Essential Science Fiction: Arkham Sampler 1949

A recent fixation of mine has been “collecting” book lists, looking for forgotten classics and hidden gems that don’t make it onto modern “best of” lists. Classics of Science Fiction and science fiction awards+ database (SFADB) have a number of lists that fit the bill.

Today’s focus: “A Basic Science-Fiction Library” from The Arkham Sampler Winter 1949 issue. A symposium from twelve contemporary science fiction writers, editors, and aficionados, producing an aggregate list of 17 titles. SFADB reproduces a version of the list, based on The SF Book of Lists, compiled by Maxim Jakubowski & Malcolm Edwards in 1983. I wanted the primary source, and as expected, there are scans available on archive.org.

In the original article, editor August Derleth poses the question:

1) What books, to the number of twenty or less, do you believe essential in any basic library of science-fiction? 2) Why?

The responses are fascinating, both for what they include and what they reveal about the genre’s canon in 1949; well worth reading for historical context and answering the “why” question. The remainder of the post summarizes the former question, first with Derlith’s aggregate list, then each respondents’ selections.

The List

In first place, with 9 votes:

• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
  • The Time Machine
  • The Island of Dr. Moreau
  • The Invisible Man
  • The War of the Worlds
  • The First Men in the Moon
  • In the Days of the Comet
  • The Food of the Gods

In second place, with seven votes:

• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Note: SFADB incorrectly lists Brave New World and Last and First Men as second and third respectively rather than tied.

In third place, with six votes:

• The Short Stories of H. G Wells
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by R. J. Healy and J. F. McComas
• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt

In fourth place, with five votes:

• The World Below, by S. Fowler Wright
• Strange Ports of Call, edited by August Derleth

In fifth place, with four votes:

• To Walk the Night, by William Sloane
• The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Sirius, by Olaf Stapledon
• Gladiator, by Philip Wylie

In sixth place, with three votes:

• Before the Dawn, by John Taine
• Who Goes There? and Other Stories, by John W Campbell, Jr
• The Best of Science Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin
• Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
• Out of the Silence, by Erle Cox

The Voters

• Forrest J. Ackerman
• Everett Bleiler
• Dr. David H. Keller
• Sam Merwin, Jr.
• P. Schuyler Miller
• Sam Moskowitz
• Lewis Padgett
• Paul Lawrence Payne
• A. Langley Searles
• Theodore Sturgeon
• A. E. van Vogt
• Donald Wandrei

Forrest J. Ackerman

Source

• The World Below, by S. Fowler Wright
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
• Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon
• Sirius, by Olaf Stapledon
• Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt
• The New Adam, by Stanley Weinbaum
• Gladiator, by Philip Wylie
• Who Goes There? and Other Stories, by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Star-Begotten, by H. G. Wells
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by R. J. Healy and J. F. McComas
• The Mastermind of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• To Walk the Night, by William Sloane
• The Time Stream, by John Taine
• Summer in 3000, by Peter Martin
• Out of the Silence, by Erle Cox
• Ralph 124C41+, by Hugo Gernsback
• The Moon Pool, by A. Merritt
• When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide, by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer

Everett Bleiler

Source

• Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• The Green Child, by Herbert Read
• A Crystal Age, by W. H. Hudson
• Tom’s A-Cold, by John Collier
• The World Below, by S. Fowler Wright
• The Adventure of Wyndham Smith, by S. Fowler Wright
• The Short Stories of H. G. Wells
• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
• The Face in the Abyss, by A. Merritt
• Portable Novels of Science, edited by Donald A. Wollheim
• The Purple Cloud, by M. P. Shiel
• Out of the Silence, by Erle Cox
• To Walk the Night, by William M. Sloane
• Jimgrim, by Talbot Mundy
• Gladiator, by Philip Wylie
• Strange Ports of Call, edited by August Derleth
• The World of Null-A, by A. E. Van Vogt
• The Best of Science Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin
• Who Goes There? and Other Stories, by John W. Campbell, Jr.

Dr. David H. Keller

Source

• At the Mountains of Madness, by H. P. Lovecraft (from The Outsider and Others; also available in Strange Ports of Call, edited by August Derleth)
• Before the Dawn, by John Taine
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• The Food of the Gods, by H. G. Wells
• The Deluge, by S. Fowler Wright
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• The Man Who Mastered Time, by Ray Cummings
• Nerves, by Lester del Rey (a long story in the collection And Some Were Human)
• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt
• The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck, by Alexander Laing
• When the Earth Screamed, by A. Conan Doyle (from The Maracot Deep)
• When the Machine Stops, by E. M. Forster
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
• Life and Adventure of Peter Wilkins, by Robert Paltock (1751)
• The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells
• Triplanetary, by Edward E. Smith
• The Horror on the Asteroid, by Edmond Hamilton
• The Wandering Jew, by Eugene Sue
• Utopia, by Sir Thomas More

Sam Merwin, Jr.

Source

• The Time Stream, by John Taine
• The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells
• When the Sleeper Wakes, by H. G. Wells
• The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells
• The World Set Free, by H. G. Wells
• The Food of the Gods, by H. G. Wells
• The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H. G. Wells
• The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
• The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton
• The Napoleon of Notting Hill, by G. K. Chesterton
• Night Life of the Gods, by Thorne Smith
• Gladiator, by Philip Wylie
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain
• Lady Into Fox, by David Garnett
• The Werewolf of Paris, by Guy Endore
• Strange Roads, by Arthur Machen
• The Haunted and the Haunters, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
• The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck, by Alexander Laing
• The Ingoldsby Legends, by Thomas Ingoldsby (Richard H. Barham)

P. Schuyler Miller

Source

• Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
• From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, by Jules Verne
• Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy
• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
• The Short Stories of H. G. Wells
• The Lost World, by A. Conan Doyle
• R.U.R., by Karel Čapek
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• The Iron Star, by John Taine
• The Face in the Abyss, by A. Merritt
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague de Camp
• Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis
• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt
• Spacehounds of IPC, by Edward E. Smith
• The Key to the Great Gate, by Hinko Gottlieb
• Who Goes There? and Other Stories, by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Space Cadet, by Robert A. Heinlein
• The Best of Science-Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by R. J. Healy and J. F. McComas

Sam Moskowitz

Source

• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
• The Short Stories of H. G. Wells
• A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne
• When Worlds Collide, by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer
• The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss
• The Land That Time Forgot, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Girl in the Golden Atom, by Ray Cummings
• The World Below, by S. Fowler Wright
• Darkness and Dawn, by George Allan England
• Sirius, by Olaf Stapledon
• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt
• Final Blackout, by L. Ron Hubbard
• Life Everlasting and Other Tales of Science, Fantasy and Horror, by David H. Keller
• And Some Were Human, by Lester del Rey
• The Eye and the Finger, by Donald Wandrei
• Dawn of Flame, by Stanley G. Weinbaum
• Spacehounds of IPC, by Edward E. Smith
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by R. J. Healy and J. F. McComas
• The Best of Science Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin
• Strange Ports of Call, edited by August Derleth

Lewis Padgett

Source

Science-Fiction:

• The Lost World, by A. Conan Doyle
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
• The Short Stories of H. G. Wells

Fantasy:

• Figures of Earth, by James Branch Cabell
• The Worm Ouroboros, by E. R. Eddison
• To Walk the Night, by William Sloane
• Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake
• The World Below, by S. Fowler Wright
• The Virgin and the Swine, by Evangeline Walton
• Dracula, by Bram Stoker
• Frankenstein, by Mary W. Shelley

Author Works/Omnibuses:

• Edgar Allan Poe
• Jules Verne
• Thorne Smith
• Morgan Robertson
• Arthur Machen
• A. Merritt
• H. P. Lovecraft
• T. H. White
• Edward Lucas White
• William Hope Hodgson
• M. R. James
• Dorothy Sayers

Paul Lawrence Payne

Source

• When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide, by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie
• Adventures in Time and Space, compiled by R. J. Healy and J. F. McComas
• The First to Awaken, by Granville Hicks
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis
• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
• The Next Hundred Years, by C. C. Furnas
• Our Mysterious Universe, by James Jeans
• The Nature of the Physical World, by Arthur Eddington
• Life on Other Worlds, by H. Spencer Jones
• The Story of Utopia, by Lewis Mumford

A. Langley Searles

Source

Time travel:

• Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague de Camp
• The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells
• Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon

Space travel:

• The First Men on the Moon, by H. G. Wells

Future eras:

• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon

Alien races and life:

• Out of the Silence, by Erle Cox
• The Flames, by Olaf Stapledon
• To Walk the Night, by William Sloane

Inventions:

• The Peacemaker, by C. S. Forester
• The Invisible Man, by H. G. Wells

World catastrophe:

• The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss

Superbeings:

• Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
• Gladiator, by Philip Wylie
• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt
• Sirius, by Olaf Stapledon
• The Wonder, by J. D. Beresford

Prehistoric eras:

• Before the Dawn, by John Taine
• The Shadow Out of Time, by H. P. Lovecraft

Lost races:

• When the Birds Fly South, by Stanton A. Coblentz

Miscellaneous:

• Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
• Islandia, by Austin T. Wright

Anthologies:

• Strange Ports of Call, edited by August Derleth
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by R. J. Healy and J. F. McComas
• Travellers in Time, edited by Philip Van Doren Stern

Theodore Sturgeon

Source

Fiction:

• Seven Famous Novels, by H. G. Wells
• The Short Stories of H. G. Wells
• Sirius and Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• War with the Newts, by Karel Čapek
• Mr. Tompkins, by George Gamow

Nonfiction:

• Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, by Alfred C. Kinsey and others
• The Books of Charles Fort, by Charles Fort
• Atomic Energy for Military Purposes, by H. D. Smyth
• Science and Sanity, by Alfred Korzybski

A. E. van Vogt

Source

Historicals:

• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
• The Short Stories of H. G. Wells
• The Lost World, by A. Conan Doyle
• Station X, by G. McLeod Winsor
• Before the Dawn, by John Taine

Exotics:

• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
• World D, by Hal P. Trevarthon
• The World Below, by S. Fowler Wright
• The Mastermind of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon

Modern:

• Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt
• The World of Null-A, by A. E. Van Vogt
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by R. J. Healy and J. Francis McComas
• Strange Ports of Call, edited by August Derleth
• Venus Equilateral, by George O. Smith
• The Moon Pool, by A. Merritt
• The Black Flame, by Stanley Weinbaum
• Final Blackout, by L. Ron Hubbard
• The Atomic Story, by John W. Campbell Jr.
• Rockets, by Willy Ley

Donald Wandrei

Source

• From the Earth to the Moon, by Jules Verne
• The Time Machine and Thirty Strange Stories, by H. G. Wells
• The Theory of Relativity, by Albert Einstein
• The Book of the Damned and Wild Talents, by Charles Fort
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• The Outsider and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft
• Out of Space and Time, by Clark Ashton Smith