Galaxy Science Fiction

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The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein in Galaxy, Sept. 1951

Galaxy Science Fiction was a digest size science fiction magazine, the creation of noted editor Horace Leonard Gold, generally known as H. L. Gold.

Galaxy's premiere issue introduced a book review column by celebrated anthologist Groff Conklin, which continued till 1955, and a science column by Willy Ley that continued until his death in 1969 (before the Apollo 11 landing).

Galaxy published acclaimed science fiction for most of three decades under a succession of editors:

H. L. Gold: October, 1950 - October, 1961 (See note under Frederik Pohl.)
Frederik Pohl: ? 1958? - May, 1969 (Pohl took over from an ailing Gold sometime in the late 1950s, though the masthead was not changed until the December 1961 issue.)
Ejler Jakobsson: July, 1969 - May, 1974
James Baen: June, 1974 - October, 1977
John J. Pierce: November, 1977 - March/April, 1979
Hank Stine: June/July, 1979 - September/October, 1979
Floyd Kemske: 1980

Begun as a monthly, the magazine varied between monthly, bimonthly and eventually irregularly-issued status at different times during its 30+ year run. In 1953 a French edition, Galaxie, was launched, and in 1957, a German edition, Galaxis. After Groff Conklin stepped down as book reviewer, his column was continued by Floyd C. "Gale" (actually Gold, H. L. Gold's brother). (Indications that Conklin himself continued the column after 1955 appear to be in error.) In February, 1965, Pohl brought Algis Budrys on as book reviewer; he was succeeded later, sometime before 1972, by Theodore Sturgeon, who passed the job to Spider Robinson in 1975. Vaughn Bode briefly contributed a comic strip, Sunpot, to the magazine in the early 1970s. Jerry Pournelle served as science columnist under Baen, and famous sf fan and professional erotica writer Richard E. Geis wrote a fannish commentary column "The Alien Viewpoint" in the latter 1970s issues (after they had begun appearing in Baen's If [see immediately below]). With the January 1975 issue, Galaxy incorporated its sister magazine, Worlds of If, founded in March of 1952, with which it had shared several editors after purchase from founding publisher James Quinn in the latter 1950s. Galaxy ceased publication in 1980. In the early 1990s the magazine was purchased by E. J. Gold, son of the founder, who published eight bimonthly issues in 8x11 format on pulp stock between Jan/Feb 1994 and Mar/Apr 1995. Plans to continue the Galaxy title online did not develop, though the former editor maintains a scattering of Galaxy-related web pages.

Among the sibling magazines and side projects:

Fascination (a magazine apparently devoted to romantic fumetti, the first major project in the US from Galaxy's founding publisher World Editions)
Beyond Fantasy Fiction, a digest size fantasy fiction magazine edited by H. L. Gold, 1953-1955 (poor sales led to a title change for its last issues to Beyond Fiction)
Galaxy Novels, a digest size line of usually abridged reprints, 1950-1958. The line was sold to Beacon Books, which kept the name, but changed the format to small paperback and published another 11 issues in 1959-1961.
Galaxy Magabooks, an early 1960s similar project.
Worlds of Tomorrow, starting in 1963 and incorporated into If four years later, and perhaps most notable for some of its nonfiction content, including R. W. Ettinger's early articles on cryonics. The title was briefly relaunched under Jakobsson, 1970-71.
Worlds of Fantasy, 1968. Edited by Lester del Rey, by then a member of the Galaxy staff. Also briefly revived under Jakobsson, 1970-71.
International Science Fiction, 1968. A short-lived attempt, edited by Pohl, to offer a wide range of international sf, much in translation into English for the first time.

A number of anthologies have been drawn from the pages of Galaxy, including the Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction series and Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction (1980).

External links

[Galaxy covers from the 1950s.]
http://www.dieter-von-reeken.de/galaxis/frame.htm // covers and contents of German language Galaxis

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