The All-Story Magazine

The All-Story Magazine was a Munsey pulp. Debuting in January 1905 (the word "Magazine" was dropped from the title in 1908), this pulp was published monthly until March 1914. Effective March 7, 1914, it changed to a weekly schedule and the title All-Story Weekly. 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.

The All-Story (June 1912), containing part five of six of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Under the Moons of Mars"

The All-Story is the magazine that first published Edgar Rice Burroughs, beginning with "Under the Moons of Mars", a serialized novel eventually published in book form as A Princess of Mars, and later The Gods of Mars. Other All-Story writers included Rex Stout, later a famed mystery writer, and mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart, Western writers Max Brand and Raymond S. Spears, and horror and fantasy writers Tod Robbins, Abraham Merritt, Perley Poore Sheehan and Charles B. Stilson.[1] All-Story also published poetry. One notable writer who published poems in the All-Story was Djuna Barnes.[2]

The now largely forgotten Eldred Kurtz Means (March 11, 1878 - February 19, 1957) was a constant and prolific contributor to pulp magazines such as All-Story Weekly, Argosy and its predecessors, often featuring blackface minstrel show dialogue.[3]

In 2006, a copy of the October 1912 issue of The All-Story, featuring the first appearance of the character Tarzan in any medium, sold for $59,750 in an auction held by Heritage Auctions of Dallas.[4]

Publication history
Issue data for All-Story from 1905 to 1914
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1905 1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4
1906 4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 5/1 5/2 5/3 5/4 6/1 6/2 6/3 6/4
1907 7/1 7/2 7/3 7/4 8/1 8/2 8/3 8/4 9/1 9/2 9/3 9/4
1908 10/1 10/2 10/3 10/4 11/1 11/2 11/3 11/4 12/1 12/2 12/3 12/4
1909 13/1 13/2 13/3 13/4 14/1 14/2 14/3 14/4 15/1 15/2 15/3 15/4
1910 16/1 16/2 16/3 16/4 17/1 17/2 17/3 17/4 18/1 18/2 18/3 18/4
1911 19/1 19/2 19/3 19/4 20/1 20/2 20/3 20/4 21/1 21/2 21/3 21/4
1912 22/1 22/2 22/3 22/4 23/1 23/2 23/3 23/4 24/1 24/2 24/3 24/4
1913 25/1 25/2 25/3 25/4 26/1 26/2 26/3 26/4 27/1 27/2 27/3 27/4
1914 28/1 28/2 28/3
     Bob Davis

In 1882, Frank A. Munsey launched The Golden Argosy, a children's weekly magazine. The title changed to just The Argosy in 1888, and in 1896 Munsey switched to using coarse pulp paper, and printing only fiction, thus launching the first pulp magazine. It was immediately successful. Other publishers brought out competing magazines, such as Street & Smith's The Popular Magazine in 1903, and Story-Press's The Monthly Story Magazine in 1905. As the competition grew, Munsey decided to add a second pulp title.[5] Munsey had hired Robert Hobart Davis, usually known as Bob Davis, in 1904 to work on the New York Sunday News; when that ceased publication Munsey had made him fiction editor of Munsey's Magazine.[6][7][8] Munsey launched The All-Story Magazine in January 1905 on a monthly schedule with Davis as the editor, and Davis hired Thomas Metcalf to work for him as managing editor.[7][9] In March 1914 the schedule switched to weekly, and in May of that year it was combined with another Munsey pulp, The Cavalier, under the title All-Story Cavalier Weekly. The following year the "Cavalier" was dropped, and it continued as All-Story Weekly again until 1920, when it was merged into The Argosy.[10]

Issue data for All-Story
January February March April May June July August September October November December
1914 Dates: 7,14,21,28 4,11,18,25 2,9,16,23,30 6,13,20,27 4,11,18,25 1,8,15,22,29 5,12,19,26 3,10,17,24,31 7,14,21,28 5,12,19,26
Volume: 29/1 to 29/4 30/1 to 30/4 31/1 to 32/3 32/4 to 33/3 33/4 to 34/3 34/4 to 35/4 36/1 to 36/4 37/1 to 38/1 38/2 to 39/1 39/2 to 40/1
1915 Dates: 2,9,16,23,30 6,13,20,27 6,13,20,27 3,10,17,24 1,8,15,22,29 5,12,19,26 3,10,17,24,31 7,14,21,28 4,11,18,25 2,9,16,23,30 6,13,20,27 4,11,18,25
Volume: 40/2 to 41/2 41/3 to 42/2 42/3 to 43/2 43/3 to 44/2 44/3 to 45/3 45/4 to 46/3 46/4 to 47/4 48/1 to 48/4 49/1 to 49/4 50/1 to 51/1 51/2 to 52/1 52/2 to 53/1
1916 Dates: 1,8,15,22,29 5,12,19,26 4,11,18,25 1,8,15,22,29 6,13,20,27 3,10,17,24 1,8,15,22,29 5,12,19,26 2,9,16,23,30 7,14,21,28 4,11,18,25 2,9,16,23,30
Volume: 53/2 to 54/2 54/3 to 55/2 55/3 to 56/2 56/3 to 27/3 57/4 to 58/3 58/4 to 59/3 59/4 to 60/4 61/1 to 61/4 62/1 to 63/1 63/2 to 64/1 64/2 to 65/1 65/2 to 66/2
1917 Dates: 6,13,20,27 3,10,17,24 3,10,17,24,31 7,14,21,28 5,12,19,26 2,9,16,23,30 7,14,21,28 4,11,18,25 1,8,15,22,29 6,13,20,27 3,10,17,24 1,8,15,22,29
Volume: 66/3 to 67/2 67/3 to 68/2 68/3 to 69/3 69/4 to 70/3 70/4 to 71/3 71/4 to 72/4 73/1 to 73/4 74/1 to 74/4 75/1 to 76/1 76/2 to 77/1 77/2 to 78/1 78/2 to 79/2
1918 Dates: 5,12,19,26 2,9,16,23 2,9,16,23,30 6,13,20,27 4,11,18,25 1,8,15,22,29 6,13,20,27 3,10,17,24,31 7,14,21,28 5,12,19,26 2,9,16,23,30 7,14,21,28
Volume: 79/3 to 80/2 80/3 to 81/2 81/3 to 82/3 82/4 to 83/3 83/4 to 84/3 84/4 to 85/4 86/1 to 86/4 87/1 to 88/1 88/2 to 89/1 89/2 to 90/1 90/2 to 91/2 91/3 to 92/2
1919 Dates: 4,11,18,25 1,8,15,22 1,8,15,22,29 5,12,19,26 3,10,17,24,31 7,14,21,28 5,12,19,26 2,9,16,23,30 6,13,20,27 4,11,18,25 1,8,15,22,29 6,13,20,27
Volume: 92/3 to 93/2 93/3 to 94/2 94/3 to 95/3 95/4 to 96/3 96/4 to 97/4 98/1 to 98/4 99/1 to 99/4 100/1 to 101/1 101/2 to 102/1 102/2 to 103/1 103/2 to 104/2 104/3 to 105/2
1920 Dates: 3,10,17,24,31 7,14,21,28 6,13,20,27 3,10,17,24 1,8,15,22,29 5,12,19,26 3,10,17
Volume: 105/3 to 106/3 106/4 to 107/3 107/4 to 108/3 108/4 to 109/3 109/4 to 110/4 111/1 to 111/4 112/1 to 112/3
     Bob Davis

Contents and reception

From the start, The All-Story Weekly carried science fiction and fantasy material, and it was the most important market for these stories throughout its life.[8][7] The first issue included the first instalment of five novels, including W. Bert Foster's When Time Slipped a Cog, about a man who discovers a year of his life has passed that he cannot remember. Two of the short stories were science fiction as well: Howard R. Garis's "The Ghost at Box 13", and Margaret Prescott Montague's "The Great Sleep Tanks".[7] In the May issue Davis reprinted Garrett P. Serviss's short novel The Moon Metal (1900), about a new fiscal standard that replaced gold with a metal from the moon.[8][11]

Mary Roberts Rineharts' first story, "A Gasoline Road Agent", appeared in the April 1905 issue.[11]

The most important author discovered by Davis was Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose first sale was Under the Moons of Mars, the first in his Barsoom series. It was serialized from February to July 1912 in The All-Story Magazine.[8][12] Darkness and Dawn, by George Allan England, had been serialized in another Munsey magazine, The Cavalier, starting in January that year, and science fiction historian Sam Moskowitz regards the appearance of these two stories as signalling the start of an era of popular science-fictional love stories.[13] In October Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes appeared.[8]

Bibliographic details

The magazine's title was originally The All-Story Magazine. This was shortened to The All-Story in June 1911, and then changed to All-Story Weekly when it switched from monthly to weekly publication with the March 7, 1914 issue. From May 16, 1914 to May 8, 1915 it was titled All-Story Cavalier Weekly as a result of the merger with The Cavalier, and for the rest of its run, until the July 17, 1920 issue, it was All-Story Weekly again.[9][14]

References
  1. Hulse (2013), pp. 19-29.
  2. "Djuna Barnes published poetry in All-Story, The Cavalier, and Pearson's next to pulp authors like Max Brand and Edgar Rice Burroughs...". David M. Earle, Re-Covering Modernism : Pulps, Paperbacks, and the Prejudice of Form. London; New York : Routledge, 2016. ISBN 9781315604077 (p.65)
  3. Drew, Bernard A. (April 14, 2015). Black Stereotypes in Popular Series Fiction, 1851-1955: Jim Crow Era Authors and Their Characters. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 88–96. ISBN 978-0-7864-7410-3 – via Google Books.
  4. "Rare Pulp Brings Record Price at Heritage! Price of $59,750 Triples Previous Auction Record for any Pulp Magazine". Heritage Auctions. September 2006. The old record was set at Sotheby's in 1998," said Ed Jaster, Vice-President for Heritage, "when a different copy of this same pulp sold for the then-impressive price of $17,000. The $59,750 that this beautiful copy achieved sets a new high watermark for the world of pulp collectors.
  5. Ashley (1985), pp. 103-109.
  6. Anonymous (June 16, 1930), p. 22.
  7. Moskowitz (1970), p. 318.
  8. Ashley, Mike; Eggeling, John (October 7, 2019). "SFE: All-Story, The". Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  9. Stephensen-Payne, Phil (October 13, 2023). "All-Story (Cavalier) Weekly/Magazine". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  10. Stephensen-Payne, Phil (July 25, 2023). "All-Story (Cavalier) Weekly/Magazine". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  11. Moskowitz (1970), p. 320.
  12. Pringle, David; Clute, John (July 10, 2023). "SFE: Burroughs, Edgar Rice". Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  13. Moskowitz (1970), pp. 334-336.
  14. Stephensen-Payne, Phil (October 14, 2023). "Magazine Data File". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.

Sources
  • Anonymous (June 16, 1930). "Recalling Bob Davis". Time. p. 22. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  • Ashley, Mike (1985). "The Argosy and All-Story". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike (eds.). Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 103–109. ISBN 0-313-21221-X.
  • Moskowitz, Sam (1970). "A History of the Scientific Romance in the Munsey Magazines, 1912-1920". In Moskowitz, Sam (ed.). Under the Moons of Mars: A History and Anthology of the Scientific Romance in the Munsey Magazines, 1912–1920. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 289–433. ISBN 0-03-081858-3.
  • Hulse, Ed (2013). The Blood 'N' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction. Morris Plains, New Jersey: Murania Press. ISBN 978-1491010938.
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