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

Created way back in 2017-land, I’ve updated this post to display a newly acquired copy of the fourth series of The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction.  The book originally featured as the leading image of this post, which I bought in 1982 (seriously – 42 years ago! – is it possible? – it is!), no longer here occupies pride of place, and now takes its position near the “end” of the post.  Given that I like to display the best available example of a book’s cover in my posts, I’ve long sought a pristine copy of this Ace edition that would replace my battle-scarred, torn-at-the-top, original book.  

I found one and it’s here.

In the original post, I surmised that the cover painting was by Edmund Emshwiller, in light of its clarity, boldness of color, and style.  A quick trip to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database confirmed that:  Emsh’s signature – “EMSH” – diminutive and barely visible, can be seen all the way in the lower right corner.

So, what’s in the book?

“Fondly Fahrenheit”, by Alfred Bester, August, 1954

“I Never Ast No Favors”, by Cyril M. Kornbluth, April, 1954

“Heirs Apparent”, by Herbert Abernathy, June, 1954

“$1.98”, by Arthur Porges, May, 1954

“The Immortal Game”, by Poul Anderson, February, 1954

“All Summer In a Day”, by Ray Bradbury, March, 1954

“The Accountant”, by Robert Sheckley, July, 1954

“Brave New World”, by J. Francis McComas, September, 1954

“My Boy Friend’s Name Is Jello”, by Avram Davidson, July, 1954

“The Test”, by Richard Matheson, November, 1954

“Carless Love”, by Albert Compton Friborg, January, 1955

“Bulletin”, by Shirley Jackson, March, 1954

“Sanctuary”, by Daniel F. Galouye, February, 1954

“Misadventure”, by Lord Dunsany, October, 1954

“The Little Black Train”, by Many Wade Wellman, August, 1954

“The Foundation of Science Fiction Success”, by Isaac Asimov, January, 1955

Original image; original book:

Referentially Speaking…

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Fourth Series, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

6/19/17 – 177

The Mark of the Book: Alkahn Silk Label Company, New York, N.Y.

Here’s post with a different sort of theme:  It shows neither book, nor magazine, nor illustration.  Instead, on display is something for a book, or to be specific, for a book’s reader:  That is, a bookmark, a memento of a time when print was preeminent and pixels only passingly postulated.  

This Alkahn Silk Label Company bookmark, commemorating Apollo 11, dates from the summer of 1969.  I’ve absolutely no memory of the circumstances under which I acquired it.  Suffice to say that my memory of Apollo 11 itself – from launch, through lunar landing, through Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin’s lunar EVA, through return to Earth – is indelible.    

What of the Alkan Silk Label Company?  The company presumably existed as far back as the first World War, for mention of it appears in The New York Herald on September 27, 1919, in “Textile Trade Notes” under the “Weekly Business Review” section.  There, there firm, located at 116 West 32nd Street in Manhattan, is noted as having been elected to membership in the Silk Association of America.  Fourteen years later, in news articles appearing in the New York Sun in early November of 1933, it’s revealed that the company’s president is Mr. Alexander L. Kahn.  (Thus, the name “Alkan”.)  His name appears in the Sun once more, on January 12, 1937, in an Associated Press article covering the salaries of those New Yorkers earning $50,000 or less in salaries, bonuses, and other payments, as reported to Congress by Secretary Morgenthau, as reported by the “Revenue Act of 1934”.  

This Oogle Map shows the location of 116 West 32nd Street:  It’s not far (due west) from the Empire State Building…

…while this 2022 Oogle Street View shows the present appearance of the building’s front.  The ornamentation and embellishments decorating the exterior (well, above the first floor) suggest that this is the same structure as it existed over a century ago  (Has time stopped?!)

 You can view another example of an Alkahn silk bookmark at Worthpoint.  (Not a plug, I just want to list the source!)  This one’s for the 1964 World’s Fair.  

As for the eventual fate of Alkahn Company?  I don’t know.  Both FultonHistory and the New York Times “Times Machine” reveal nothing about its eventual fate.  Whether through acquisition, bankruptcy, or obsolescence, I assume it has passed into history.