Tag: Catherine L. Moore

The Best of C.L. Moore (Catherine L. Moore), Edited by Lester Del Rey – 1976 [The Brothers Hildebrandt] [Revised post…!]

“It was because there was only one Phoenix.
Only one in the whole world.”

Time flies.  It really, really does.

Case in point, “this” post, dating back to 2017, pertaining to Ballantine Books’ 1976 anthology “The Best of C.L. Moore”.  Now in 2022 (one hell of a year it’s turning out to be, and what of the future?), it’s time for a rewrite…

As one of my several posts presenting Ballantine Books’ Classic Science Fiction series “The Best Of…” (insert appropriate author’s name [here]!), the time arrived to revisit and refine the post’s text and images.  Partially…because I like to improve my existing posts.  Partially … especially … because Catherine Moore is among my favorite science fiction authors, her writing displaying remarkable levels of depth, richness, and substance, all presented through a singularly distinctive literary style.

____________________

First things first … C.L. Moore’s portrait, from Tellers of Weird Tales, where the caption is given as follows: “Catherine L. Moore (1911-1987) — The date of the photograph is unknown, but the author-to-be is quite young, perhaps still a student.  Look upon this and other pictures of her, read her stories, and you’ll not wonder why Forrest J Ackerman called her “Catherine the Great,” why E. Hoffman Price confessed his love for her, and why Henry Kuttner proposed to her shortly after their first meeting.  From the collection of Julius Schwartz and reprinted in Locus, March 1988.”  (For this post, I’ve used Photoshop to slightly enhance the image.)

____________________

Here’s the paperback edition of The Best of C.L. Moore, with cover art by The Brothers Hildebrandt. 

The worn-around-the-edges and not-so-pristine-quality of my copy is evidence less of its forty-four year age than my several (!) readings of it over the intervening decades.  Even without the painters’ signature, the cover is immediately distinguishable as a Hildebrandt work, by virtue of the richness, texture, and brightness of side elements (in this case, curtains and stairway) set around a central brightness, illumination, or backlighting.  Though not evident in this cover by virtue of the subject matter (the protagonist Deirdre from the story “No Woman Born” having become a cyborg), there’s an extremely distinctive muscularity to some – not all – of the characters in Hildebrandt art, inspired by and reflecting the influence of comics.

From Pinterest, here’s the Hildebrandt cover art in its pre-publication form: sans title, publisher’s logo, and boring stuff like price and Ballantine book number.  Even with having been tweaked via Photoshop Elements (yeah, I did that), the colors here are less saturated those displayed on the book, suggesting that Ballantine brightened the colors and shifted the tones towards yellow, red, and orange to make the cover art more noticeable; more catchy.  Accompanying this, the right and left sides, and, top edge were slightly cropped to allow Deirdre’s figure to occupy more of the cover area.

And, to return to the beginning, here’s illustrator Frank Kramer’s depiction of Deirdre, as it (well, she) originally appeared, in the December, 1944, issue of Astounding Science Fiction:  The inspiration for Hildebrandts’ art is unmistakable.  

____________________

As in my other posts about science fiction and fantasy anthologies, the book’s contents are listed below.  But this time, I’ve done things a little done differently: Each title is linked to a PDF version of the listed story.  These PDFs were created from the digital version of the pulp magazine in which the story itself originally appeared, as accessed through the Internet Archive’s Pulp Magazine Archive, through which digital copies are available in a variety of formats.  In this case, relevant issues were downloaded in Comic Book Zip format, and, using CBR Reader, the pages comprising the story were converted to JPGs, along with tables of contents.  The individual pages – files – were then combined to create a single PDF of the story, after lots of adjustment for color, and, brightness and contrast. 

Of the stories listed below, the original scanning and uploading to the Internet Archive was done for eight by Sketch the Cow, and for two (“Black Thirst” and “The Black God’s Kiss”) by zatoichi01.

For two stories (“No Woman Born” and “Vintage Season”) the magazine covers were scanned from my own copies of Astounding, while other covers are from the Internet Archive issue, or, some-random-else-where on the Internet.  (I don’t yet own a copy of the singularly significant July, 1939 issue of Astounding!)  In all cases, page numbers are identical to and correlate with those in the original magazine, while interior art associated with the stories is naturally included. 

Though these stories are obviously – by definition! – immediately present in “this” Ballantine volume, and certainly have been anthologized many times elsewhere, after viewing them at the Pulp Magazine Archive, I thought it’d be an interesting endeavor to make them available – digitally – in the (purely visual, not physical!; purely visual, not digitized text) format in which they first appeared.  While I’m sure that some visitors to this blog, and particularly this post, may already be more than familiar with “Golden Age” science fiction and fantasy, perhaps stories might ignite a spark (and perhaps an ember, and maybe a flame?!) of interest in a wider audience. 

And so, The Best of C.L. Moore:

Shambleau, Weird Tales, November, 1933

Black Thirst, Weird Tales, April, 1934

The Bright Illusion, Astounding Stories, October, 1934

The Black God’s Kiss, Weird Tales, October, 1934

Tryst In Time, Astounding Stories, December, 1936

Greater Than Gods, Astounding Science Fiction, July, 1939

Fruit of Knowledge, Unknown, October, 1940

No Woman Born, Astounding Science Fiction, December, 1944

Daemon, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, October, 1946

Vintage Season, Astounding Science Fiction, September, 1946

As for C.L. Moore’s overall body of work, two of the stories – “Shambleau” (Moore’s first published work) and “Black Thirst” (her second published story) are tales of Northwest Smith, while “The Black God’s Kiss” is the first story (and her fifth published tale) featuring Jirel of Joiry.  Notably, “Vintage Season” the last listed (and chronologically last published) story in the anthology is by Lawrence O’Donnell, the pen name for collaborative authorship by Moore and her husband, Henry Kuttner.

____________________

This (undated) well-known image of the husband-and-wife writing team otherwise known (!) as “Lawrence O’Donnell” (or, “Lewis Padgett”) is from James Gunn’s 1975 Alternate Worlds – The Illustrated History of Science Fiction.  

____________________

Aside from the above-mentioned stories, Jirel of Joiry was Moore’s protagonist in the following stories, all published in Weird Tales…

“Black God’s Shadow” – December, 1934
“Jirel Meets Magic” – July, 1935
“The Dark Land” – January, 1936
“Hellsgarde” – April, 1939

…while Northwest Smith was the central character in these stories, also in Weird Tales…   

“Scarlet Dream” – May, 1934
“Dust of Gods” – August, 1934
“Julhi” – March, 1935
“The Cold Gray God” – October, 1935
“Yvala” – February, 1936
“Lost Paradise” – July, 1936
“The Tree of Life” – October, 1936
“Nymph of Darkness” – December, 1939 (Co-Authored with Forrest J. Ackerman)

…with Jirel and Northwest appearing in only one story in Moore’s oeuvre, “Quest of the Starstone”, in the magazine’s November, 1937 issue.  

____________________

As for the quality of Moore’s writing, it’s outstanding.  Stylistically, her use of language is utterly remarkable in depicting changing mental states, perceptions, and thoughts of her characters – or action and activity – even if this only spans, in the context of an actual tale, a limited amount of time, or, a brief event.  This skill likewise applies to her ability to create and describe the physical nature of imagined worlds, and the psychological and emotional impact of these places; these lands; these settings, upon men and women; upon individuals and groups; upon peoples and civilizations.  

Her work lies upon the intersection of science fiction and fantasy, for while it certainly includes elements and tropes of science fiction (space travel, genetic engineering, time travel, aliens, extraterrestrial intelligence, parallel universes, cybernetics, dystopias, as well as physically decayed or morally degenerate cultures and civilizations, as in “Judgement Night”), these largely serve as background points or foundations for tales that in reality are character driven, and founded in elements of myth and legend.  

In this, Moore’s work is the antithesis of “hard” science fiction, and, had her greatest years of productivity occurred from the 40s through the 60s, her writing would, I think, have found a ready home in Galaxy Science Fiction, or, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. 

Coupled with this is Moore’s sense of realism about human nature and “life” (the final paragraph of “The Black God’s Kiss” is quite stunning, and – by being utterly un-“woke” in the world of 2022 – reveals her understanding of human nature).  Not all; not necessarily most, or her stories have upbeat, optimistic, happy endings, many of her tales concluding, at best, on notes of uncertainty and ambivalence.  For example, “Greater Than Gods,” a tale of the intersection and conflict between parallel universes and, the implications of this for humanity’s future, ends with a successful resolution, but not an entirely happy one.  Likewise the superb “Shambleau”: The threat is confronted and ultimately destroyed, but at the tale’s end, hero Northwest Smith’s mindset is one of ambivalence, for though he has survived (and this only because of his rescue, at the last moment, by his friend), he is not the same man he was before the tale began, and may never be again.   

With all this, and more, many of Moore’s tales could be readily adapted for for the cinema (or streaming video).  As to that eventuality, now, nearly a century after the appearance of her first story?  Who knows.  But, it’s nice to think about.

____________________

There are numerous depictions of Jirel of Joiry and Northwest Smith, ranging from book covert art, to interior illustrations, to simple imagined images.  So while we’re at it, here’s Hervé Leblan’s depiction of an encounter between Jirel and Northwest, as a single image created from the cover art of Jirel de Joiry, and, Les Aventures de Northwest Smith, both published in Paris in late 2010.  The fact that you can’t actually see Jirel’s face lends a touch of intrigue to the composition!

____________________

Titles of Moore’s four other pulp fiction works – listed at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database as having been written specifically by her, as opposed to collaboration with Henry Kuttner (the latter by far representing the bulk of her work) – follow:

Astounding Stories
“Greater Glories” – September, 1935

Astounding Science Fiction
“There Shall Be Darkness” – February, 1942
“Judgement Night” (Parts 1 and 2) – August and September, 1943, respectively

Famous Fantastic Mysteries
“Doorway Into Time” – September, 1943

____________________

An excellent take on C.L. Moore’s body of work can be found among the (thus far!) 60-odd videos comprising Dr. Gregory B. Sadler’s “Worlds of Speculative Fiction Series“, an overview of which follows…

…in which Dr. Sadler’s 2017 discussion of the works of C.L. Moore, entitled C.L. Moore’s Fantastic Worlds, is lecture 21 of the series…

Particularly valuable in Dr. Sadler’s discussion is the focus paid to “Vintage Season”.  And, like all of Dr. Sadler’s Speculative Fiction videos, the feedback, commentary, and (yes!) speculation by attendees of his lectures (not visible in the video) is invaluable.  

Then again, then again…

Eric Rosenfield, at Literate Machine, takes an entirely different approach, for instead of focusing upon Moore in the context of the literary, philosophical, and symbolic aspects of her writing, his video is instead a study of Catherine L. Moore herself, as a writer; simply a person, in “Vintage Season – C.L. Moore and the “Golden Age of Science Fiction“.  Mr. Rosenfield’s insightful video discusses Moore’s life, her husband Henry Kuttner, and other twentieth century science fiction and fantasy writers in the context of the straightforward challenges inherent to making a nominal living as a writer of pulp fiction; the effect of mid-twentieth century technological, economic, and cultural changes upon the worlds of writing and publishing; the psychological and (quite literally) physical toll incurred by at least some writers (think Henry Kuttner, Cyril K. Kornbluth, and perhaps H. Beam Piper) from the demanding nature of their vocation.  Stepping “back” – far back; say, from an allegorical altitude of twenty-thousand-feet – what emerges from Rosenfield’s retrospective is a tale of struggle, accomplishment, and eventually, sad irony.

Particularly valuable at Mr. Rosenfield’s video is this comment by viewer Hollis Ramsey: “I waited in vain for some pithy comments on “Vintage Season” as well as on the tendency of Kuttner and Moore’s collabs to have the unhappy endings that I remarked upon in my comments on your video about “Mimsy Were the Borogoves” (not “Borogroves”).  One of the things I find attractive in Kuttner and Moore’s short fiction IS their ability to refuse conventional “once upon a time … happily ever after” summations.  Not only do “Vintage Season” and “Mimsy Were the Borogoves” end with death or separation, but “When the Bough Breaks” also ends with death, albeit the death of their horrible child being a great relief to his parents.  In addition, my favorite C. L. Moore story, “The Bright Illusion,” ends in the deaths of 3 of the 4 characters …  BUT for the 2 lovers we can’t be certain that their deaths are the finale to their love.  Now THAT’S a real kicker!”

______________________________

To close, an excerpt from “No Woman Born”, the inspiration for Hildebrandt’s cover art:

“Could you ever duplicate this body?” she asked.

Maltzer glanced down at his shaking hands. 
“I don’t know.  I doubt it.  I – ”

“Could anyone else?”

He was silent. 
Deirdre answered for him. 

“I don’t believe anyone could. 
I think it was an accident. 
A sort of mutation halfway between flesh and metal. 
Something accidental and … and unnatural,
turning off on a wrong course of evolution that never reaches a dead end. 
Another brain in a body like this might die or go mad, as you thought I would. 
The synapses are too delicate. 
You were – call it lucky – with me. 
From what I know now, I don’t think a … a baroque like me could happen again.” 
She paused a moment. 

“What you did was kindle the fire for the phoenix, in a way. 
And the phoenix rises perfect and renewed from its own substance. 
Do you remember why it had to reproduce itself that way?”

Maltzer shook his head.

“I’ll tell you,” she said. 
“It was because there was only one Phoenix. 
Only one in the whole world.”

References

…Catherine L. Moore, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

…Unknown, at Wikipedia

…Weird Tales, at Wikipedia

…Famous Fantastic Mysteries, at Wikipedia

…”Shambleau”, at Wikipedia

…Northwest Smith, at Wikipedia

…Jirel of Joiry, at Wikipedia

…”Vintage Season”, at Wikipedia

… The Brothers Hildebrandt

So, here’s a book…

Gunn, James E., Alternate Worlds – The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1975

July 15, 2017 – 261

The Best of Henry Kuttner, Introduced by Ray Bradbury – April, 1975 [Dean Ellis]

Whatever the truth of the hackneyed expression “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, imitation most definitely characterizes other aspects of life: Ways of thought; similarities in the “mood” of an age, whether that mood be artistic and intellectual; technological or theatrical; parallels in language and speech.  And especially, similarities in literature.

In the literature of science fiction, a striking similarity occurred from the 1970s through the 1990s, in the form of anthologies issued by two different publishing houses: Donald A. Wollheim Books, and, Ballantine Books.

Wollheim Books (for short!) took the approach, under the dual aegis of Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg, of publishing a series entitled “Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories,” from 1939 through 1963.  Each book in the series – the sequential number of each volume appearing as part of its very tile – was devoted to short stories and novellas published during each successive calendar year over that twenty-five year time-frame.  In effect (I don’t know about intent!) the Wollheim approach resulted in a not-so-indirect eye upon the literary and cultural development of science fiction, as it moved from the semi-eyebrows-raised / not-necessarily-in-polite-company / harrumph! periphery of culturally acceptable literature to (well, by 1963) its increasing and open acceptance by the general public.  And even; and eventually, beyond.

Ballantine Books chose a different approach.

From 1974 through 1995, that company published its own set of anthologies, under the series title “Ballantine’s Classic Library of Science Fiction”, albeit the “header” on the cover page of each book simply used the verbiage (in rather small font, at that) “Classic Science Fiction”.  Rather than approach the genre on a year-by-year, stylistic, or topical basis, Ballantine chose to allocate each of its books to the stories of one author only, eventually resulting in anthologies of the works of 22 writers.  Most volumes included about sixteen stories, with a “low” of 11 for the works of Catherine L. Moore and Hal Clement, all the way up to 31 (!) for Fredric Brown.  Given that the books were generally of the same length – from 350 to 400 pages – these “story counts” were an indirect reflection of the authors’ writing styles.  Some writers preferred to pack a “punch” into relatively few(er) pages, while for others – like the extraordinarily talented Catherine Moore or the uncannily imaginative Cordwainer Smith, both of whose creativity equaled their originality (or was it the other way around?) – the power of a tale remained undiminished throughout the entirety of its text.

Unlike the approach of Wollheim, with Asimov and Greenberg being dual editors / commentators for every volume of the “Isaac Asimov Presents…” series, Ballantine presented their books’ contents in a way that was ultimately far more expressive, creative, and therefore less rote.  Regardless of whether each book’s stories were selected by the actual author of the stories within it (some authors, like John W. Campbell, Jr., and Cyril Kornbluth having passed away years before), each volume included an introduction and overview by an already-established author of science fiction, who approached the subject author’s collected work from vantages literary, cultural, and especially biographical.  In some books, every story is prefaced by a brief but substantive blurb about the literary origins or cultural context of the tale, while other books (like that devoted to stories by Henry Kuttner – check it out below…) are bereft of any “intros” at all.  In at least one book, that devoted to the wonderful tales of the aforementioned Cordwainer Smith (Paul M. Linebarger), the introduction is preceded by a diagram of the timeline of the “universe” created by the author, a touch utterly unlike the Wollheim series.

Having read every book in the Wollheim series, and some of the Ballantine series, I think that Ballantine’s approach was better.  Though the commentary by Asimov and Greenberg was – welllll, I’ll be charitable – en-ter-tain-ing as it were – the presence of introduction and commentary by different, recognized writers, each with their own perspective, writing style, and “world-view”, lent to the Ballantine volumes a deeper, more solid, and substantive literary and historical “heft” – by far – than the Wollheim series.  Within the latter, Asimov’s and Greenberg’s lightly humorous introductions and comments became – as you moved through the series – as predictable as they were empty.  (Entirely consistent with the shallowness of most of Asimov’s fiction.  But, that’s another topic…)

As for the cover art of the Ballantine series?  That, too, took a different approach from the Wollheim series.  For every book in the Ballantine series, the cover art occupied the entirety of the cover.  For the Wollheim series, the books started with “full” cover art, switched to small illustrations set within a solid color background, and for the last eleven books in the series, returned to full cover art.

So…

Like the post about the Wollheim series, “this” post summarizes the publishing history of the Ballantine series, all titles of which, arranged alphabetically by author’s surname, are listed below.  After the title, you’ll see the name of the introductory author, date of publication, name of cover artist, cover price, Ballantine or Del Rey-Ballantine book serial number, and ISBN.  Whew.  (Those books for which I’ve already created posts are linked, as well.) 

Here they are:

The Best of James Blish, Robert A.W. Lowndes, August, 1979 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 25600 / 0-345-25600-X

The Best of Robert Bloch, Lester Del Rey, November, 1977 (Paul Alexander), $1.95, 25757 / 0-345-25757-X

The Best of Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton, September, 1977 (Boris Vallejo), $1.95, 25954 / 0-345-25954-8
(Republished June, 1986 (Boris Vallejo), $3.95, 33247 / 0-345-33247-4)

The Best of Fredric Brown, Robert Bloch, May, 1977 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 25700 / 0-345-25700-6

The Best of John Brunner, Joe Haldeman, November, 1988 (Barclay Shaw), $3.95, 35307 / 0-345-35307-2

The Best of John W. Campbell, Jr., Lester Del Rey, June, 1976 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 24960 / 0-345-24960-7
(Republished February, 1995 (H.R. Van Dongen) $5.99, 24960 / 0-345-24960-7)

The Best of Hal Clement, Lester Del Rey, June, 1979 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 27689 / 0-345-27689-2

The Best of L. Sprague de Camp, May, 1978 (Darrell Sweet), $1.95, 24574 / 0-345-25474-0

The Best of Lester del Rey, Poul Anderson, September, 1978 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 27336 / 0-345-27336-2

The Best of Philip K. Dick, John Brunner, March, 1977 (Vincent Di Fate), $1.95, 25359 / 0-345-25359-0
(Republished March, 1978 (Vincent Di Fate), $1.95, 25359 / 0-345-25359-0)

The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun, J.J. Pierce, August, 1978 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 25273 / 0-345-25273-X

The Best of Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett, August, 1977 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 25900 / 0-345-25900-9

The Best of C.M. Kornbluth, Frederick Pohl, January, 1977 (Dean Ellis), $1.95, 25461 / 0-345-25461-9

The Best of Henry Kuttner (this post!), Ray Bradbury, April, 1975 (Dean Ellis), $1.95, 24415 / 0-345-24415-X

The Best of Fritz Leiber, Poul Anderson, September, 1979 (Michael Herring), $2.25, 28351 / 0-345-28351-1

The Best of Murray Leinster, J.J. Pierce, April, 1978 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 25800 / 0-345-25800-2

The Best of C.L. Moore, Lester Del Rey, March, 1976 (Tim and Greg Hildebrandt), $1.95, 24752 / 0-345-24752-3
(Republished, December, 1980, $2.25, 28952 / 0-345-28952-8, and…
January, 1981, $2.25, 28952 / 0-345-28952-8,
…both covers by Tim and Greg Hildebrandt)

The Best of Frederik Pohl, Lester Del Rey, April, 1976 (Dean Ellis), $1.95, 24607 / 0-345-24507-5

The Best of Eric Frank Russell, Alan Dean Foster, October, 1978 (H.R. Van Dongen), $1.95, 27700 / 0-345-27700-7
(Republished July, 1986 (Barclay Shaw), $3.95, 33223 / 0-345-33223-7)

The Best of Cordwainer Smith, J.J. Pierce, September, 1975 (Darrell Sweet), $1.95, 24581 / 0-345-24581-4
(Republished October, 1977 (Darrell Sweet), $2.25, 27202 / 0-345-27202-1)

The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum, Isaac Asimov, June, 1974 (Dean Ellis), $1.65, 23890 / 0-345-23890-7
(Republished January, 1979 (Dean Ellis), $1.95, 27965 / 0-345-27965-4)

The Best of Jack Williamson, Frederik Pohl, June, 1978 (Ralph McQuarrie), $1.95, 27335 / 0-345-27335-4

________________________________________

Here’s the cover of the first published volume in the series and the inspiration for this post: The Best of Henry Kuttner, with Dean Ellis’ cover illustration inspired by the story “The Proud Robot”.  All stories in this volume were co-authored with Kuttner’s wife Catherine L. Moore, except for “The Proud Robot”, “Misguided Halo”, “The Voice of the Lobster”, and, “The Big Night”.

Contents

Mimsy Were the Borogoves, from Astounding Science Fiction, February, 1943

Two-Handed Engine, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August, 1955

The Proud Robot, from Astounding Science Fiction, October, 1943

The Misguided Halo, from Unknown, August, 1939

The Voice of The Lobster, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February, 1950

Exit the Professor, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, October, 1947

____________________

The Twonky, from Astounding Science Fiction, September, 1942

Here’s the cover of the September, 1942, issue of Astounding…

…and, a close-up of William Timmins’ cover art.  Giant light-bulbs a-bursting?  Well, it gets the point across!

The film adaptation of “The Twonky” (1953) can be found at Ayako Edwina’s YouTube channel.

____________________

A Gnome There Was, from Unknown Worlds, October, 1941

The Big Night, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, June, 1947

Nothing But Gingerbread Left, from Astounding Science Fiction, January, 1943

The Iron Standard, from Astounding Science Fiction, December, 1943

Cold War, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, October, 1949

Or Else, from Ahead of Time, 1953

Endowment Policy, from Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1943

Housing Problem, from Charm, October, 1944

____________________

What You Need, from Astounding Science Fiction, October, 1945

The basis of the identically-titled episode 12 of The Twilight Zone, first broadcast on December 25, 1959, profiled at the Internet Movie Database, “What You Need” is the subject of Twilight Tober-Zone’s critique, which also covers Tales of Tomorrow’s 1952 version of the story.

Absalom, from Startling Stories, Fall, 1946

____________________

References and What-Not

Publication History of Ballantine Books / Del Rey-Ballantine, “The Best of…” science fiction series, via Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Library of Congress Online Catalog (Advanced Search)

Biography of Dean Ellis, at askArt

Works by Dean Ellis, at Science Fiction Book Art

Works by Dean Ellis, at Artnet

Astounding Science Fiction, December, 1945 (Featuring “Beggars in Velvet” by Lewis Padgett [Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore]) [William Timmins]

At the core of all literary genres are stories that are emblematic – in terms of theme, plot, characters, and setting.  Tales of adventure, drama, fantasy, mystery, romance, tragedy, and more, are represented by  particular works, which in the names of their very titles, represent to the reader (or, viewer!) “that” body of literature, without even the briefest need for depiction, description, or explanation.

In the genre of science fiction, one such tale (well, really, a set of tales) continues to remain iconic: Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, comprising Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation (the trilogy having been expanded with two sequels and two prequels commencing in 1981), which initially appeared as a series of eleven short stories in Astounding Science Fiction from May of 1942, through January of 1950.

As derived from information at the International Science Fiction Database, the Wikipedia entry for the Foundation Series, plus a brief perusal of my own copies of Astounding, the body of stories that comprise the Trilogy are listed below:

May, 1942 – “Foundation” (also known as “The Encyclopedia”)

June, 1942 – “Bridle and Saddle”

August, 1944 – “The Big and The Little” (also known as “The Merchant Princes”)

October, 1944 – “The Wedge” (also known as “The Traders”)

April, 1945 – “Dead Hand”

November, 1945, December, 1945 – “The Mule”

January, 1948 – “Now You See It”

November, 1949, December 1949, January 1950 – “And Now You Don’t” (also known as “Search for The Foundation”)

Of the eleven issues of Astounding listed above, six were published with cover art symbolizing or representing the actual Foundation story within the particular issue.  But, the cover art for issues of May, 1942; October, 1944; December, 1945; December, 1949, and January, 1950 was unrelated to Asimov’s story. 

An example appears below.  It’s the cover of Astounding for December, 1945, with art by William Timmins for Lewis Padgett’s (Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore’s) “Beggars in Velvet”.  While I’ve not yet read the story, the juxtaposition of archers garbed in “Daniel Boonish” attire in the left foreground, with a crowd of seeming civilian hostages to the right – with a futuristic cityscape behind – presents an unusual sight.

Within appears part two of “The Mule”, the text of both parts of which was later incorporated into “Foundation and Empire”.

______________________________

The story is illustrated with five drawings by Paul Orban, two of which – the most “science-fictiony” – you can view below.  

This image – the leading illustration of the story – shows the spacecraft Bayta, crewed by Toran and Bayta Darell, Ebling Mis, and Magnifico (the Mule himself, unbeknownst to the other three) as they search for the Great Library of Trantor.   The year: 12,376, by Galactic Era chronology.

(Illustration on page 60)

“The location of an objective area the great world of Trantor presents a problem unique in the Galaxy.  There are no continents of oceans to locate from a thousand miles distance.  There are no rivers, lakes, and islands to catch sight of through the cloud rifts.

The metal-covered world was – had been – one colossal city, and only the old Imperial palace could be identified readily from outer space by a stranger.  The Bayta circled the world at almost air-car height in repeated painful search.

From polar regions, where the icy coating of the metal spires were somber evidence of the weather-conditioning machinery, they worked southwards.  Occasionally they could experiment with the correlations – (or presumable correlations) – between what they saw and what the inadequate map obtained at Neotrantor showed.

But it was unmistakable when it came.  The gap in the metal coat of the planet was fifty miles.  The unusual greenery spread over hundreds of square miles, inclosing the mighty grace of the ancient Imperial residences.

The Bayta hovered and slowly oriented itself.  There were only the huge super-causeways to guide them.  Long straight arrows on the map; smooth, gleaming ribbons there below them.

What the map indicated to be the University area was reached by dead reckoning, and upon the flat area of what once must have been a busy landing-field, the ship lowered itself.

It was only as they submerged into the welter of metal that the smooth beauty apparent from the air dissolved into the broken, twisted near-wreckage that had been left in the wake of the Sack.  Spires were truncated, smooth walls gouted and twisted, and just for an instant there was the glimpse of a shaven area of earth – perhaps several hundred acres in extent – dark and plowed.”  (pp. 93-94)

______________________________

This image shows an Empire spacecraft ramming the Foundation spaceship Cluster, during a battle between space fleets of the Foundation and the Empire.  The events are watched live (evidently, the time-lag inherent to speed-of-light communication over intragalactic distances is not an issue – oh, well!) by Toran Darell and Ebling Mis. 

(Illustration on page 151)

“Toran sat down upon the cot that served as Magnifico’s bed, and waited.  The propaganda routine of the Mule’s “special bulletins” were monotonously similar.  First the martial music, and then the buttery slickness of the announcer.  The minor news items would come, following one another in patient lock step.  Then the pause.  Then the trumpets and the rising excitement and climax.

Toran endured it.  Mis muttered to himself.

The newscaster spilled out, in conventional war-correspondent phraseology, the unctuous words then translated into sound the molten metal and blasted flesh of a battle in space.

“Rapid cruiser squadrons under Lieutenant General Sammin hit back hard at the task force striking out from Iss – ”  The carefully expressionless face of the speaker upon the screen faded into the blackness of a space cut through by the quick swaths of ships reeling across the emptiness in deadly battle.  The voice continued through the soundless thunder –

“The most striking action of the battle was the subsidiary combat of the heavy cruiser Cluster against three enemy ships of the ‘Nova’ class – ”

The screen’s view veered and closed in.  A great ship sparked and one of the frantic attackers glowed angrily, twisted out of focus, swung back and rammed.  The Cluster bowed wildly and survived the glancing blow that drove the attacker off in twisting reflection.

The newsman’s smooth unimpassioned delivery continued to the last blow and the last hulk.

Then a pause, and a largely similar voice-and-picture of the fight off Mnemom, to which the novelty was added of a lengthy description of a hit-and-run landing – the picture of a blasted city – huddled and weary prisoners – and off again.”  (pp. 77-78)

_____________________

When I first saw Orban’s drawing of the viewing screen (on page 151), I was intrigued: A large-diameter viewing scope, with a set of cables attached to its periphery, mounted at an angle to a seated viewer’s line of sight?  Hmmm…

Where did I see such image – or its inspiration – before?

Then, I remembered.

The design of Orban’s view-screen – or, at least the front of it – bears a similarity to cathode-ray tube of the World War Two era H2X ground-mapping radar unit, which was primarily utilized in heavy bombers (B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators) of the United States Army Air Force.

Photographs of H2X units in two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the 401st Bomb Group of the British-based Eighth Air Force – taken in England on December 5, 1944 – were received in June of 1945, and presumably released to the news media after that date, months before the publication of Orban’s illustrations in the December issue of Astounding.

Given the timing of the photographs’ distribution, and their presumed availability to the general public, could Paul Orban have been inspiration for his illustration in Astounding have been these photographs?

I don’t really know.  Just pure speculation.

But, it’s an idea.

You can view the two images of the H2X radar unit below.  They’re among the nearly 89,000 images in NARA’s Records Group 342 (Black and White and Color Photographs of U.S. Air Force and Predecessor Agencies Activities, Facilities, and Personnel – World War II ) now available to the public through Fold3.com.  Since I scanned both pictures at 400 dpi, a “full-screen” / enlarged view will reveal detailed views of the units’ buttons, switches, control panels and associated equipment.

Army Air Force Photo 65812AC / A12719

Based on this set’s location relative to the bulkhead and fuselage, this unit is probably located in the navigator’s station of the B-17.

______________________________

Army Air Force Photo A-65812AC / A12720

Based on the location of the door (to the left) and curvature of the fuselage wall (on the right), this unit is situated within the B-17’s radio compartment.  Note the curtain on the left and above the H2X unit, giving the radar operator a view of his scope unimpeded by sunlight.

 References

Foundation Series – at Wikipedia

Foundation and Empire – at Wikipedia

Isaac Asimov Short Stories Bibliography – at Wikipedia

International Science Fiction Database – Foundation (Original Stories)

World War Two German Technical Analysis of Captured R-78 / APS-15A Radar (featuring Photo A-68512AC) – at Foundation for German Communication and Related Technologies

R-78A Receiver-Indicator, AN/APS-15 Radar Equipment – Two color images from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum