I’m kind of surprised I haven’t written this one up yet (maybe I did and just can’t find it).
This is one of the rarest and most sought-after issues in the V1N1 Collection.
Hailing from 1931, it was a late-comer to 1930’s “Boom”, following Gernsback’s Science Wonder and Air Wonder from 1929, and Astounding in 1930.
Produced by the publisher of The Thrill Book (not in the collection – yet – from 1919), it was edited by Douglas Dold, who had been blinded during WWI.
He was assisted by his brother Elliot Dold, who, in addition to editorial duties and authoring several of the included stories again with his brother, created the cover illustration which was quite unusual for the time.
Douglas died of pneumonia following a house fire and the magazine was discontinued, having published only two issues, following his death.
This one I picked up on Ebay for a surprisingly reasonable price. No, it’s not by any means pristine – its got a fair amount of wear and discoloration, but when you’re filling a hole, particularly for a highly prized and rate item, you often take what you can get and hope you’ll be able to replace it with a better edition later.
I wasn’t letting this one go – it was the first and last time since that I’ve seen it listed anywhere, let alone Ebay.
Note: this is not a scan of my copy. It’s such a wonderful, busy cover I wanted readers to be able to get the full effect.
