Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader / Volume 1 # 1 [January 1953]. Arthru C. Clarke, John Jakes, et al. Everett Raymond Kinstler et al illustrations

New York: Avon Book Company, 1952. Volume 1, Number 1; the January, 1953 issue, though as a periodical it was of course copyrighted in 1952. First Edition. Thoroughly illustrated by various genre specialists. Illustrated wraps, 7 5/8" x 5 1/4", 128 pp. Small-scale occasional edgewear, small chip at spine bottom. Very Good or a bit better in wraps; a nice copy. Contents are near fine; no trace of the age-toning of the pages which plagued most pulps of the era, including the two Avon predecessor series which spawned this one. Those predecessors - Donald Wollheim's well-regarded five-year, eighteen-issue Avon Fantasy Reader and his three-issue Avon Science Fiction Reader (1951-52) were combined under Sol Cohen's editorship for this new combined Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader. But, despite the apparently better-quality paper, many more illustrations by a variety of artists than in previous incarnations, and a very impressive array of writers, there would be only two issues under this name. Choosing the appropriate magazine name to appeal to greatest number genre readers seemed to be an ongoing problem from the forties to the sixties; the forest of names in the "Fantastic" series is legendary. The lead story in this first issue is Arthur C. Clarke's ominous "The Forgotten Enemy". Others: "For Humans Only" (Alfred J. Coppel, Jr.); "Like Gods They Came" (Irving Cox, Jr.); "The Agents" (Bryce Walton); "Mr. Kowtshook" (John Christopher); "The Space Ark" (book reviews by Noah Gordon); "The Shed" (E. Everett Evans); "Come Blow Your Horn" (Milton Lesser, one of many aliases of the duo who were also Ellery Queen et al); "The Call of the Black Lagoon" (Charles L. Harness); "Agratha" (Glen Malin); "Checkmate Morning" (John Jakes); "One-Man God" (Frank Owen); and "The Short Count" (Theodore R. Cogswell). Outstanding illustrations by Everett Raymond Kinstler and others. A landmark of the genre, the first issue of two, in superior condition. LT71.…