The Golden Atom

From ZineWiki
Revision as of 05:14, 20 January 2012 by Drew morse (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search
The Golden Atom

The Golden Atom was a science fiction fanzine published by Larry Farsace (Litterio B. Farsaci) in Rochester, NY, U.S.A.

Named for Ray Cummings' series that began with The Girl in the Golden Atom, the first issue appeared on October 20, 1939. The first ten issues, published from 1939 till 1943, were in letter sized mimeographed format; two special issues, appearing in 1955 and in 1959, were letter press format.

Science Fiction writer and contributor Sam Moskowitz regards The Golden Atom as, "arguably the most valuable repository of new research and reference on SF" during the time it was initially published.

Farsace published a six part series on the fiction of Ray Cummings titled "Golden Atom Tales"and Fred W. Fischer wrote the column "From The Observation Deck" on stories appearing in the older pulp magazines, and Farcase included bibliographies for them as well. Also included was a reprint of Donald Wollheim's Curious Stories, a fan magazine that had previously been published in an edition of only 4 copies.

Contributors included Robert H. Barlow (Leaves), Benjamin De Casseres, John W. Campbell, Fred W. Fischer (The Southern Star), Nora Mae French, Nils Helmer Frome (Supramundane Stories), Edmond Hamilton, P. Schuyler Miller, Sam Moskowitz (Helios, New Fandom), Fred A. Senour, Donald Wandrei, and Rosco E. Wright (Beyond, Eusifanso, Viewpoints). Poetry was published by Elizabeth Starr Cummings, Jean Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Stanley G. Weinbaum, and others. Letters came from Lovecraft (published posthumously), Clark Ashton Smith, R.H. Barlow, Edmond Hamilton, Ray Cummings, Harold Hersey (editor of Thrill Book), and Nils Helmer Frome.

Cover art was contributed by Jean Finley and Virgil Finlay.