The Art of the Pulps: An Illustrated History
Product ID: 48340129
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Experts in the ten major Pulp genres, from action Pulps to spicy Pulps and more, chart for the first time the complete history of Pulp magazines—the stories and their writers, the graphics and their artists, and, of course, the publishers, their market, and readers. Each chapter in the book, which is illustrated with more than 400 examples of the best Pulp graphics (many from the editors’ collections—among the world’s largest) is organized in a clear and accessible way, starting with an introductory overview of the genre, followed by a selection of the best covers and interior graphics, organized chronologically through the chapter. All images are fully captioned (many are in essence "nutshell" histories in themselves). Two special features in each chapter focus on topics of particular interest (such as extended profiles of Daisy Bacon, Pulp author and editor of Love Story , the hugely successful romance Pulp, and of Harry Steeger, co-founder of Popular Publications in 1930 and originator of the "Shudder Pulp" genre). With an overall introduction on "The Birth of the Pulps" by Doug Ellis, and with two additional chapters focusing on the great Pulp writers and the great Pulp artists, The Art of the Pulps covers every aspect of this fascinating genre; it is the first definitive visual history of the Pulps. " The Art of the Pulps is a must for any pulp fans, anywhere." - LOCUS Magazine Winner of the 2018 LOCUS Award for Best Art Book Review: Opening a Door to a World of Culture That Deserves Attention -- And Rewards with Fun - We didn't have anything quite like this when I started getting interested in pulps 10 years ago. There were some other books that covered some of the same ground, but not with this combination of excellent illustrations and concise but helpful text. The various authors of the essays are dedicated pulp culture enthusiasts with long years of experience. Ed Hulse, one of the editors, wrote The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction, an excellent, detailed overview of the writing that can be found in pulps (much of which is well done, and a lot of fun). Hulse covers the western pulps in this volume, and "The Great Pulp Authors." He is the right guy to do these segments. Doug Ellis, who co-founded one of the best pulp conventions now running, The Windy City Pulp and Paper convention, has edited several pulp anthologies, and put together an excellent study of the "spicy" pulps, a 2003 award winner. David Saunders, whose father was the celebrated pulp cover artist Norman Saunders, has done more than anyone I know to preserve the art and biographies of numerous of the artists whose work is seen in these pages. Each of the other authors are notable contributors themselves. Why do some of us become so taken with the pulp world? I think these pages help make that clear. During their years of popularity (mainly the first half of the 20th Century), pulps were central to American popular culture. As one dives into this world, one can find both much of what we grew up with in terms of cultural icons (both admirable and perhaps less so at times...), as well as the seeds of what was to come. Television, comic books, and hip pocket paperbacks eventually brought about the demise of the pulps, but not before the pulps left their stamp on our world. In part because of the efforts of the people involved in this book, pulps can be collected and preserved by those of us who have the collecting bug (like me, I confess). A 60 - 70 year old pulp in great condition is a delight to behold. As this collection attests, the illustrators involved could paint figurative story-telling art with terrific skill, craft and imagination. It's becoming a bit of a lost art it seems, but here it is to enjoy. Further, several of the writers in this book are involved with the mini-industry of reprinting pulp fiction to enjoy today, without trying to read the darn pulps themselves (which tend to be rather fragile, for reasons explained along with the history of the pulps in this book). For me, reading and collecting pulps has brought some real pleasure into my life -- a world totally different from that in which I make a living, and, too, a wonderful microcosmic view of the beginnings of the culture we live in. If you can get through this book without getting hooked, I'll be a bit surprised. Review: The Published Media That Millions of Americans Chose to Read for Fun - The Published Media That Millions of Americans Chose to Read for Fun I was stunned that I had actually seen so many of the pulp magazines shown in this volume. I felt very old when I realized some of my illustrated articles had been published in “Argosy.” Then I realized the reason for my familiarity with this group of publications--I’d worked in a used book store in high school and was exposed to many older publications including many western and detective novels. The used book store had a trading policy. People could bring in their old publications and trade them 2 for 1 of the same type and value. This insured that there was always a fresh supply of the older issues. That’s the same way I learned about the fetish photographs of Bettie Page. And more Interestingly, when Bettie Page gave up her career as a fetish model because of censorship she became a sun worshipper and appeared completely nude in slick nudist magazines. Her fetish photography fans flocked to the nudist publications featuring her, but those magazines weren’t on display on local news stands or stores and they sold like crazy. In this slick collection of Pulp Art one of the writer/collectors makes the point that “If you come away with nothing else…the art should leave you feeling good. As you make your way through these pages, you’ll encounter various degrees of artist talent—some highly imaginative practitioners, some more prosaic in their approach, but all fun.” Most of the artists who worked on the pulp publications had no hope of lasting artistic fame, most figured that the individual pulp magazine would survive for a week or two. When the next issue hit the newsstands the current issue would be pitched out with the trash. They would have been surprised and pleased to see their work released in a more lasting format with slick and high-quality paper such as this coffee table edition. “During the First Half of the 20th Century, the primary form of inexpensive fiction for the American reading public was the pulp magazine.” One of the first pulps to specialize was for “railroad man” fans. But that pulp was soon followed by pulps with sports stories, love stories, adventure, war stories, “Cops, Crooks & Private Dicks,” Cowboy and Indian, Tarzan, Horror and Terror, Sex & Sadism In Weird Menace Pulps, Spicy Mystery Novels, Adventures in Other Worlds & Science Fiction, minor Super Heroes like the Shadow & Sheena and various combinations of all the other pulp types. “By 1960. The rough-paper magazine had taken its final breath.” And the reasons for this demise of the pulps is outlined in the final chapter of this very readable coffee table art book. Its an amazing education of what millions of Americans chose
| Best Sellers Rank | #398,151 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #22 in Antique & Collectible Magazines & Newspapers #395 in Illustration and Graphic Design #1,319 in Pop Culture Art |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 156 Reviews |
E**D
Opening a Door to a World of Culture That Deserves Attention -- And Rewards with Fun
We didn't have anything quite like this when I started getting interested in pulps 10 years ago. There were some other books that covered some of the same ground, but not with this combination of excellent illustrations and concise but helpful text. The various authors of the essays are dedicated pulp culture enthusiasts with long years of experience. Ed Hulse, one of the editors, wrote The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction, an excellent, detailed overview of the writing that can be found in pulps (much of which is well done, and a lot of fun). Hulse covers the western pulps in this volume, and "The Great Pulp Authors." He is the right guy to do these segments. Doug Ellis, who co-founded one of the best pulp conventions now running, The Windy City Pulp and Paper convention, has edited several pulp anthologies, and put together an excellent study of the "spicy" pulps, a 2003 award winner. David Saunders, whose father was the celebrated pulp cover artist Norman Saunders, has done more than anyone I know to preserve the art and biographies of numerous of the artists whose work is seen in these pages. Each of the other authors are notable contributors themselves. Why do some of us become so taken with the pulp world? I think these pages help make that clear. During their years of popularity (mainly the first half of the 20th Century), pulps were central to American popular culture. As one dives into this world, one can find both much of what we grew up with in terms of cultural icons (both admirable and perhaps less so at times...), as well as the seeds of what was to come. Television, comic books, and hip pocket paperbacks eventually brought about the demise of the pulps, but not before the pulps left their stamp on our world. In part because of the efforts of the people involved in this book, pulps can be collected and preserved by those of us who have the collecting bug (like me, I confess). A 60 - 70 year old pulp in great condition is a delight to behold. As this collection attests, the illustrators involved could paint figurative story-telling art with terrific skill, craft and imagination. It's becoming a bit of a lost art it seems, but here it is to enjoy. Further, several of the writers in this book are involved with the mini-industry of reprinting pulp fiction to enjoy today, without trying to read the darn pulps themselves (which tend to be rather fragile, for reasons explained along with the history of the pulps in this book). For me, reading and collecting pulps has brought some real pleasure into my life -- a world totally different from that in which I make a living, and, too, a wonderful microcosmic view of the beginnings of the culture we live in. If you can get through this book without getting hooked, I'll be a bit surprised.
J**D
The Published Media That Millions of Americans Chose to Read for Fun
The Published Media That Millions of Americans Chose to Read for Fun I was stunned that I had actually seen so many of the pulp magazines shown in this volume. I felt very old when I realized some of my illustrated articles had been published in “Argosy.” Then I realized the reason for my familiarity with this group of publications--I’d worked in a used book store in high school and was exposed to many older publications including many western and detective novels. The used book store had a trading policy. People could bring in their old publications and trade them 2 for 1 of the same type and value. This insured that there was always a fresh supply of the older issues. That’s the same way I learned about the fetish photographs of Bettie Page. And more Interestingly, when Bettie Page gave up her career as a fetish model because of censorship she became a sun worshipper and appeared completely nude in slick nudist magazines. Her fetish photography fans flocked to the nudist publications featuring her, but those magazines weren’t on display on local news stands or stores and they sold like crazy. In this slick collection of Pulp Art one of the writer/collectors makes the point that “If you come away with nothing else…the art should leave you feeling good. As you make your way through these pages, you’ll encounter various degrees of artist talent—some highly imaginative practitioners, some more prosaic in their approach, but all fun.” Most of the artists who worked on the pulp publications had no hope of lasting artistic fame, most figured that the individual pulp magazine would survive for a week or two. When the next issue hit the newsstands the current issue would be pitched out with the trash. They would have been surprised and pleased to see their work released in a more lasting format with slick and high-quality paper such as this coffee table edition. “During the First Half of the 20th Century, the primary form of inexpensive fiction for the American reading public was the pulp magazine.” One of the first pulps to specialize was for “railroad man” fans. But that pulp was soon followed by pulps with sports stories, love stories, adventure, war stories, “Cops, Crooks & Private Dicks,” Cowboy and Indian, Tarzan, Horror and Terror, Sex & Sadism In Weird Menace Pulps, Spicy Mystery Novels, Adventures in Other Worlds & Science Fiction, minor Super Heroes like the Shadow & Sheena and various combinations of all the other pulp types. “By 1960. The rough-paper magazine had taken its final breath.” And the reasons for this demise of the pulps is outlined in the final chapter of this very readable coffee table art book. Its an amazing education of what millions of Americans chose
S**S
Beautiful art - a retro blast from the past
This book takes readers back to an era without television or radio, when magazine covers featured original art designed to lure readers into picking up and buying them. From the early 1900s to the early 1950s, pulp magazines were the popular entertainment media of choice for millions of readers across the English speaking world.They were published in America and to a lesser extent, in Canada and the United Kingdom and read across the world, reaching as far as Australia and South Africa. Some were even translated into French and Spanish. The pulp magazines were the medium through which a variety of genres established themselves - science fiction, fantasy and hardboiled detective among them. They brought a range of authors and memorable characters from Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan), Johnston McCulley (Zorro), Lester Dent (Doc Savage), H. P. Lovecraft (Cthulu), Robert E. Howard (Conan, Solomon Kane, Kull) and Dashiell Hammett (The Continental Op, Sam Spade) to readers. And they sold this with covers that made you want to pick them up, and interior illustrations that drew the reader deeper into the stories, till you bought and took them home. This book surveys the pulp magazine field, taking us on a journey from the early days of the field in the 1900s when there a few general fiction magazines, to the end in the 1950s, when paperbacks and television replaced the pulps. All the major genres - adventure, detective/mystery, westerns, aviation, sports, love/romance, horror, science fiction, hero pulps (predecessors of the comics) and spicys - are covered. It's rounded off with a couple of essays on two great artists and authors. Each section's essay comes from an expert in the field, and all are published writers, so they know how to tell the tale. But you're not buying this book for the essays - excellent though they are - the art is the reason to buy this book.The book is printed on glossy paper, and the scans are from original issues in the personal collections of the authors. Each chapter is about 20% text and 80% art; with 12 chapters and about 240 pages it's almost 200 pages of gorgeous art for your money. If you like illustration art, you have to pick this up. Same review with pictures on my blog. Just search Pulp flakes blog on Google.
W**D
A beautiful book--with one glaring problem
I know that I am going to be spending a great time of time with this book. I love the lurid covers and the fascinating history of each gnre. This book is well edited and offers terrific examples of this colorful era of pop culture. The glaring problem is that the text pages are set in reverse type. They look beautiful, but are difficult to read. A headline in reverse type may be an attention getter, but entire pages set in revese are hard to read--as attested by countless surveys over he years.
A**R
Fantastic, informative, well-written, and filled with great illustrations and history.
Fantastic, informative, well-written, and filled with great illustrations and history. If you are a fan of pulp stories, books, and magazines and are looking for the definitive written and visual history of the genre, this hardback coffee table book is the one to get.
E**G
The new Must Have for early Pulp Art
An unbelievable coffee table book of more pulp covers than you could ever possibly need in more genres than I even knew about. Its dimensions are similar to a record album and it's an inch thick. Fantastic color reproduction on sturdy paper. Besides the eye-catching content, it acts as a history of early American art illustration, a gap which really needed filling. Chapters: Foreward: F. Paul Wilson (writer of The Keep, etc..) Introduction: Birth of the Pulps In Search of Adventure (action pulp, ERB, Adventure covers) Cops, Crooks & Private Dicks Riding the Range (Westerns, Max Brand, etc..) Above the Clouds & In the Trenches (Aviation & War, Zeps & Subs) Armchair Athletics (Sports, Sport Story, etc...) Love on the Newstands (Romance, Daisy Bacon, Western love, etc) The Horror! The Horror! (Horror, sex & sadism, The Big Three, etc..) Adventures in Other Worlds (sci-fi, fantasy, Hugo G, British Sci Fi, etc) When We Needed A Hero (Heroes, The Shadow, Doc Savage, Villain Pulps (Fu Manchu), etc) Adding More Than A Pinch of Spice (sexy stuff, Henry Marcus, NSFW stuff) Wizards with a Brush (incl. Norman Saunders & Walter Baumhofer) Wizards With A Pen (Lovecraft, Howard, etc) Honestly, it's a treasure trove.
I**K
Full of surprises!
What I loved about it: high-quality color reproduction, wall-to-wall eye candy but tastefully presented; the astounding variety in the pulps—genres and odd subgenres—is well represented; the editors clearly took pains to minimize overlap with previous books on pulp art; they don’t point it out that often, but there are a lot of ultra-rare covers depicted, items you would be hard pressed to discover any other way; there’s a nice selection of the overlooked British pulps and at least one Canadian; the text sections are nicely written and not fannishly detailed; great captions for every illo; and the book has an index for voyeurs in a hurry. Finally, there’s nothing stingy about this book. It has A LOT of art. What I didn’t love about it: nothing! Terrific book!
J**T
What a great choice I made
My first thoughts before I chose to order this book ...... Oh no !!! Not another history of pulp art ?? I already had dozens of books on the subject, what more could be added. Anyway, I'm a sucker for anything to do with pulp art, so I took a punt and ordered my copy. What a great choice I made. Couldn't be happier. Although most of the illustrations have already been reproduced countless times in any number of previous publications, the editors have done an absolutely marvellous job of compiling and absolutely lavish tome formatted in a manner unlike any other book I've seen on the subject. Each and every illustration has a highly detailed caption which gives detailed information and snippets even I didn't know. The accompanying essays are generally only one to two pages long, and are an easy informative read. All the juicy details are in the captions accompanying the photos. This is a serious and wonderful addition to anyones library.
H**D
Bel objet
Beau bouquin très solide à oublier sur le coin de la table basse. L'iconographie est à la hauteur, même si on n'en a jamais assez.
A**Y
GLOSSY ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE PULPS
Beautifully-produced, lavishly-illustrated survey of pulp magazines. The colour cover reproductions are fantastic (there are also a few b/w interior illustrations), and the text is by various experts in the field. Similar to Frank Robinson's Pulp Culture of a couple of decades ago, but better overall.
R**D
another winner from the Elephant Book Company
A wonderful entry in the genre from the London based, Elephant Book Company, a worthy entry in their already interesting roster of Pop Culture and Popular Science grouping!. A must read maybe the best of its kind that I've seen. Love Doug Ellis' Introduction: The birth (and then the death) of the pulps followed by the rise of the paperbacks. Exceedingly well researched; chock a block full of pristine color scans of many many pulp covers some I had not seen before. 12 chapters cover all the major pulp genres including action/adventure, cops/crime, sports, love, hero pulps and my personal favorite, science fiction and fantasy. Added bonus chapters on the spicy pulps and on the great pulp authors and artists round out the experience nicely. I'm enjoying every chapter
F**8
Conoscere almeno in parte gli illustratori
Sono un appassionato di illustrazioni e illustratori, e questo libro è un vero godimento per gli occhi perché le illustrazioni sono veramente stampate molto bene e sono di vari periodi temporali e di diversi temi. C'è Horror, poliziesco, western e altri vari temi..Cosa VUOI di PIU'.
G**K
Belamente ilustrado
Livro de grande formato, muito bem ilustrado, mas também muito bem escrito. É uma boa História geral dos pulps., e talvez a melhor até hoje.
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