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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 9, Winter 1945-1946
Page 211
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 211 relying upon a hand-operated printing press. Is it any wonder that there were typographical errors present when he was his own type-setter, proof reader, and printer? Miller and I hand-set the first Bizarre number that way, and although Merritt's "Three Lines of Old French" is just a short story, it seemed mighty long when we had to pick up each letter and bit of punctuation individually and then distribute the type after the page had been run off---then repeat the process all over again. Yes, Crawford's primitive printing facilities was one of his chief difficulties. But there were others. Finances---that was another big thorn in his side. He once told me that he had lost nearly $5,000 in an effort to put Marvel on the newsstands. A relative agreed to put up some cash if Crawford succeeded in landing it there. He therefore visited a national news agency, which promised nation-wide distribution---for a fee of $5,000 on each of two printed-in-advance issues. What man has $10,000 available to invest in a hobby? When Amazing Stories was wobbling through its final issues before Ziff-Davis took over in 1938, Crawford made a trip to New York to visit its publishers. What do you think the Teck outfit asked for their "aristocrat of science-fiction"? A mere $50,000! So the financial angle figured heavily in preventing Marvel's newsstand appearance. In the meantime he was publishing books and pamphlets on the side, all meeting the same printing and mechanical difficulties. But Crawford never stopped trying to give Marvel Tales, his pet, nation-wide circulation. He thought that somehow, somewhere, he would get financial backing; the advertisements that he circulated were not attempts to raise false hopes in fandom, but rather evidence of faith in his own convictions. As Moskowitz noted in "It Might Have Been---," he even had part of one newsstand issue set up in type. But the fate that seems to threaten all amateur publishers was waiting eagerly for Bill Crawford. Still struggling, braving heavy financial losses, he eventually gave up the fight. It was a great blow to fantasy. I believe that the entire fan world owes William L. Crawford an undying tribute for his efforts---the excellent issues of Marvel Tales, for The Shadow over Innsmouth, the first book of H. P. Lovecraft ever to be printed, and for the stirring example of what the true amateur fantasy publisher, filled with the interests of the entire field, can accomplish. ---oOo--- Shoon of the Dead by William Hope Hodgson Open the door, And listen! Only the wind's muffled roar, And the glisten Of tears round the moon. And, in fancy, the tread Of vanishing shoon--- Out in the night with the Dead. Hush! and hark To the sorrowful cry Of the wind in the dark. Hush and hark, without murmur or sigh, To shoon that tread the lost aeons: To the sound that bids you to die. Husk and hark! Hush and hark!
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 211 relying upon a hand-operated printing press. Is it any wonder that there were typographical errors present when he was his own type-setter, proof reader, and printer? Miller and I hand-set the first Bizarre number that way, and although Merritt's "Three Lines of Old French" is just a short story, it seemed mighty long when we had to pick up each letter and bit of punctuation individually and then distribute the type after the page had been run off---then repeat the process all over again. Yes, Crawford's primitive printing facilities was one of his chief difficulties. But there were others. Finances---that was another big thorn in his side. He once told me that he had lost nearly $5,000 in an effort to put Marvel on the newsstands. A relative agreed to put up some cash if Crawford succeeded in landing it there. He therefore visited a national news agency, which promised nation-wide distribution---for a fee of $5,000 on each of two printed-in-advance issues. What man has $10,000 available to invest in a hobby? When Amazing Stories was wobbling through its final issues before Ziff-Davis took over in 1938, Crawford made a trip to New York to visit its publishers. What do you think the Teck outfit asked for their "aristocrat of science-fiction"? A mere $50,000! So the financial angle figured heavily in preventing Marvel's newsstand appearance. In the meantime he was publishing books and pamphlets on the side, all meeting the same printing and mechanical difficulties. But Crawford never stopped trying to give Marvel Tales, his pet, nation-wide circulation. He thought that somehow, somewhere, he would get financial backing; the advertisements that he circulated were not attempts to raise false hopes in fandom, but rather evidence of faith in his own convictions. As Moskowitz noted in "It Might Have Been---," he even had part of one newsstand issue set up in type. But the fate that seems to threaten all amateur publishers was waiting eagerly for Bill Crawford. Still struggling, braving heavy financial losses, he eventually gave up the fight. It was a great blow to fantasy. I believe that the entire fan world owes William L. Crawford an undying tribute for his efforts---the excellent issues of Marvel Tales, for The Shadow over Innsmouth, the first book of H. P. Lovecraft ever to be printed, and for the stirring example of what the true amateur fantasy publisher, filled with the interests of the entire field, can accomplish. ---oOo--- Shoon of the Dead by William Hope Hodgson Open the door, And listen! Only the wind's muffled roar, And the glisten Of tears round the moon. And, in fancy, the tread Of vanishing shoon--- Out in the night with the Dead. Hush! and hark To the sorrowful cry Of the wind in the dark. Hush and hark, without murmur or sigh, To shoon that tread the lost aeons: To the sound that bids you to die. Husk and hark! Hush and hark!
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