TIMELINE 1920-1930




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TIMELINE 1920-1930

Copyright 1996,1997,1998 by Magic Dragon Multimedia.
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What happened in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy between 1920 and 1930? There are 13 hotlinks here to authors, magazines, films, or television items elsewhere in the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide or beyond.
Executive Summary of the Decade Major Books of the Decade Major Films of this Decade Other Key Dates and Stories of this Decade Major Writers Born this Decade {to be done} Major Writers Died this Decade Hotlinks to other Timeline pages of SF Chronology Where to Go for More: 51 Useful Reference Books
Executive Summary of the Decade What happened in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy between 1920 and 1930? It was a strange decade, with much of a literate 20-volume fantasy magnum opus by James Branch Cabell and the poetic sophistication of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett (Lord Dunsany) at one end of a spectrum and the anti-literary raw stories of pulp magazines at the other, readers were thrown for the first time into interstellar conflict by E. E. "Doc" Smith, plunged to sub-sub-atomic size for romance by Ray Cummings, flung billions of years into the future by Philosphy professor Olaf Stapledon, and introduced to the two most influential science fiction editors in history: Hugo Gernsback ("Amazing Stories") and John W. Campbell (later of "Astounding"). Hitler published "Mein Kampf", Mussolini goose-stepped into power in Italy, and turned it into a weird aggressive dystopia for 22 years (1922-1944) while Stalin seized the reins of Russian power, and Ghandi stayed in jail (1922-1928). Germany experienced disruptive hyperinflation (staring in 1923) and the United States of America had the ultimate Wall Street Crash (1929). That crazy Buck Rogers stuff, and Flash Gordon too, was interwoven with B.E.M.'s (Bug-Eyed Monsters) who especially loved to grab scantily-clad ladies. But how crazy was it? In 1926, the American rocket genius Robert Goddard began a series of successful launches of liquid-fueled rockets to higher and higher altitudes, and by 1919 the Graf Zeppelin was circling completely around the Earth. Science Fiction was thriving on the silver screens of Europe, with masterpieces such as "Metroplis" (1926) and "Frau im Mond" (1929), as part of a film era which included non-SF works of genius such as Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin", and Hollywood began to get more involved as well. Kodak begins to sell 16mm film stock (1925) and John Logie Baird made a working television in Scotland (1925). Critics did not bother to distinguish between what we would today consider distinct genres of Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, High Fantasy, and media Sci-Fi. Let's take a closer look... Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page

Important Books Published in this Decade

1920 David Lindsay: "A Voyage to Arcturus" (London: Methuen) Nothing like this novel before or since, a relentlessly bizarre encounter between mind, spirit, and perception on the planet Tormance where living beings must metamorphosize into different shapes; life, death, and rebirth of Maskull, the tormented Earthling 1920 James Branch Cabell: "The Cords of Vanity: A Comedy of Shirking" (New York: McBride) revised edition of 1909 novel (New York: Doubleday, Page) on fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1921 J. D. Beresford: "Evolution" 1921 James Branch Cabell: "Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances" (New York: McBride) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1921 James Branch Cabell: "Chivalry" (New York: McBride) revised edition of novel originally published 1909 (New York: Harper) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1921 James Branch Cabell: "The Line of Love" (New York: McBride) revised edition of novel originally published 1905 (New York: Harper) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1921 Karel Capek: "RUR" launches the word "robot" into literature 1921 Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint: "The Blind Spot" 1921 George Bernard Shaw: "Back to Methuselah" Play in 5 parts treating creative evolution. Part I has Lilith tear herself in two: Adam and Eve. Part II has the biologist Conrad Barnabas explain why people should live 300 years. Part III has England governed by Chinese and African women in 2170 A.D., and communicate by visual switchboard. Part IV in in 3000 A.D., with people classified as primaries, secondaries, or tertiaries according to how many centuries they've lived. Part V is set in 32,920 A.D., and in an epilogue, Adam, Eve, Cain and Lilith judge this future. 1922 James Branch Cabell: "Gallentry: An Eighteenth Century Dizain in Ten Comedies with an Afterpiece" (New York: McBride) originally published in 1907 (New York: Harper) now revized under the title "Gallantry: Dizain des Fetes Galantes" fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1922 James Branch Cabell: "The Lineage of Lichfield An Essay in Eugenics" (New York: McBride) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1922 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "At The Earth's Core" 1922 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "The Chessmen of Mars" 1922 James Branch Cabell: "Straws and Prayerbooks: Dizain des Diversions" (New York: McBride) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1922 E. R. [Eric Rucker] Eddison: "The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance" [fantasy] (London: Jonathan Cape) endless struggle between Witchland and Demonland on an imagistic planet Mercury 1922 Frigyes Karinthy: "Capillaria" 1922 Karel Capek: "The Absolute at Large" 1922 Alexei Tolstoi: "Aelita" 1922 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Pellucidar" 1923 James Branch Cabell: "The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment" (New York: McBride) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1923 James Branch Cabell: "The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck: A Comedy of Limitations" (New York: McBride) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1923 James Branch Cabell: "The Eagle's Shadow" (New York: McBride) revised from 1904 edition (New York: Doubleday, Page) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1923 Ray Cummings: "The Girl in the Golden Atom" 1923 J. J. Connington: "Nordenholt's Millions" 1923 P. Anderson Graham: "The Collapse of Homo Sapiens" 1923 Aldous Huxley: "Antic Hay" according to my parents, "a rotation in the orbit of an aimless and deteriorating society seen primarily through the eyes of the young idler Theodore Gumbril. It is peopled by a Huxleyesque galaxy of characters, fascinating in themselves, ranging from the absent-minded scientist Shearwater and the degenerate Coleman... to the grotesque Casimir Lypiatt with his unfounded genius complex." 1923 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "The Land that Time Forgot" 1923 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Tarzan and the Ant Men" 1923 Ronald Knox: "Memories of the Future" 1923 E. V. Odle: "The Clockwork Man" 1923 H. G. Wells: "Men Like Gods" 1924 Ralph Milne Farley: "The Radio Man" 1924 Eric Temple Bell: "The Purple Sapphire" is the first novel published pseudonymously as by "John Taine" 1924 James Branch Cabell: "From the Hidden Way: Being Seventy-Five Adaptations" (New York: McBride) revised from 1916 edition by same publisher, fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1924 Alfred Doblin: "Mountains, Seas, and Giants" 1924 Lord Dunsany: "The King of Elfland's Daughter" (London: G. P. Putnam's Sons) Back and forth between lands of human and fairy, in poetic prose that set modern fantasy in motion through its influence on the H. P. Lovecraft circle 1924 Yevgeny Zamiatin: "We" 1925 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "The Eternal Lover" (later retitled The Eternal Savage") 1925 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "The Cave Girl" 1925 Hugo Gernsback: "Ralph 124C41+" 1925 Adolf Hitler: "Mein Kampf" -- not science fiction, but it shaped the modern world in twisted and horrible ways 1925 S. Fowler Wright: "The Amphibians" (privately printed) 1925 Karel Capek: "Krakatit" {film hotlink to be done} 1925 Karel Capek: "The Makropoulos Secret" immortality, later adapted to Opera 1925 Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Land of Mist" 1925 Franz Kafka: "The Trial" published posthumously, and against Kafka's wishes 1926 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "The Moon Maid" (later retirled "The Moon Man") 1926 James Branch Cabell: "The Silver Stallion: A Comedy of Redemption" fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1926 Robert M. Coates: "The Eater of Darkness" 1926 Reginald Glossop: "The Orphan of Space" -- I haven't seen this book, but John Clute claims that it combines alchemy with atomic physics 1926 Charlotte Haldane: "Man's World" (feminist) 1926 Abraham Merritt: "The Ship of Ishtar" (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons) Some adore this fantasy novel, others despise it. A modern man is drawn into a model ship which is really like "The Flying Dutchman", upon whose chess-board deck a battle between good and evil is raging 1926 Edgar Wallace: "The Day of the Uniting" Comet nearly wrecks Earth 1926 A. Hyatt Verrill: "Beyond the Pole" 1926 Guy Dent: "Emperor of the If" 1926 Thea von Harbou: "Metropolis" 1927 Eric Temple Bell: "Quayle's Invention" (as John Taine) 1927 Eric Temple Bell: "The Gold Tooth" (as John Taine) 1927 E. R. Burroughs: "The Master Mind of Mars" 1927 James Branch Cabell: "Something About Eve: A Comedy of Fig-Leaves" (New York: McBride) fantasy world Poictesme, famous from 1919 novel "Jurgen" 1927 Karel Capek: "The Absolute at Large" (New York: Macmillan), satire about atomic engine which reveals God "in a chemically pure form" 1927 Donald Corley: "The House of Lost Identity" (New York: McBride) [fantasy] Magic and whimsey in this single-author collection 1927 Abraham Merritt: "Seven Footprints to Satan" (New York: Boni Liveright) Made into film, paranoid intrigue with super-villain 1927 H. G. Wells: "The Short Stories of H. G. Wells" 1927 S. Fowler Wright: "Deluge: A Romance" 1928 Alexander Belayev: "The Amphibian" 1928 Otto Willi Gail: "By Rocket to the Moon" 1928 Edmond Hamilton: "Crashing Suns" 1928 Philip Francis Nowlan: "Armageddon 2419 A.D." 1928 Eimar O'Duffy: "The Spacious Adventures of the Man in the Street" 1928 Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.: "The Skylark of Space" 1928 Virginia Woolf: "Orlando" 1928 Sydney Fowler Wright: "The Island of Captain Sparrow" 1929 Sydney Fowler Wright: "The World Below" (London: Collins) Rescue attempt on two men lost in the future when Earth is settled by Amphibians and underground Dwellers 1929 Kay Burdekin: "The Rebel Passion" (she later uses pseudonym Murray Constantine) 1929 Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Marcot Deep and Other Stories" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Atlantis is found -- and is not yet dead 1929 Floyd Phillips Gibbons: "The Red Napoleon" (New York: Cape and Smith) world war launched by Stalin's successor 1929 Edmond Hamilton: "Cities in ther Air" 1929 Edmond Hamilton: "Outside the Universe" 1929 David H. Keller: "The Human Termites" 1929 Otis Adelbert Kline: "The Planet of Peril" (Chicago: McClurg) pulp Venus 1929 Edgar Wallace: "Plantoid 127" planet closer to the Sun than Mercury 1929 Jack Williamson: "The Girl from Mars" 1929 S. Fowler Wright: "The World Below" 1930 Miles J. Breuer: "Paradise and Iron" 1930 John W. Campbell: "The Black Star Passes" 1930 Ray Cummings: "Brigands of the Moon" 1930 Edmond Hamilton: "The Universe Wreckers" 1930 Murray Leinster: "Murder Madness" 1930 Olaf Stapledon: "Last and First Men" (London: Methuen) the philosophy professor author makes an "attempt to see the human race in its cosmic setting, and to mould our hearts to entertain new values" a brilliant multi-billion-year vision of the future 1930 John Taine (Eric Temple Bell): "The White Lily" 1930 John Taine (Eric Temple Bell): "The Iron Star" (New York: E.P. Dutton) Meteorite in the Congo changes men to animals 1930 Jack Williamson: "The Green Girl" 1930 Philip Gordon Wylie: "Gladiator" (New York: Knopf) unhappy life as a superman growing up, perhaps the origin of "Superman" comics Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page

Important Films of this Decade

1922 Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler [Germany] Directed by Fritz Lang, from the Norbert Jacques novel Dr. Mabuse der Spieler (1922) 1922 Nosferatu [Germany] directed by W. Friedrich Munau from Bram Stoker's "Dracula" as adapted for the screen by Henrik Galeen, and starring Max Schreck, probably the highpoint of expressionist science fiction cinema Nosferatu (1922) 1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Universal Studios Starring Lon Chaney, Sr., "The Man of a Thousand Faces" 1924 Paris Qui Dort (also known as Paris Asleep, also known as The Crazy Ray) [France] Paris Qui Dort (1924) 1924 Aelita directed by Yakov Protazanov, from the Alexei Tolstoy novel about ideological contrast between 1920's Russia and capitalist Mars Aelita (1924) 1925 The Lost World [USA] with nice dinosuar animation with Wallace Beery as Professor Challenger, this was Marion Fairfax's screen adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle novel The Lost World (1925) 1925 The Death Ray [USSR] Lev Kuleshev directed, Sergei Komarov stars, and Vsevolod Pudokin both wrote and co-art-directed Luch smerti (The Death Ray) (1925) 1925 The Hands of Orloc [Austria] The Hands of Orloc (1925) 1925 The Phantom of the Opera Universal Studios, Rupert Julian Starring Lon Chaney, Sr., "The Man of a Thousand Faces" 1926 Metropolis [Germany] Classic directed by Fritz Lang, starring Brigitte Helm, from Thea von Harbou novel, now available in digitally restored 1995 version Metropolis (1926) 1928 High Treason [British] directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Raymond Massey High Treason (1928) 1929 Frau im Mond (The Woman in the Moon) [Germany] directed by Fritz Lang, co-written by Thea von Harbou, technical advisor Willy Ley, the film that invesnted the countdown for rcoket launches (art influencing reality) Frau im Mond (1929) 1929 The Mysterious Island, starring Lionel Barrymore and Jane Daly, the first important science fiction film to use sound and color. Directed by screenwriter Lucien Hubbard (and uncredited co-directors Benjamin Christiansen & Maurice Tourneur) from the Jules Verne novel of islandic techno-utopia, submarines, and undersea dragons, giant squids, and quasi-humans. John Varley has penned a remake screenplay for Disney. The Mysterious Island (1929) 1930 Just Imagine Amazingly silly notion of a 1980 as imagined in 1930, with a ludicrous Mars mission to a planet of dancing girls ruled by a fat man who never leaves his throne. People have numbers rather than names, an idea long since handled better in the Russian novel "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Stars Maureen O'Sullivan, poor woman. Just Imagine (1930) Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page

Other Key Dates

1922 Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon open the tomb of King Tut-Ankh-Amon. Carnarvon dies not long after, giving rise to the legend of the curse of King Tut. 1923 The first issue of "Weird Tales" magazine published 1923 Radio Station WEAF, in New York, sponmsored by a battery company, is one of the first broadcasters 1923 Abraham Merritt's "The Face in the Abyss" story published in "Argosy"; along with its 1931 sequel, it became his masterpiece novel, also under the title "The Face in the Abyss" 1924 Abraham Merritt's "The Ship of Ishtar" story published in "Argosy" July 1925 Ray Cumming's serial "Tarrano the Conquerer" begins in Gernsback's "Science and Inventions", with a well-conceived 25th century interplanetary war and psychologically interesting dictator. 1925 First stage performance of "Dracula", written by and starring Hamilton Deane April 1926 First issue of AMAZING STORIES magazine, arguably the first Science Fiction magazine as such. This changed the face of the entire field. 1926 H. F. Arnold's short story "The Night Wire" 1926 Edmond Hamilton's short story "Across Space" 1926 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Monster-God of Mamurth" in "Weird Tales" 1926 Clare Winger Harris' short story "A Runaway World" 1926 G. Peyton Wertenbaker's short story "The Coming of the Ice" 1926 Donald E. Keyhoe's "Through the Vortex" in "Weird Tales", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Jan 1927 the first Letter Column in Amazing Stories, "Discussions", which was the true start of science fiction fandom. 1927 Bela Lugosi, former cavalry officer, stars in John Baldeston's staging of "Dracula", the first in America 1927 Amazing Stories acquires its 100,000th reader, and starts publishing Abraham Merritt, H. P. Lovecraft, A. Hyatt Verril, Miles J. Breuer, as well as continuing to run H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, George Allan England, Garrett P. Serviss, and Murray Leinster. It was obviously the center of the science fiction world. 1927 Ray Cumming's short story "Around the Universe" 1927 Francis Flagg's short story "The Machine Man of Ardathia" 1927 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Moon Menace" 1927 Julian Huxley's short story "The Tissue Culture Kings" 1927 H. P. Lovecraft writes the short story "The Call of Chthulhu" 1927 H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Color out of Space" published 1927 Donald Wandrei's short story "The Red Brain" 1927 Edmond Hamilton's "Evolution Island" in "Weird Tales", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). 1928 Hugo Gernsback launches "Quarterlies" of 144 pages for 50 cents each 1928 Thomas Lanier Williams, 16 years old, makes his first sale ($35). The magazine is "Weird Tales." The boy is later known by his psuedonym: Tennessee Williams, the great playwright! Aug 1928 Start of E. E. "Doc" Smith's serial "The Skylark of Space" in "Amazing Stories", and thus the birth of the "space opera" subgenre, of interstellar conflict Aug 1928 In the same issue, start of Philip Nowlan's serial "Armageddon 2419 A.D." in "Amazing Stories", which becomes the comic strip "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" 1928 Earl Bell's short story "The Moon of Doom" 1928 Clare Winger Harris' short story "The Miracle of the Lily" (Amazing Stories) Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). 1928 David H. Keller's short story "A Biological Experiment" 1928 David H. Keller's short story "The Revolt of the Pedestrians" 1928 John Martin Leahy's short story "In Amundsen's Tent" 1928 G. G. Pendarves' short story "The Eight Green Men" 1928 R. F. Starzl's short story "Out of the Sub-Universe" 1928 Victor Gollancz launches his publishing company, which is immdiately a major force in British science fiction Feb 1929 Three of Hugo Gernsback's creditors file to have him declared bankrupt in New York State court. Gernsback was solvent, but the law forced him, probably at the instigation of Bernarr McFadden (for whom your humble webmaster's father once worked) who lived in the same apartment building and was angry that Hugo Gernsback would not sell him "Amazing Stories." May 1929 Hugo Gernsback forced to sell "Amazing Stories", chooses to sell it to Teck Publications, who promoted ex-scientist T. O'Connor Sloane to editor (he had been de facto assistant editor under Hugo Gernsback). Teck loses illustrator Frank R. Paul. Arthur Lynch is interim editor before T. O'Connor Sloane gets up to full speed. 1929 "When the World Screamed" by Arthur Conan Doyle, one of several popular Professor Challenger tales -- a deep hole is drilled, and disturbs the giant creature whose shell is our planetary crust. 1929 Hugo Gernsback's short story "The Killing Flash" 1929 Murray Leinster's short story "The Darkness on Fifth Avenue" 1929 Philip Francis Nowlan's short story "The Airlords of Mars" 1929 D. D. Sharp's short story "The Eternal Man" 1929 Harl Vincent's short story "Barton's Island" 1929 Wallace West's short story "The Last Man" Spring 1929 Stanton A. Coblentz' novel "After 12,000 years" begins in "Amazing Stories Quarterly" starts his transition from poet to leading science fiction satirist Sep 1929 Teck Publications claims 100,000 circulation for "Amazing", unfairly taking credit for Hugo Gernsback's success 1929 H. P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" in "Weird Tales", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Jan 1930 Hugo Gernsback launches "Scientific Detective Stories" magazine Jan 1930 Hugo Gernsback merges "Air Wonder" and "Science Wonder" to create "Wonder Stories" magazine Jan 1930 John W. Campbell's first story (novelette), "When the Atoms Failed", in "Amazing Stories" Apr 1930 John W. Campbell's "The Metal Horde" in "Amazing Stories" Spring 1930 John W. Campbell's serial, "Islands of Space", begins in "Amazing Stories" May 1930 Edmond Hamilton's serial "The Universe Wreckers" begins in "Amazing Stories" Jun 1930 John W. Campbell's "Piracy Preferred" in "Amazing Stories", launching the popular Arcot, Wade, and Morey stories Jun 1930 Ray Palmer's "The Time Ray of Jandra" in "Wonder" July 1930 P. Schuyler Miller's "The Red Plague" in "Wonder" Aug 1930 E. E. Smith's sequel novel "Skylark Three" begins in "Amazing Stories" Nov 1930 Hugo Gernsback shrinks "Wonder" to smaller 7" x 10" size Nov 1930 John W. Campbell's "Solarite" in "Amazing Stories", continuing the popular Arcot, Wade, and Morey stories Jan 1930 Harry Bates persuades pulp magnate William Clayton to launch "Astounding" magazine, the key to the next decade. Clayon installs Bates as editor, Douglas M. Ddd as consulting editor, Desmond W. Hall as Bates' assistant, "Wesso" (Hans Waldemar Wessolowski) as cover artist, and the rest is history. Fall 1930 John W. Campbell's "The Black Star Passes" in "Amazing Stories Quarterly" 1930 Charles Willard Diffin's short story "The Power and the Glory" 1930 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Man Who Saw the Future" 1930 David H. Keller's short story "The Ivy War" 1930 D. D. Sharp's short story "The Day of the Beast" 1930 Frank Belknap Long's "A Visitor from Egypt" in "Weird Tales", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page
Major Writers Born this Decade {to be done} 1920 Richard Adams 1920 Isaac Asimov 1920 Ray Bradbury (22 Aug 1920) 1920 Frank Herbert 1920 Joan North 1920 Jack Speer (9 Aug 1920) 1920 Roy Squires (11 Sep 1920) 1920 William Tenn 1920 Richard Wilson (23 Sep 1920) 1921 James Blish 1921 Kenneth Bulmer 1921 F. M. Busby 1921 Alfred Coppel 1921 Carol Emshwiller 1921 Stanislaw Lem 1921 Charles Eric Maine 1921 Brian Moore 1921 Gene Roddenberry (21 Aug 1921) 1921 Mordecai Roshwald 1922 Kelly Freas (27 Aug 1922) Artist 1922 Damon Knight (19 Sep 1922) 1922 Walter M. Miller, Jr. 1922 Harry Stubbs (writes as Hal Clement) 1922 Kurt Vonnegut 1923 Italo Calvino 1923 Avram Davidson 1923 Gordon R. Dickson 1923 Cyril M. Kornbluth 1924 Phil Bronson (31 Aug 1924) 1924 Peggy Crawford (22 Sep 1924) 1924 Gerry de la Ree (7 Sep 1924) 1925 Brian Aldiss (18 Aug 1925) 1925 Harry Harrison 1925 Arkady Strugatski 1926 Poul Anderson 1926 Richard Matheson 1926 Anne McCaffrey 1926 Thomas Scortia (29 Aug 1926) 1926 Robert Sheckley 1927 Herbert Franke 1927 Daniel Keyes (9 Aug 1927) 1927 Arthur Thompson (21 Aug 1927) 1928 Philip K. Dick 1928 Milton Lesser (7 Aug 1928) 1928 William Mayne 1928 Alan Nourse (11 Aug 1928) 1928 James White 1928 Kate Wilhelm 1929 Phillipe Curval 1929 Ursula K. Le Guin 1930 J. G. Ballard 1930 Marion Zimmer Bradley 1930 Walter Breen (5 Sep 1930) 1930 D. G. Compton (19 Aug 1930) 1930 Jack Gaughan (24 Sep 1930) Artist 1930 Cherry Wilder (3 Sep 1930) Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page
Major Writers Died this Decade {to be done} 1924 Edith Nesbit 1925 H. Rider Haggard Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page
Hotlinks to other Timeline pages of SF Chronology |Introduction: Overview and Summary |Prehistory: Ancient Precursors |16th Century: Ariosto and Cyrano on the Moon |17th Century: Literary Dawn |18th Century: Literary Expansion |19th Century: Victorian Explosion |1890-1910: Into Our Century |1910-1920: The Silver Age |1920-1930: The Golden Age {you are HERE} |1930-1940: The Aluminum Age |1940-1950: The Plutonium Age |1950-1960: The Threshold of Space |1960-1970: The New Wave |1970-1980: The Seventies |1980-1990: The Eighties |1990-2000: End of Millennium |2000-2010: Future Prizewinners Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page

Where to Go for More

51 Useful Reference Books Beyond the World Wide Web... there is the library of old-fashioned books printed on paper. I strongly recommend that you start or follow-up your explorations of this web site by consulting any or all of these outstanding sources: ALDISS: "Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction", Brian W. Aldiss (New York: Doubleday, 1973; Schocken Paperback, 1974) ALLEN: "Science Fiction Reader's Guide", L. David Allen (Centennial Press, 1974) AMIS: "New Maps of Hell", Kingsley Amis (London: Gollancz, 1960; New York: Harcourt Brace, 1960) ASH1: "Who's Who in Science Fiction", by Brian Ash (Taplinger, 1976) ASH2: "The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", edited by Brian Ash (Harmony Books, 1977) ASHLEY: "The History of the Science Fiction Magazine" [3 volumes] (London: New English Library, 1974) ASIMOV "Asimov on Science Fiction" (New York: Avon, 1981) ATHELING: "The Issue at Hand", "William Atheling, Jr." [James Blish] (Chicago: Advent, 1964) BARRON: "Anatomy of Wonder", edited by Neil Barron (Bowker, 1976) BAXTER: "Science Fiction in the Cinema", John Baxter (London: A. Zwemmer, 1970; New York: A. S. Barnes, 1970) BERGONZI: "The Early H.G. Wells", Bernard Bergonzi (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1961) BLEILER: "The Checklist of Fantastic Literature" Everett F. Bleiler (Chicago: Shasta, 1948) BRETNOR1: "Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and Future", edited by Reginald Bretnor (New York: Coward-McCann, 1953) BRETNOR2: "The Craft of Science Fiction", Reginald Bretnor (New York: Harper & Row, 1977) BRINEY: "SF Bibliographies", Robert E. Briney & Edward Wood (Chicago: Advent, 1972) CLARESON1: "SF: The Other Side of Realism", edited by Thomas D. Clareson (Gregg Press, 1978) CLARESON2: "Extrapolation, 1959-1969", edited by Thomas D. Clareson (Bowling Green, Ohio: University Popular Press, 1971) CLARKE: "The Tale of the Future", I. F. Clarke (London: The Library Association, 1961, 1972) CONTENTO: "Index to the Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections", William Contento G.K. Hall, 1978) DAY: "Index to the Science Fiction Magazine: 1926-50", Donald B. Day (Portland, Oregon: Perri Press, 1952) DeCAMP: "Science Fiction Handbook", L. Sprague DeCamp (New York: Hermitage House, 1953) ELLIK: "The Universes of E. E. Smith", Ron Ellik & Bill Evans (Chicago: Advent, 1966) EVANS: "The Index of Science Fiction Magazines", Bill Evans with Jack Speer (Denver: Robert Peterson, 1946?) FRANKLIN: "Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the Nineteenth Century", H. Bruce Franklin (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966) FREWIN: "One Hundred Years of Science Fiction Illustration", Anthony Frewin (London: Jupiter Books, 1974) GOODSTONE: "The Pulps", Tony Goodstone (New York: Chelsea House, 1970) GUNN: "Alternate Worlds", James Gunn (Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975) HARRISON: "John W. Campbell: Collected Editorials from Analog", Harry Harrison (Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1966) HOLMBERG: "Science Fiction History", John-Henri Holmberg (Vanersborg, Sweden: Askild & Karnekull, 1974) KNIGHT: "In Search of Wonder", Damon Knight (Chicago: Advent, 1956; enlarged 1967) KYLE: "A Pictorial History of Science Fiction", David Kyle (London: Hamlyn House, 1976) LOCKE: "Worlds Apart", edited by George Locke (London: Cornmarket Reprints, 1972) LUNDWALL: "Science Fiction: What It's All About", Sam J. Lundwall (New York: Ace Books, 1971) METCALF: "The Index of Science Fiction Magazines, 1951-1965", Norm Metcalf (J. Ben Stark, 1968) MILLIES: "Science Fiction Primer for Teachers", Suzanne Millies (Dayton OH: Pflaum, 1975) MOSKOWITZ#1: "The Immortal Storm", Sam Moskowitz (AFSO Press, 1954; Hyperion Press, 19??) MOSKOWITZ#2: "Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction", Sam Moskowitz (Cleveland & New York: World, 1963) MOSKOWITZ#3: "Seekers of Tomorrow", Sam Moskowitz (Cleveland & New York: World, 1963) NESFA: "Index to the Science Fiction Magazines", New England Science Fiction Association (Cambridge MA: NESFA, 1971) PERRY: "The Penguin Book of Comics", George Perry & Alan Aldridge (London: Penguin, 1971) ROGERS: "A Requiem for Astounding", Alva Rogers (Chicago: Advent, 1964) ROTTSTEINER: "The Science Fiction Book", Franz Rottsteiner (London: Thames & Hudson, 1975) SADOUL: "Hier, L'An 2000 [Illustrations from the Golden Age of Science Fiction]", Jaxques Sadoul (Paris: Editions Denoel, 1973) STRAUSS: "The MIT Science Fiction Society's Index to the SF Magazines: 1951-64" Erwin S. Strauss (Cambridge MA: MIT Science Fiction Society, 1966) TUCK: "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2nd Edition", Donald H. Tuck (Hobart, Tasmania: Donald H. Tuck, 1959) VERSINS: "Encyclopedie des l'utopie, des voyages extraordinaires et de la science fiction", (Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme, 1972) WAGGONER: "The Hills of Faraway", Diana Waggoner (Athenaeum, 1978) WARNER: "All Our Yesterdays", Harry Warner, Jr. (Chicago: Advent, 1969) WELLS: "Fictional Accounts of Trips to the Moon", Lester G. Wells (Syracuse NY: Syracuse University Library, 1962) WILLIAMSON: "H.G. Wells: Critic of Progress", Jack Williamson (Baltimore: Mirage Press, 1973) WOLLHEIM: "The Universe Makers", Donald A. Wollheim (New York: Harper & Row, 1971) Return to Top of Timeline 1920s Page
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