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