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''Cosmic Stories'' (also known as ''Cosmic Science-Fiction'') and ''Stirring Science Stories'' were two pulp science fiction magazines that published a total of seven issues in 1941 and 1942. Both ''Cosmic'' and ''Stirring'' were edited by Donald A. Wollheim, and launched by the same publisher, appearing in alternate months. Wollheim had no budget at all for fiction, so he solicited stories from his friends among the Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans including James Blish and C.M. Kornbluth. Isaac Asimov contributed a story, but later insisted on payment after hearing that F. Orlin Tremaine, the editor of ''Comet''—a competing science fiction magazine—was irate at the idea of a magazine that might "siphon readership from magazines that paid",〔 and thought that authors who contributed should be blacklisted. Kornbluth was the most prolific contributor, under several pseudonyms; one of his stories, "Thirteen O'Clock", published under the pseudonym "Cecil Corwin", was very successful, and helped to make his reputation in the field. The magazines ceased publication in late 1941, but Wollheim was able to find a publisher for one further issue of ''Stirring Science Stories'' in March 1942 before war restrictions forced it to close again. Other well-known writers who appeared in the two magazines included Damon Knight and David H. Keller. Knight's first published story, "Resilience", appeared in the February 1941 issue of ''Stirring Stories'', but the story was ruined by a misprint in a crucial word in the first sentence. Keller was an established writer in the field, but Wollheim was aware that Keller occasionally donated material to fanzines, and was able to obtain a story from him. The quality of the artwork was variable; it included Elliot Dold's last artwork in the science fiction field, for the cover of the July 1941 issue of ''Cosmic Stories'', and several covers and interior drawings by Hannes Bok, who later became a well-known artist in the field. == Publication history == Although science fiction (sf) had been published before the 1920s, it did not begin to coalesce into a separately marketed genre until the appearance in 1926 of ''Amazing Stories'', a pulp magazine published by Hugo Gernsback. By the end of the 1930s the field was booming, and between 1939 and 1941 a flood of new sf magazines appeared.〔Edwards & Nicholls (1993), pp. 1066–1068.〕 In late 1940, Donald A. Wollheim, an active science fiction fan and aspiring editor and writer, noticed a new magazine titled ''Stirring Detective and Western Stories'' on the newsstands. He wrote to the publishers, Albing Publications, to see if they were interested in adding a science fiction title to their list, and he was invited to their office. Wollheim later recalled the meeting:〔 "It was a father and son, the son in his twenties, and the father in his fifties; they were operating out of a desk in the corner of an advertising office, and what they had was credit from one of the news companies (), Kable or one of those outfits, and they said, 'We don't have any capital, but if you can put the magazine together for nothing, we can go up to fifteen bucks for art, and we can do it. If the magazine succeeds, then we'll be able to pay you a regular salary after the third issue.' My attitude was that at least I'd be getting the experience, and something was better than nothing." Wollheim sent a letter out to his contacts in science fiction fandom, announcing the new magazines. Originally the plan had been to publish a single monthly title, but this was changed by the publisher to two alternating bimonthly magazines, to be called ''Cosmic Stories'' and ''Stirring Science Stories''.〔Rich (2010), p. 74.〕 The first to appear was the February 1941 issue of ''Stirring Science Stories''. Wollheim had announced a planned newsstand date of 15 December 1940, but according to Damon Knight's later recollection the magazine appeared in January 1941.〔〔 The two titles alternated months until the July 1941 issue of ''Cosmic Stories'' (by that time retitled ''Cosmic Science-Fiction'' on the cover), after which the magazines were cancelled. Some months later Wollheim was able to find another publisher, Manhattan Fiction Publications, and a fourth issue of ''Stirring'' appeared, dated March 1942. Wartime constraints prevented the new publisher from continuing, and there were no more issues of either title.〔Thompson (1985a), pp. 168−170.〕〔Thompson (1985b), pp. 617–620.〕〔Rich (2010), pp. 106−108.〕 An announcement in the January 1941 ''Writer's Digest'' listed the payment rate as half a cent per word. This was a low rate, but it would have been on a par with many other magazines of the era, had Wollheim been able to achieve it.〔 In the event he was able to start paying small amounts to his authors after the first couple of issues; C.M. Kornbluth was paid for several of his later stories for the two magazines, though the rates were well below half a cent per word.〔Rich (2010), pp. 89−91.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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