ALL SCI-FI

[Gord Green]

https://archive.org/details/galaxymagazine



If you like classic science fiction, one of the genre's best magazines can now be found online for free. Archive.org is now home to a collection of Galaxy Science Fiction, which published some of the genre's best works, such as an early version of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man.

You have many choices in what format you want to download. I found the pdf option to be ideal for creating an archive for myself. I now have hours of enjoyment ahead revisiting some of my favorite stories by some great writers and illustrated by some of the best artists of the era!



The collection contains 355 separate issues, ranging from 1950 through 1976. Open Culture notes that it's not quite the entire run of the magazine, but it's got plenty of material to keep fans occupied for years. It includes stories from science fiction legends such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford Simak, and Theodore Sturgeon.

There are also some underappreciated authors who deserve re-discovery, such as Kris Neville, Alan E. Nourse, or John Christopher. (Sadly, like most publications of this era, female SF authors were underrepresented.)



Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L. Gold, who rapidly made Galaxy the leading science fiction (sf) magazine of its time, focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology.



Gold published many notable stories during his tenure, including Ray Bradbury's "The Fireman", later expanded as Fahrenheit 451; Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters; and Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. In 1952, the magazine was acquired by Robert Guinn, its printer. By the late 1950s, Frederik Pohl was helping Gold with most aspects of the magazine's production. When Gold's health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time.

Under Pohl Galaxy had continued success, regularly publishing fiction by writers such as Cordwainer Smith, Jack Vance, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Silverberg. However, Pohl never won the annual Hugo Award for his stewardship of Galaxy, winning three Hugos instead for its sister magazine, If. In 1969 Guinn sold Galaxy to Universal Publishing and Distribution Corporation (UPD) and Pohl resigned, to be replaced by Ejler Jakobsson.

Under Jakobsson the magazine declined in quality. It recovered under James Baen, who took over in mid-1974, but when he left at the end of 1977 the deterioration resumed, and there were financial problems — writers were not paid on time and the schedule became erratic.

By the end of the 1970s the gaps between issues were lengthening, and the title was finally sold to Galileo publisher Vincent McCaffrey, who brought out only a single issue in 1980. A brief revival as a semi-professional magazine followed in 1994, edited by H. L. Gold's son, E. J. Gold; this lasted for eight bimonthly issues.

At its peak, Galaxy greatly influenced the science fiction field. It was regarded as one of the leading sf magazines almost from the start, and its influence did not wane until Pohl's departure in 1969. Gold brought a "sophisticated intellectual subtlety" to magazine science fiction according to Pohl, who added that "after Galaxy it was impossible to go on being naive."
SF historian David Kyle agrees, commenting that "of all the editors in and out of the post-war scene, the most influential beyond any doubt was H. L. Gold".

Kyle suggests that the new direction Gold set "inevitably" led to the experimental New Wave, the defining science fiction literary movement of the 1960s.

Now that the magazine has been uploaded, this collection is an excellent opportunity for readers take in a piece of science fiction's history. Fans of all generations can dig in to discover a forgotten author or story, or re-read a beloved classic.

https://archive.org/details/galaxymagazine

[Bud Brewster]

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Gord, this is terrific!

I love the way Archive.org presents the covers of all those issue, and they even let you literally "turn the pages" of the magazine so you see the illustrations.

The clarity of the "turn the pages" feature isn't great for reading the stories, so downloading them as you mentioned is best for that.

Thanks for letting us know about this great resource!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Custer]

A useful resource. A shame they don't have the very first issue - maybe it having its spine printed the wrong way round fooled someone? They've probably got more issues than I have, but at least I do have #1!

[alltare]

GALAXY was the source of most of the radio dramatized stories of X MINUS ONE and DIMENSION X.

Willy Ley's non-fiction monthly columns in GALAXY were always interesting. He and illustrator Chesley Bonestell also colaborated on many books, the best and first of which was THE CONQUEST OF SPACE (I believe that the movie CONQUEST OF SPACE was very loosley based the book). It was the first in a series of books, including CONQUEST OF THE MOON, ACROSS THE SPACE FRONTIER,THE EXPLORATION OF MARS, AND BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM. There may have been others, but these are the only titles that I have.

[Gord Green]

That it was featured as a source for X-1 on the radio inspired me to get it off the news stand. Earlier I think ASTOUNDING magazine was a sponsor. The same was true on BEYOND 2000 which was introduced by John Campbell, the editor of the magazine.

GALAXY had great covers and the interior art was also great. It really got me into reading at an early age.

[Custer]

[alltare]

[Gord Green]

I have the complete run of X-1 as well as it's predessesor on NBC radio, DIMENSION X saved on data cd's as mp3's so I can pop one in at bedtime and listen myself to sleep just like I did all those years ago.

Radio sci-fi is highlighted by the fact that it literly creates the stories in your imagination. No other special effects are needed!

[alltare]

[Custer]

I've listened to the Gunsmokes, downloaded from the good ol' Internet Archive. I think almost all of them were available there. https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio is the place to visit, for all the old Shadow and Sherlock Holmes episodes, and a whole lot more! Some old radio shows can also be listened to via Amazon's Echo system, though the "Radio Superman" ones I've sampled have had the sponsor announcements blanked out...

[John Thiel]

[John Thiel]

[Custer]

That's interesting to know. I've just scanned the cover of my copy of the September '54 issue, as the above copy is a bit blurry. Ed Emsh's signature is right at the bottom:



I see that Clifford D. Simak and Daniel F. Galouye provided the novelets that time, with short stories by Arthur Sellings, Robert Sheckley, and some chap called Philip K. Dick - so just another average issue!

[Bud Brewster]

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I did some restoration on your Galaxy cover, Custer. Nice artwork!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Great job Bud!!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.