Category: Fantasy Books – The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Fifth Series, Edited by Anthony Boucher – 1954 (1955, 1956) [Artist unknown!] [Updated post…]

I purchased this one – in rather bedraggled shape – some time (a few decades) ago, at a small-town flea market, probably my first acquisition in my collection of Ace’s The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction series.  In a perhaps symbolic way, it featured in the creation of this – one-of-my-first- blog posts, which was created in June of 2017, a near-infinity ago in Internet terms.  

I’ve now acquired a copy in vastly better condition than my original, which displays the cover art to much better and intact effect than my “original”, which is visible at the very “bottom” of this post.  Interestingly, the artist is unknown: The cover illustration bears neither signature nor initials, and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database is absent of information about the man’s (or woman’s) identity.  While the composition has elements of the works of both Richard Powers and Edmund Emshwiller, the latter having created five mid-50s covers for this Ace series, it’s not actually the work of either.  

On a more important level, what about the book’s content?

Though I have read every story in this anthology, the writings that specifically stand out in memory are those by Zenna Henderson (a wonderfully skilled writer; I’ve never read a story by her that I’ve not appreciated and been moved by), Shirley Jackson (author of “The Lottery” … had to read that one as a freshman in college, though I’d read it previously!), and inevitably, Walter M. Miller, Jr., for “A Canticle for Leibowitz”.

So, enjoy this (qualifiedly) “new arrival”!

 So, what’s in the book?

You’re Another, by Damon Knight (June, 1955)

The Earth of Majesty, by Arthur C. Clarke (July, 1955)

Birds Can’t Count, by Mildred Clingerman (February, 1955)

The Golem, by Avram Davidson (March, 1955)

Pottage, by Zenna Henderson (September, 1955)

The Vanishing American, by Charles Beaumont (August, 1955)

Created He Them, by Alison Eleanor Jones (June, 1955)

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Four Vignettes

Too Far, by Frederic Brown (September, 1955)

A Matter of Energy, by James Blish (…from this volume…)

Nelithu, by Anthony Boucher (August, 1955)

Dreamworld, by Isaac Asimov (November, 1955)

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One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts, by Shirley Jackson (January, 1955)

The Short Ones, by Raymond E. Banks (March, 1955)

The Last Prophet, by Mildred Clingerman (August, 1955)

Botany Bay, by P.M. Hubbard (February, 1955)

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (April, 1955)

Lament by a Maker, by L. Sprague de Camp (January, 1955)

Pattern For Survival, by Richard Matheson (May, 1955)

The Singing Bell, by Isaac Asimov (January, 1955)

The Last Word, by Chad Oliver and Charles Beaumont (April, 1955)

Simple, simple rear cover…

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My “original” of 2017…

A. Reference.

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fifth Series, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

126 6/19/17

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Twelfth Series, Edited by Avram Davidson – 1961 (1962, 1963) [Unknown Artist] [Revised post…]

The cover of the Twelfth Series anthology of The Best From (The Magazine of) Fantasy & Science Fiction is certainly “science-fictiony” in terms of a rocket, an alien landscape, and a portrait of a pointy-eared, red-eyed generic “alien”, but is otherwise rather bland.  The name of the artist – perhaps someone in Ace’s art department? – is unknown.    

Jack Gaughan’s interior, title-page illustration is much more compelling.  

(The main image originally at this post – at bottom – was of a sticker-damaged copy of the book, which just demanded the replacement shown below!)

Test, by Theodore L. Thomas

Please Stand By, by Ron Goulart

Who’s In Charge Here, by James Blish

Three For The Stars, by Joseph Dickinson

When Lilacs Last in The Dooryard Bloomed, by Vance Aandahl

Landscape With Sphinxes, by Karen Anderson

My Dear Emily, by Joanna Russ

The Gumdrop King, by Will Stanton

The Golden Horn, by Edgar Pangborn

The Singular Events Which Occurred in the Hovel on The Alley Off of Eye Street, by Avram Davidson

A Kind of Artistry, by Brian W. Aldiss

Two’s A Crowd, by Sasha Gilien

The Man Without A Planet, by Kate Wilhelm

The Garden of Time, by J.G. Ballard

Hop-Friend, by Terry Carr

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June 19, 2017 – 139

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Ninth Series, Edited by Robert P. Mills – 1958 (1959) [Edmund A. Emshwiller] [Revised post…]

Great cover art by Emsh (Edmund Emshwiller) from 1959: Colorful, directly representational, complex, and dynamic.  Not tied to any specific story in the anthology, the art seems (?) to imply a kind of progression: from chimpanzee, to man-in-gray-flannel-suit (Don Draper in an off moment?), to an astronaut, to a kind of fearsome, glowing, lightningy, greenish-blue energy-dragon looking thing.  

The astronaut especially stands out: In his left hand he’s carrying some kind of weapon, as if arrayed for battle, or, an ambiguously sciencey probe.  If you look closely at the blue and red buttoned-box on his chest, you’ll notice the letters EMSH – as individual letters on the box – which represents Emshwiller’s logo.  This was typical of Emshwiller, for he cleverly and unobtrusively incorporated this abbreviation into all his compositions, in lieu of an actual signature at bottom.    

Like other Ace science-fiction anthologies, the title page includes a composition – this one by Jack Gaughan.

(The cover scan in this post is an update from the original, which appeared in June of 2017 and featured a rather worn and creased cover.  You can see the original image at the bottom of the post.)    

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

A Different Purpose, by Kim Bennett

Ralph Wollstonecraft Hedge: A Memoir, by Ron Goulart

“All You Zombies- ”, by Robert A. Heinlein

Casey Agonisties, by R.M. McKenna

Eastward Ho!, by William Tenn

Soul Mate, by Lee Sutton

What Rough Beast, by Damon Knight

Far From Home, by Walter S. Tevis

Invasion of the Planet of Love, by George P. Elliott

Dagon, by Avram Davidson

Fact, by Winston P. Sanders

No Matter Where You Go, by Joel Townsley Rogers

The Willow Tree, by Jane Rice

The Pi Man, by Alfred Bester

The Man Who Lost the Sea, by Theodore Sturgeon

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June 19, 2017 – 134

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Sixth Series, Edited by Anthony Boucher – 1955 (1956, 1957) [Unknown Artist – Edmund A. Emshwiller]

Rather than presenting a general “science-fictiony” scene, the cover presents an illustration inspired by Poul Anderson’s “The Man Who Came Early” from appeared in the June, 1956 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and anthologized in this sixth series of stories from the magazine.   

Like the great majority of Anderson’s work – at least, what I’ve read of Anderson! – The Man Who Came Early is excellently written, and of greater import, tackles with profound social, psychological, and philosophical questions, all the more impressive in that these are manifested in the form of a short story, rather than a book or novelette.  Though ostensibly a tale of science-fiction, themes of technology and science, whether real or conjectural are not really the tale’s focus – this is emphatically not “hard” science fiction! – and only serve as a brief and opening springboard to set the plot in motion.  An air of inevitability emerges as the story progresses, and it concludes on a note of pathos, which perhaps makes it all the more effective, and, memorable.

(The copy originally serving as this post’s image – see at bottom; rather bent and worn; I purchased it at a flea market in the 1970s! – has now been supplanted by a scan of a copy in far better condition.)  

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The Cosmic Expense Account, by Cyril M. Kornbluth

Mr. Sakrison’s Halt, by Mildred Clingerman

The Asa Rule, by Jay Williams

King’s End, by Avram Davidson

The Census Takers, by Frederik Pohl

The Man Who Came Early, by Poul Anderson

Final Clearance, by Rachel Maddux

The Silk and The Song, by Charles L. Fontenay

The Shoddy Lands, by C.S. Lewis

The Last Present, by Will Stanton

No Man Pursueth, by Ward Moore

I Don’t Mind, by Ron Smith

The Barbarian, by Poul Anderson

And Now The News…, by Theodore Sturgeon

Icarus Montgolfier Wright, by Ray Bradbury

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6/19

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Third Series, Edited by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas- 1952 (1953, 1954) [Edmund A. Emshwiller] [Updated post…] – Ace D-422 / G-712

Dating from June of 2017 (gadzooks!), this was one the earliest posts at WordsEnvisioned: The cover of the third volume (or, third series, as it were) of stories published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction during 1953.

The post originally showing a rather bedraggled copy of the book, which I purchased at a flea market some decades ago.  (See image at bottom.)  It’s now been updated with a pristine copy, which presents Edmund Emshwiller’s cover art in its complete imagination and intricacy.  In this case, for Kay Rogers’ tale “Experiment”. 

This is also a great example of how “Emsh” sort of “hid” his nickname in his illustrations:  In this case, “EMSH” appears in tiny blue letters in the center of the aquatic space-alien’s chest.  Uh, assuming the space-alien has a chest…

“Attitudes”, by Philip Jose Farmer, October, 1953

“Maybe Just a Little One”, by Reginald Bretnor, February, 1953

“The Star Gypsies”, by William Lindsay Graham, July, 1953

“The Untimely Toper”, by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, July, 1953

“Vandy, Vandy”, by Manly Wade Wellman, March, 1953

“Experiment, by Kay Rogers, February, 1953

“Lot”, by Ward Moore, May, 1953

“Manuscript Found in a Vacuum”, by Philip Maitland Hubbard, August, 1953

“The Maladjusted Classroom”, by Homer Czar Nearing, Jr., June, 1953

“Child by Chronos”, by Charles L. Harness, June, 1953

“New Ritual”, by Idris Seabright, January, 1953

“Devlin”, by William Bernard Ready, April, 1953

“Captive Audience”, by Anne Warren Griffith, August, 1953

“Snulbug”, by Anthony Boucher, May, 1953 (originally in Unknown Worlds, December, 1941)

“Shepherd’s Boy”, by Richard Middleton, March, 1953 (originally in The Ghost Ship & Other Stories, May, 1912)

“Star Light, Star Bright”, by Alfred Bester, July, 1953

Reference

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Third Series, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

6/19/17

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Seventeenth Series, Edited by Edward L. Ferman – 1966 (1967, 1968) [Davis Meltzer]

Cyprian’s Room, by Monica Sterba

Out Of Time, Out of Place, by George Callyn

Vom Goom’s Gambit, by Victor Contoski

Bumberboom, by Avram Davidson

Fill In The Blank, by Ron Goulart

Balgrummo’s Hell, by Russell Kirk

Corona, by Samuel R. Delaney

The Inner Circles, by Fritz Leiber

Problems of Creativeness, by Thomas M. Disch

Encounter In The Past, by Robert Nathan

The Sea Change, by Jean Cox

The Devil and Democracy, by Brian Cleeve

Randy’s Syndrome, by Brian W. Aldiss

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Eighteenth Series, Edited by Edward L. Ferman – 1972 (1970, 1971) [Unknown Artist]

The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D, by J.G. Ballard

The People Trap, by Robert Sheckley

In His Own Image, by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.

Ogre!, by Ed Jesby

Lunatic Assignment, by Sonya Dorman

Gifts From the Universe, by Leonard Tushnet

Sundown, by David Redd

Beyond the Game, by Vance Aandahl

Sea Home, by William M. Lee

That High-Up Blue Day That Saw the Black Sky-Train Come Spinning, by David R. Bunch

Muscadine, by Ron Goulart

Final War, by K.M. O’Donnell

I Have My Vigil, by Harry Harrison

The Egg of The Glak, by Harvey Jacobs

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Fourth Series, Edited by Anthony Boucher – 1953 (1954, 1955) [Unknown Artist – probably Edmund A. Emshwiller]

Fondly Fahrenheit, by Alfred Bester

I Never Ast No Favors, by Cyril M. Kornbluth

Heirs Apparent, by Herbert Abernathy

$1.98, by Arthur Porges

The Immortal Game, by Poul Anderson

All Summer In a Day, by Ray Bradbury

The Accountant, by Robert Sheckley

Brave New World, by J. Francis McComas

My Boy Friend’s Name Is Jello, by Avram Davidson

The Test, by Richard Matheson

Carless Love, by Albert Compton Friborg

Bulletin, by Shirley Jackson

Sanctuary, by Daniel F. Galouye

Misadventure, by Lord Dunsany

The Little Black Train, by Many Wade Wellman

The Foundation of Science Fiction Success, by Isaac Asimov

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Eleventh Series, Edited by Robert P. Mills – 1960 (1961, 1962) [Bob Schinella]

The Sources of The Nile, by Avram Davidson

Somebody To Play With, by Jay Williams

Softly While You’re Sleeping, by Evelyn E. Smith

The Machine That Won The War, by Isaac Asimov

Go For Baroque, by Jody Scott

Time Lag, by Poul Anderson

George, by John Anthony West

Shotgun Cure, by Clifford D. Simak

The One Who Returns, by John Berry

The Captivity, by Charles G. Finney

Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, by Cordwainer Smith

Effigy, by Rosser Reeves

E=MC2, by Rosser Reeves

Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

The Haunted Village, by Gordon R. Dickson

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Sixteenth Series, Edited by Edward L. Ferman – 1965 (1966, 1967) [Karel Thole]

Luana, by Gilbert Thomas

And Madly Teach, by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.

Matog, by Joan Patrick Basch

The Key, by Isaac Asimov

The Seven Wonders of The Universe, by Mase Mallette

A Few Kindred Spirits, by John Christopher

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, by Philip K. Dick

Three For Carnival, by John Shepley

Experiment in Autobiography, by Ron Goulart

The Adjusted, by Kenneth Bulmer

The Age of Invention, by Norman Spinrad

Apology To Inky, by Robert M. Green, Jr.

This Moment of the Storm, by Roger Zelazny