown in. Five individual issues of ''Swan American Magazine'' were devoted to material reprinted from Columbia's ''Famous Western'', two to ''Western Yarns'', and two to ''Complete Cowboy''.
''Swan American Magazines'' issues:
# ''Western Yarns'' (1948)
# ''Detective Yarns'' (1948)
# ''Crack Detective Stories'' (1948)
# ''Famous Western'' (1948)
# ''Western Yarns'' (1948)
# ''Famous Western'' (1948
# ''Hooded Detective'' (1948)
# ''Famous Western'' (1948)
# ''Crack Detective'' (1948)
# ''Famous Western'' (1948)
# '' Future Fantasy and Science Fiction'' (1948)
# ''Complete Cowboy Wild Western Stories''
# ''Famous Western''
# ''Complete Cowboy Wild Western Stories''
# ''
Science Fiction Quarterly
''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainde ...
'' (1950)
# '' Black Hood Detective'' (1950)
In 1960, Swan also published three issues of ''Weird and Occult Library'', which mostly featured old stories from Columbia's science fiction pulps.
Titles published
Further reading
* Lowndes, Robert A. W. "The Columbia Pulps," ''The Pulp Era'' No. 67 (May–August 1967), edited by Lynn A. Hickman