1.
A. Merritt
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Abraham Grace Merritt – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, its fourth class of two deceased and two living writers. Born in Beverly, New Jersey, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1894, originally trained in law, he turned to journalism, first as a correspondent and later as editor. He was assistant editor of The American Weekly from 1912 to 1937 under Morrill Goddard, as editor, he hired the unheralded new artists Virgil Finlay and Hannes Bok and promoted the work done on polio by Sister Elizabeth Kenny. His fiction, eight novels and a number of short stories, was only a sideline to his journalism career. One of the journalists of his era, Merritt made $25,000 per year by 1919. His financial success allowed him to pursue world travel—he invested in real estate in Jamaica and Ecuador—and exotic hobbies, like cultivating orchids and plants linked to witchcraft and magic. Merritt married twice, once in the 1910s to Eleanore Ratcliffe, with whom he raised an adopted daughter and he died suddenly of a heart attack, at his winter home in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, in 1943. Merritts writings were influenced by H. Rider Haggard, Robert W. Chambers, Helena Blavatsky and Gertrude Barrows Bennett, with Merritt having emulated Bennetts earlier style. Merritts stories typically revolve around conventional pulp magazine themes, lost civilizations, hideous monsters and his heroes are gallant Irishmen or Scandinavians, his villains treacherous Germans or Russians and his heroines often virginal, mysterious and scantily clad. What sets Merritt apart from the pulp author, however, is his lush, florid prose style and his exhaustive, at times exhausting. Merritts fondness for micro-description nicely complements the pointillistic style of Boks illustrations, Merritts first fantasy story was published in 1917, Through the Dragon Glass in the November 14 issue of Frank Munseys All-Story Weekly. Dwellers in the Mirage, and Creep, Shadow, meanwhile, rather few of his stories appeared elsewhere, The Pool of the Stone God, The Woman of the Wood, The Metal Emperor, and The Drone Man. Merritt also contributed to the round robin story The Challenge from Beyond with Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, C. L. Moore, the Fox Woman and the Blue Pagoda combined an unfinished story with a conclusion written by Merritts friend Hannes Bok. The Fox Woman and Other Stories collected the same fragment, minus Boks conclusion, the book The Black Wheel was published in 1948, after Merritts death, it was written by Bok using previously unpublished material as well. Both these books were illustrated by Bok and published by the small press The New Collectors Group in hardcover. After Merritts death, Sam Moskowitz discovered a number of poems among his papers, though some may have been written by other authors, they were credited to Merritt when published. Merritt was an influence on H. P. Lovecraft and Richard Shaver
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Joseph Clement Coll
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Joseph Clement Coll was an American book and newspaper illustrator. He was known for his pen and ink story illustrations that were used to illustrate adventure stories such as Conan Doyles Sir Nigel, joseph Clement Coll began his professional career working for the New York American in the late 1890s. He was soon working for such as Colliers, Everybodys. Colls reputation stands mainly on his pen & ink story illustrations, in contrast to most illustrators who worked in pen & ink, Coll achieved true tonal gradations in his illustrations by using pen strokes to build up a complete range of values. He was influenced by the Spanish pen & ink artist Daniel Vierge, according to illustration experts, Colls other great qualities were his vivid imagination and the unique perspectives that he used in his works. Coll was also a painter and he often did paintings for the cover or frontispiece of books which were reproduced in color and he was considered to be an ideal illustrator for authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and other adventure writers. His illustrations for such as Talbot Mundys King of the Khyber Rifles. Coll died in 1921 of appendicitis, aged 40
3.
Fantasy literature
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Fantasy literature is the body of written works that employ the motifs, themes, and stylistic approaches expected in the fantasy genre. Historically, most works of fantasy were written pieces of literature, since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music and painting. Stories involving paranormal magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature, homers Odyssey satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy literature as a distinct type emerged in Victorian times, with the works of such as Mary Shelley, William Morris. J. R. R. Tolkien played a role in the popularization and accessibility of the fantasy genre with his highly successful publications The Hobbit. Rarely does one consider modern fantasy without conjuring the memory and image of Tolkien, Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths, particularly Beowulf, as well as modern works such as The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison. Tolkiens close friend C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, the tradition established by these predecessors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has continued to thrive and be adapted by new authors. Tolkiens fiction has—particularly over the genre of high fantasy—prompted backlash, at the turn of the millennium, the Harry Potter novels of J. K. Rowling achieved widespread popularity. R. Martin in 2005, and 2011, Neil Gaiman in 2005, authors often engage in worldbuilding, constructing a framework or entire world against which the narrative plays out. Symbolism often plays a significant role in literature, often through the use of archetypal figures inspired by earlier texts or folklore. Some argue that fantasy literature and its archetypes fulfill a function for individuals and society, le Guin, in her essay From Elfland to Poughkeepsie, presented the idea that language is the most crucial element of high fantasy, because it creates a sense of place. She analyzed the misuse of a formal, olden-day style, saying that it was a trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong. Brian Peters writes that in various forms of fantasy, even the villains language might be inappropriate if vulgar. The fantastical details of the series fade away by the installment, revealing that the wizarding community of the Harry Potter books is just as bad, if not worse. Farah Mendlesohn argues the world of literature is broken up into four categories, the portal quest, the immersive, the intrusive. How the fantastic enters the world is what determines how a story fits into these categories. In a portal quest such as C. S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, in the intrusion fantasies like Bram Stokers Dracula, the fantastic invades the fictional world. With liminal fantasy, for example Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife, tolkiens The Hobbit for example, allows the reader no escape from the fantastic
4.
Argosy (magazine)
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Argosy, later titled The Argosy and Argosy All-Story Weekly, was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey. It is the first American pulp magazine, the magazine began as a childrens weekly story–paper entitled The Golden Argosy. Munsey put most of his money, around $500, into purchasing stories for the magazine, once he was in New York, the stockbroker backed out, and Munsey decided to release his New York friend from involvement, since they were now hopelessly underfunded. Munsey then pitched the magazine to a New York publisher, and managed to convince him to publish the magazine, the first issue was published on December 2,1882, and came out weekly. The first issue was eight pages, cost five cents, and included the first installments of serialized stories by Horatio Alger, Jr. and Edward S. Ellis. Other authors associated with Argosy s early days include Annie Ashmoore, W. H. W. Campbell, Harry Castlemon, Frank H. Converse, George H. Coomer, Mary A. Denison, Malcolm Douglas, Colonel A. B. Ellis, J. L. Harbour, D. O. S. Lowell, Oliver Optic, Richard H. Titherington, Edgar L. Warren and Matthew White, five months after the first issue, the publisher went bankrupt and entered receivership. By placing a claim for his salary, Munsey managed to assume control of the magazine. Munsey borrowed $300 from a friend in Maine, and managed to scrape along as he learned the fundamentals of the publishing industry. Munsey found that children had been a mistake, as they did not stay subscribed for any length of time. Additionally, children did not have money to spend, which limited the number of advertisers interested in reaching them. In December 1888 the title was changed to The Argosy, publication switched from weekly to monthly in April 1894, at which time the magazine began its shift towards pulp fiction. It eventually published its first all-fiction issue in 1896, the all-fiction Argosy launched a new genre of magazines, and is considered the pioneer among pulp magazines. The magazine switched back to a publication schedule in October 1917. In January 1919, The Argosy merged with Railroad Mans Magazine, prior to World War One, The Argosy had several notable writers, including Upton Sinclair, Zane Grey, Albert Payson Terhune, Gertrude Barrows Bennett, and former dime novelist William Wallace Cook. The All-Story Magazine magazine was another Munsey pulp, debuting in January 1905, this pulp was published monthly until March 1914. Effective March 7,1914, it changed to a weekly schedule, in May 1914, All-Story Weekly was merged with another story pulp, The Cavalier, and used the title All-Story Cavalier Weekly for one year. Editors of All-Story included Newell Metcalf and Robert H. Davis, in 1920, All-Story Weekly was merged into The Argosy, resulting in a new title, Argosy All-Story Weekly, which published works in a number of literary genres, including science fiction and Westerns
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Avon (publisher)
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Avon Publications was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. As of 2010, it is an imprint of HarperCollins, publishing primarily romance novels, Avon Books was founded in 1941 by the American News Corporation to create a rival to Pocket Books. They hired brother and sister Joseph Meyers and Edna Meyers Williams to establish the company, ogilvie Publications, a dime novel publisher partly owned by both the Meyers, and renamed it Avon Publications. They also got into comic books, the early Avons were somewhat similar in appearance to the existing paperbacks of Pocket Books, resulting in an immediate and largely ineffective lawsuit by that company. Despite this superficial similarity, though, from early on Meyers differentiated Avon by placing an emphasis on popular appeal rather than loftier concepts of literary merit, the first 40 titles were not numbered. First editions of the first dozen or so have front and rear endpapers with an illustration of a globe, as well as normal-sized paperbacks, Avon published digest-format paperbacks in series. These included Murder Mystery Monthly, Modern Short Story Monthly and Avon Fantasy Readers, many authors highly prized by present-day collectors were published in these editions, including A. Merritt, James M. Cain, H. P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler and Robert E. Howard. In 1953, Avon Books sold books in the range of 25¢ to 50¢ and were selling more than 20 million copies a year. Their books were characterized by Time Magazine as westerns, whodunits, at around this time, Avon also began to publish under other imprints, including Eton, Novel Library, Broadway and Diversey. Avons 35-cent T series, introduced in 1953, also had strong mass-market appeal, the T series also contained many movie tie-in editions and the stand-bys of mysteries and science fiction. Avon was bought by the Hearst Corporation in 1959, in 1972, Avon entered the modern romance genre with the publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss The Flame and the Flower. The novel went on to sell 2.35 million copies, Avon followed its release with the 1974 publication of Woodiwisss second novel, The Wolf and the Dove and two sexy novels by newcomer Rosemary Rogers, Sweet Savage Love and Dark Fires. The latter sold two million copies in its first three months of release, in 1999, the News Corporation bought out Hearsts book division. Avons hardcover and non-romance paperback lines were moved to sister company Morrow, from at least 1945 through the mid-1950s, Avon published comic books. Its titles included horror fiction, science fiction, Westerns, romance comics, war comics, most titles lasted only a few issues, with the six longest-running detailed in the complete list below, Official website
6.
Hardcover
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A hardcover or hardback book is one bound with rigid protective covers. It has a flexible, sewn spine which allows the book to lie flat on a surface when opened, following the ISBN sequence numbers, books of this type may be identified by the abbreviation Hbk. Hardcover books are printed on acid-free paper, and are much more durable than paperbacks. Hardcover books are more costly to manufacture. If brisk sales are anticipated, an edition of a book is typically released first. Some publishers publish paperback originals if slow hardback sales are anticipated, for very popular books these sales cycles may be extended, and followed by a mass market paperback edition typeset in a more compact size and printed on shallower, less hardy paper. In the past the release of an edition was one year after the hardback. It is very unusual for a book that was first published in paperback to be followed by a hardback, an example is the novel The Judgment of Paris by Gore Vidal, which had its revised edition of 1961 first published in paperback, and later in hardcover. Hardcover books are sold at higher prices than comparable paperbacks. Hardcovers typically consist of a block, two boards, and a cloth or heavy paper covering. The pages are sewn together and glued onto a flexible spine between the boards, and it too is covered by the cloth, a paper wrapper, or dust jacket, is usually put over the binding, folding over each horizontal end of the boards. On the folded part, or flap, over the front cover is generally a blurb, the back flap is where the biography of the author can be found. Reviews are often placed on the back of the jacket, bookbinding Paperback How to make a simple Hardcover book
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Paperback
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A paperback is a type of book characterized by a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover or hardback books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, inexpensive books bound in paper have existed since at least the 19th century in such forms as pamphlets, yellowbacks, dime novels, and airport novels. Modern paperbacks can be differentiated by size, in the US there are mass-market paperbacks and larger, more durable trade paperbacks. In the UK, there are A-format, B-format, and the largest C-format sizes, Paperback editions of books are issued when a publisher decides to release a book in a low-cost format. Cheaper, lower quality paper, glued bindings, and the lack of a cover may contribute to the lower cost of paperbacks. Paperbacks can be the medium when a book is not expected to be a major seller or where the publisher wishes to release a book without putting forth a large investment. Examples include many novels, and newer editions or reprintings of older books, first editions of many modern books, especially genre fiction, are issued in paperback. Best-selling books, on the hand, may maintain sales in hardcover for an extended period in order to reap the greater profits that the hardcovers provide. These paper bound volumes were offered for sale at a fraction of the historic cost of a book, the Routledges Railway Library series of paperbacks remained in print until 1898, and offered the traveling public 1,277 unique titles. The German-language market also supported examples of cheap books, Bernhard Tauchnitz started the Collection of British. These inexpensive, paperbound editions, a precursor to mass-market paperbacks. Reclam published Shakespeare in this format from October 1857 and went on to pioneer the mass-market paper-bound Universal-Bibliothek series from 10 November 1867, the German publisher Albatross Books revised the 20th-century mass-market paperback format in 1931, but the approach of World War II cut the experiment short. The first released book on Penguins 1935 list was André Maurois Ariel, Lane intended to produce inexpensive books. He purchased paperback rights from publishers, ordered large print runs to keep prices low. Booksellers were initially reluctant to buy his books, but when Woolworths placed a large order, after that initial success, booksellers showed more willingness to stock paperbacks, and the name Penguin became closely associated with the word paperback. In 1939, Robert de Graaf issued a similar line in the United States, the term pocket book became synonymous with paperback in English-speaking North America. In French, the term livre de poche was used and is still in use today, de Graaf, like Lane, negotiated paperback rights from other publishers, and produced many runs. His practices contrasted with those of Lane by his adoption of illustrated covers aimed at the North American market, in order to reach an even broader market than Lane, he used distribution networks of newspapers and magazines, which had a lengthy history of being aimed at mass audiences
8.
OCLC
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The Online Computer Library Center is a US-based nonprofit cooperative organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the worlds information and reducing information costs. It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries have to pay for its services, the group first met on July 5,1967 on the campus of the Ohio State University to sign the articles of incorporation for the nonprofit organization. The group hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, Kilgour wished to merge the latest information storage and retrieval system of the time, the computer, with the oldest, the library. The goal of network and database was to bring libraries together to cooperatively keep track of the worlds information in order to best serve researchers and scholars. The first library to do online cataloging through OCLC was the Alden Library at Ohio University on August 26,1971 and this was the first occurrence of online cataloging by any library worldwide. Membership in OCLC is based on use of services and contribution of data, between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States. As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside of Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with networks, organizations that provided training, support, by 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on OCLC Members Council, in early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center. OCLC provides bibliographic, abstract and full-text information to anyone, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat—the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest online public access catalog in the world. WorldCat has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide. org, in October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record. The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988, a browser for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013, it was replaced by the Classify Service. S. The reference management service QuestionPoint provides libraries with tools to communicate with users and this around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries. OCLC has produced cards for members since 1971 with its shared online catalog. OCLC commercially sells software, e. g. CONTENTdm for managing digital collections, OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications and these publications, including journal articles, reports, newsletters, and presentations, are available through the organizations website. The most recent publications are displayed first, and all archived resources, membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding
The Moon Pool public domain audiobook at LibriVox