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Galaxy Science Fiction

    (World Editions, 1950-1980, 1994-1995)

Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980.[1] It was founded by World Editions, a French-Italian company looking to break into the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L. Gold, who rapidly made Galaxy the leading science fiction magazine of its time, focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology.

Gold published many notable stories during his tenure, including Ray Bradbury’s “The Fireman”, later expanded as Fahrenheit 451; Robert A. Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters; and Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man. In 1952, the magazine was acquired by Robert Guinn, its printer. By the late 1950s, Frederik Pohl was helping Gold with most aspects of the magazine’s production. When Gold’s health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time.

Under Pohl, Galaxy had continued success, regularly publishing fiction by writers such as Cordwainer Smith, Jack Vance, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Silverberg. Pohl never won the annual Hugo Award for his stewardship of Galaxy, winning three Hugos instead for its sister magazine, If. In 1969, Guinn sold Galaxy to Universal Publishing and Distribution Corporation (UPD) and Pohl resigned with Ejler Jakobsson replacing him. Under Jakobsson, the magazine declined in quality. It recovered under James Baen, who took over in mid-1974. However, when he left at the end of 1977, the deterioration resumed and there were financial problems, resulting in writers not being paid on time and the schedule becoming erratic. By the end of the 1970s, the gaps between issues were lengthening and the title was finally sold to Galileo publisher Vincent McCaffrey, who brought out only a single issue in 1980. A brief revival as a semi-professional magazine followed in 1994, edited by H. L. Gold’s son, E. J. Gold. This lasted for eight bimonthly issues.

At its peak, Galaxy greatly influenced the science fiction genre. It was regarded as one of the leading science fiction magazines almost from the start, and its influence did not wane until Pohl’s departure in 1969. Gold brought a “sophisticated intellectual subtlety” to magazine science fiction according to Pohl, who added that “after Galaxy it was impossible to go on being naive.”[2] SF historian David Kyle commented that “of all the editors in and out of the post-war scene, the most influential beyond any doubt was H. L. Gold.”[3] Kyle suggested that the new direction Gold set “inevitably” led to the experimental New Wave, the defining science fiction literary movement of the 1960s.
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  • 1
    #1
    Oct 1950
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    Volume #1, issue number #1; Digest
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    #2
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    #5
    Feb 1951
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    W: Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Clifford Simak, Betsy Curtis, Lester Del Rey  ·  A: Karl Rogers
    Volume #1, issue number #5; Digest; Ray Bradbury“The Fireman", 1st Fahrenheit 451
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    #13
    Oct 1951
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    W: Isaac Asimov, William L. Bade, Ralph Robin, Edward W. Ludwig, Donald Colin, Robert A. Heinlein, Horace L. Gold, Groff Conklin  ·  A: Dave Stone
    Volume #3, issue number #1; Digest
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    Nov 1951
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    Oct 1952
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    Oct 1955
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    #63
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    #64
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    Apr 1956
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    #67
    May 1956
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    #68
    Jun 1956
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    #69
    Jul 1956
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    #70
    Aug 1956
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    #71
    Sep 1956
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    #72
    Oct 1956
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    #73
    Nov 1956
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    #74
    Dec 1956
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    #75
    Jan 1957
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    #76
    Feb 1957
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    #77
    Mar 1957
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    #78
    Apr 1957
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    #79
    May 1957
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    #80
    Jun 1957
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    #81
    Jul 1957
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    #82
    Aug 1957
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  • 83
    #83
    Sep 1957
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    W: Theodore Sturgeon, William Morrison, Clifford D. Simak, John Boland, William Tenn, Willy Ley, H. L. Gold, Floyd C. Gale  ·  A: Wallace Wood, Bowman, Martin, Dillon
    Volume #14, issue number #5; Digest
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    #84
    Oct 1957
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    #85
    Nov 1957
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    Volume #15, issue number #1; Digest
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    #86
    Dec 1957
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    #87
    Jan 1958
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    #88
    Feb 1958
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    #89
    Mar 1958
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    #90
    Apr 1958
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  • 91
    #91
    May 1958
    Cover: $0.35
    W: Christopher Grimm, Lioyd Biggle Jr., Robert Silverberg, Avram Davidson, Richard R. Smith, Richard Wilson, Willy Ley, H. L. Gold, Floyd C. Gale  ·  A: Dillon, Friedman, Dick Francis, Johnson, Wallace Wood
    Volume #16, issue number #1; Digest
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  • 92
    #92
    Jun 1958
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    #93
    Jul 1958
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    #94
    Aug 1958
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    #95
    Sep 1958
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    #96
    Oct 1958
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    #97
    Nov 1958
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    #98
    Dec 1958
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    W: Finn O'Donnevan, Jack Vance, Frederik Pohl, C.M. Kornbluth, Fritz Leiber, Robert Sheckley, Willy Ley, Horace L. Gold, Floyd C. Gale  ·  A: Goodman, Dick Francis, Wallace Wood, Martinez
    Volume #17, issue number #1; Digest
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    #99
    Feb 1959
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    #100
    Apr 1959
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