Unknown

July 1939

Hal Salive Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection, University of Otago Library Special Collections. Every effort has been made to trace copyright ownership and to obtain permission for reproduction. If you believe you are the copyright owner of an item on this site, and we have not requested your permission, please contact us at special.collections@otago.ac.nz

New York: Street and Smith Publications

The pulp magazine Unknown had the same publisher (Street and Smith) and editor (John W. Campbell Jr) as Astounding/Analog. In setting up Unknown in March 1939 Campbell hoped to present a better quality and more scientifically credible Fantasy magazine. Although being well-loved by its readers – Isaac Asimov was a big fan – it was not a commercial success and closed in October 1943 after only 39 issues. Harold Winfield Scott (1897-1977) provided the artwork for this cover. A graduate of the Pratt Institute, Scott painted covers for other pulp magazines such as Wild West Weekly and Best Sports and his style is described as ‘wildly expressive of his flamboyant personality’. L. Ron Hubbard’s cover story, Slaves of Sleep, is considered to be one of his best and was first published as a novel in 1948.