Unique, as an absolute, is not a word that requires qualification, but for the benefit of emphasis I think it is fair to say that Clark Ashton Smith was probably the most unique contributor to Wonder Stories and quite possibly to any of the science fiction magazines of his day. Here was a poet with an evocative and pyrotechnic vocabulary capable of describing the most outre of ultra-terrene horrors but who found the type of science fiction published in the pulps to be generally unreadable, and found himself in a constant battle with the editors over his desire to explore the uncharted gulfs offered by science fiction, rather than their desire to plot a safer course related to extrapolative technology. "There are vast possibilities in the science fiction tale," he wrote to August Derleth, "but most of the work published under that classification is too trite and ill-written. From a literary standpoint, Amazing Stories and Wonder Stories, taking them tale by tale, compare very wretchedly indeed with W. T. [Weird Tales]. "1
One might question, therefore, why Smith bothered to experiment with the SF tale at all. Yet during the short three years from 1930 to 1933 Smith had sixteen SF stories published in Wonder Stories and its companions, making him the most prolific contributor to Hugo Gernsback's magazines at that time, and his stories, after fifty years, remain some of the best and certainly most inventive that Gernsback published. But the relationship between Smith and Gernsback was not a happy one, and it led to a premature termination of Smith's SF experiments and possibly denied the world of other wonders that Smith might have explored, including a return to the City of the Singing Flame.
In this article I want to explore the relationship between Smith and Gernsback, in particular how Gernsback's editor, David Lasser, worked with Smith on a number of stories, and how editorial interference plus a massive backlog in payment finally soured the situation. The information comes primarily from letters made available by Brown University and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Hugo Gernsback launched the first issue of Science Wonder Stories in May 1929 with the issue dated June. It was a large-size pulp modelled along the same lines as Gernsback's earlier Amazing Stories, the first science fiction magazine which he had launched in March 1926 (issue dated April) and which was aimed at popularising science through fiction. Smith did not think much of Amazing Stories, being "appalled by the increasing pedantry of its contents".2 He had much the same opinion of Science Wonder Stories which he first encountered with its January 1930 issue. "I may try them with something presently," he wrote to Lovecraft. "I can see that if I am to make a real living out of fiction, I am in for a certain amount of quasi-hackwork."3
Evidently Smith, having made up his mind to become a full-time writer, was exploring potential markets. Science Wonder Stories seemingly appealed to him marginally more than Amazing Stories, possibly on the strength of a single story, "The Vapor Intelligence" by Jack Barnette. This short tale, which almost begs comparison with Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space", tells of the arrival on Earth of a gaseous being that for the brief period of its survival haunts the Loon Marsh north of Ruberg somewhere in the southern States. The tale was sufficiently atmospheric to have made it a potential item for Weird Tales.
During January 1930 Smith started work on "Murder in the Fourth Dimension", a relatively mundane story. Gernsback had launched a new magazine with its January 1930 issue called Scientific Detective Monthly, subsequently retitled Amazing Detective Tales, and David Lasser, Gernsback's editor for his SF publications, purchased "Murder in the Fourth Dimension" for that magazine, where it appeared in the October 1930 issue. In the concurrent issue of the now retitled Wonder Stories appeared another Smith tale, "Marooned in Andromeda". Smith had started this story in January 1930 as well. He told Lovecraft: "I am beginning 'Marooned in Andromeda', which will be a wild tale about some mutineers on a space-flier who are put off without weapons or provisions on an alien world. The idea will form an excellent peg for a lot of fantasy, horror, grotesquery and satire."4 Lasser was apparently enthusiastic in his acceptance of "Marooned in Andromeda". Smith told Lovecraft of their response:"...They want me to do a series of tales about the same crew of characters (Capt. Volmar, etc.) and their adventures on different planets, saying that they would use a novelette of this type every other month. I have asked them to name a rate of payment, and shall not submit anything more without a definite understanding."5
Lasser must have quoted a rate of payment, but I have found no correspondence at that time. Clearly Smith responded with an outline for a sequel, for Lasser responded to a letter from Smith dated September 5th 1930. "We are enclosing check for $87.50 in payment for your story 'Marooned in Andromeda'. I hope that the enclosed check will help in your financial difficulties. The story that you have in mind sounds quite interesting and we would like to look it over. If we receive it within the next week we might be able to schedule it for the December issue. Will you kindly let us know at once when it will be completed."6
Since the story is around 12,000 words in length the payment represented a word-rate of only about 3/4C a word, certainly below the basic 1 e a word of most pulps, but presumably acceptable to Smith since he had enquired about rates.
Just what story Smith had outlined to Lasser is not clear. He had already completed "The Red World of Polaris", which to this day remains unpublished, so it is unlikely to be that one. It was more probably "The Ocean-World of Alioth" which he mentioned in a letter to Lovecraft at this time but which he never completed.
Instead, on November 19th 1930, Lasser wrote again to Smith posing the idea of the adventures of a twentieth- century man in the future. Lasser offered to work the details out with Smith and help him to "whip a good plot in shape." He went on to say, "I believe that you have the ability to portray local color so that you could show not only the difference in the physical surroundings and the mode of life of our descendants, but also in their different habits of thought."7
Unless Lasser had read the half-dozen stories Smith had recently had published in Weird Tales, his view of Smith's abilities was based solely on the two stories he had so far purchased for Gernsback. In his blurb for "Marooned in Andromeda" Lasser had written:"... the author deserves special commendation due to his daring and far reaching vision in depicting conditions as they might exist on a distant planet in another universe."8
Clearly Lasser had perceived the boldness and depth of Smith's imagination. He had also seen but rejected "The Red World of Polaris" on the basis that the first part was too descriptive with insufficient action. It is evident that Lasser believed Smith needed some coaxing as an author to control his imaginative skills and work them into a readable and captivating story. Smith, in the meantime, was playing around with a number of plots without success and, prior to receiving Lasser's latest letter, had started a new Volmar story, "Captives of the Serpent", commenting to Lovecraft that "I'll give them their 'action' this time!!!"9 Smith found the story difficult to progress though, and work was slow.
By one of those odd coincidences, Lovecraft had suggested a time-travelling notion to Smith, and with the arrival of Lasser's letter Smith worked out a synopsis [the idea supplied by Lovecraft was used by Smith in his projected novelette, "The Masters of Destruction", not in the story under discussion—Ed.]. Relating the news to Lovecraft, Smith added: "I cooked up a synopsis which was approved; and I am now going ahead with the junk as fast as my cold will permit."10
Lasser had offered some suggestions on Smith's outline. "I want to stress two things. The first is that the difference in the mentality, habit of thinking etc., of the people of the future and Hugh are very much different. Our writers of time traveling stories do not give their people of the future a reality because they do not emphasize the difference of those people to ourselves. I think also the story can be kept quite reasonable all through and that you have a fine chance to show lots of local color not only in the picturing of the future civilisation but also the strange character of the Venusians and the Martians."11
Lasser was quite rightly emphasising the need for human characterisation to be established against a background of local color. He had given much the same advice to Smith following receipt of the outline for "The Ocean-World of Alioth", when he suggested that the story be "A play of human motives, with alien world for a background." Smith hadn't seemed so keen on the proposal. "... If human motives are mainly what they want, why bother about going to other planets—where one might conceivably escape from the human equation? The idea of using the worlds of Alioth or Altair as a mere setting for the squabbles and heroics of the crew on a space ship ... is too rich for any use."12
Smith probably felt much the same about the need to bring human motivation and mentality into his time travel story, but he persevered. He finally finished it in early January, but in notifying Lovecraft of its completion he remarked: "Just now the time-story strikes me as an awful piece of junk."13
Junk or no, Lasser accepted the story and rapidly included it in the April 1931 Wonder Stories under the title "An Adventure in Futurity". In introducing the story he wrote:
The stories of Clark Ashton Smith ring with truth. He writes so well and so easily that the scenes that he tries to picture cannot help but be impressed on the minds of the readers.14
Already it would seem a division was forming. Smith was of the opinion that he was writing hack work, junk written to order, whilst Lasser was perceiving a talented and imaginative writer whom he was developing.
For relief from the rigors of science fiction, Smith turned to a horror story (The Return of the Sorcerer") and then to a fantasy, which he called a "trans-dimensional story", The City of the Singing Flame". The story was not an obvious contender for Wonder Stories, and Smith submitted it elsewhere, returning to the chore of finishing "A Captivity in Serpens", as the Captain Volmar story was now called. Completed in March, it was promptly accepted by Lasser:
We are accepting your story "A Captivity in Serpens" and will use it in an early issue of WONDER STORIES under the title of The Amazing Planet". We were quite pleased with the story and believe it strikes the proper note for effective interplanetary atmosphere. We will be happy to receive more stories of the adventures of your explorers, showing their contact with other strange forms of life and other civilizations.15
So keen was Lasser to get the story into print that he shifted it to the next issue of Wonder Stories Quarterly (Summer 1931), even then being readied for the printer.
Lasser now received The City of the Singing Flame". It is unfortunate that his letter of acceptance does not seem to have survived. But again he rushed it into print, though not so quickly that he could not find time to announce it as forthcoming in the June 1931 issue of Wonder Stories. "Clark Ashton Smith repeats his triumph of 'An Adventure into Futurity' in his new story The City of Singing Flame'. Mr Smith's words burn and grip you. He carries
you along to his strange world, where you feel as he did the overpowering lure of the flame. .. ,"16 In introducing the story in the July issue Lasser further added: "Occasionally a master of words, possessed of a tremendous imagination, does give us a glimpse into other worlds. Poe did this and it brought him enduring fame. Clark Ashton Smith likewise does it, to the delight and wonder of our readers."17 Lasser also called out for a sequel and it is reasonable to assume he had already suggested this to Smith in correspondence.
In the meantime, though, Lasser wrote to Smith on July 10th 1931 with a new proposal. Following a competition in Wonder Stories Quarterly for plots for interplanetary stories to be written up by leading authors, Lasser passed on to Smith the second prize outline, "The Martian" by E. M. Johnston of Collingwood, Ontario. Smith was required to knock the plot into a story of around 15,000 words and to submit it to Lasser by the end of July. Since Smith only received the letter on July 15th, it allowed him little more than a week in which to draft and type the story. "The plot," he wrote to Lovecraft, "was pretty good, so the job wasn't so disagreeable as it sounds."18 The story was published in the Fall 1931 Wonder Stories Quarterly as "The Planet Entity".
Lasser now clearly regarded Smith as one of his accomplished stable of authors and the stories continued to come. "Beyond the Singing Flame" made the November 1931 Wonder Stories, "The Eternal World" the March 1932 issue, "The Invisible City" June 1932, "Flight into Super-Time" August 1932, and "The Immortals of Mercury" became volume 16 of Science Fiction Series of booklets Gernsback was issuing.
But all was not well. Writing to August Derleth, Smith commented: "I haven't had any news from editors, barring a check from Gernsback, who still owes for three tales."19 Here was the first indication of an escalating problem. The States were, of course, in the grips of the Depression and Gernsback was rapidly becoming a victim. Lasser had explained the problem to Neil R. Jones in accepting his story "Space-Wrecked on Venus" and enclosing a check for $50. "The reason for the delay in payment is that bank was closed in the early part of December and our funds were naturally tied up. We are getting straightened out, however, and can promise you more prompt payment on future stories."20
Smith was fortunate to receive his payment which, from evidence we shall shortly see, was probably for "The City of the Singing Flame". This means that the three stories for which payment was still outstanding were "The Planet Entity", "Beyond the Singing Flame" and "The Eternal World". It is rather ironic that "The Planet Entity" should be one of these, since in his letter of commission Lasser had made the point that "We are perfectly willing to pay you our usual rate for the completed story."21 Moreover Gernsback, in announcing the competition, had also stated: "The author will receive his compensation for the writing of the story."22
As months passed nothing happened, but the requests for work continued. The editor of Wonder Stories has asked me to do a novelette, and I shall begin it in a day or two. I wish they'd pungle up some more cash, but I suppose I'll have to extend some more credit, which seems to be the almost universal procedure these days."23 Nevertheless Smith worked on the story, "The Dimension of Chance", based on an idea, one of random atoms, suggested by Lasser. The story was completed by late August, accepted within the week and published in the November 1932 Wonder Stories. Another short story, The Master of the Asteroid", was also rushed into print a month earlier in the October issue. There was little doubt that Lasser was keen to get Smith's stories published the instant he received them. This might suggest that Lasser was receiving few publishable stories and that authors were now avoiding Gernsback's magazines, but the evidence does not suggest this. Despite the lack of payment for stories, authors were continuing to submit manuscripts, just like Smith. Moreover Lasser's prompt response and useful advice were far more agreeable than the total lack of response from editor T. O'Conor Sloane at Amazing Stories, who frequently held on to manuscripts for months before responding and then many months more before publication. By now Astounding Stories was suffering even more profoundly from the Depression, and publisher William Clayton had been forced to discontinue it. Wonder thus had the pick of the market, and it is evident that Lasser favoured Smith amongst his writers as someone of special talent and distinction. His blurbs betray his feelings:
In this story Mr. Smith reaches a new peak of achievement for his painting of the mysteries and strange possibilities of scientific events. We do not remember reading anything that approaches the vivid imagination of this story, or its bizarre series of adventures met by an explorer into the unknown.
"The Eternal World" Wonder Stories March 1932
Clark Ashton Smith is a past master in the art of showing to us forcibly our human limitations.
"The Invisible City" Wonder Stories August 1932
Clark Ashton Smith refuses to be limited in his imagination by time and space.
"Flight into Super-Time" Wonder Stories August 1932
Clark Ashton Smith thus had a regular if currently non-paying market with a responsive and appreciative editor. Then trouble struck. Smith had submitted his story The Eidolon of the Blind* to Weird Tales in August 1932 but it was rejected as being "too horrific". He then submitted it to Astounding Stories but it was returned as the magazine's future was in doubt. So he submitted it to Wonder Stories. 'Wonder Stories has held The Dweller in the Gulf' (formerly The Eidolon of the Blind') for three weeks, which is likely to indicate acceptance, since they usually fire back anything they don't want almost by return mail," Smith wrote to Derleth.24 However, he was to be disillusioned. "I was wrong in thinking The Eidolon of the Blind' had been definitely accepted by Wonder—the editor wants me to give the yarn more 'scientific motivation'. The horror element seems to be unexceptionable. I am, however, trying it once more on Wright, in the hope that it may find him in a semi-rational mood."25 He didn't. Smith found it necessary to rework the story and resubmit it to Wonder. He also submitted The Secret of the Cairn" [published as "The Light from Beyond"—Ed.] which was accepted without any trouble. Deliberation over The Dweller in the Gulf", however, continued. Smith was not too concerned at not having heard from them. The Gernsback outfit sometimes neglect to report at all, but this invariably means acceptance with them."26
So it came as a shock when Smith acquired the March 1933 Wonder Stories. In horror he wrote to August Derleth:
My triply unfortunate tale "The Dweller in the Gulf" is printed in the current Wonder Stories under the title of "Dweller in Martian Depths" and has been utterly ruined by a crude attempt on the part of someone—presumably the office boy—to rewrite the ending. Apart from this, paragraph after paragraph has been hewn bodily from the story. I have written to tell the editor what I thought of such Hunnish barbarity, and have also told him that I do not care to have my work printed at all unless it can appear verbatim or have the desired alterations made by my own hand. It shows what fine literature means to the Gernsback crew of hog-butchers.27
The resentment spilled over into a subsequent letter:
I am utterly disgusted with that outfit. Gernsback's present policy strikes me as being suicidal. Science fiction requires abundant descriptive matter to put it over at all—and most of the tales I have sent in recently have been objected to as containing a surplus of descriptive matter, adjectives, etc. Oh, hell... And the bastards owe me about six hundred dollars anyway. They might at least have the decency to print my stuff straight.28
According to Smith in a later letter Lasser apologised "profusely" for the changes that had been made, but it was too late to make amends. Smith learned that the changes to the story had been made at Gernsback's own express order. "Gernsback must be loco ... I judge that the idiotic alterations have cooked the story pretty well with readers who might otherwise have admired it."29 Smith wrote to Lovecraft on the same day and in the same mood. From that
letter, though, we also learn that "Lasser said he would try to get some action on my arrears from the accounting dept. But I fear that the whole outfit has developed a well-organised system of 'passing the buck1."30
Evidently Lasser hoped to smooth Smith's ire by getting some money to him. Wonder Stories had now published nine stories by Smith without a single payment. Two more had been accepted.
The incident over "The Dweller in the Gulf" was clearly the last straw. Smith had seemed content to submit manuscripts to Lasser with the prospect of immediate payment provided the stories were published without editorial meddling. Lasser, on the other hand, had perhaps become over-confident with his handling of Smith, thinking of him as one of his stable of authors. He clearly did not think that Smith would object to the editorial tampering and had underestimated, or possibly had not even considered, the consequences.
The backlog of payments was not unique to Gernsback. William Clayton's problems at Strange Tales and Astounding had caused delays, and payment for Smith's "The Second Interment", which had also appeared in October 1932, was not made until March 1933; but at least it had been forthcoming, and after a comparatively moderate five months. Weird Tales also owed Smith over $200 and the prospect of immediate payment looked bleak. But though the payments would obviously have been considerably beneficial, they were clearly not critical. For at this same time, during the summer of 1933, Smith donated three stories to Charles Hornig's new amateur magazine, The Fantasy Fan, plus the promise of further articles. In fact not only did Smith donate stories, he even paid an advance subscription for the magazine!
But his treatment by Gernsback had been an insult. Not known for his anti-Semitism, Smith nevertheless became vituperative about Gernsback, along with the New York publisher Alfred Knopf [who had rejected a collection of Lovecraft's stories-Ed.]. "I wish Hitler had him, along with Gernsback," 3he remarked to Derleth.
In August 1933 David Lasser left Gernsback's employ, and the teenage Charles Hornig became the new editor at Wonder Stories. Although Hornig was using Smith's material in The Fantasy Fan he never considered asking Smith for any stories for Wonder, and Smith, although he clearly liked Hornig, gave no indication that he wished to submit anything further to Gernsback. Indeed, he was becoming even more indignant about the lack of payment. He broached the subject with Hornig who advised him to write direct to the accounts department. Nothing happened, but Hornig repeated the advice:
Did you get any result? Whether you did or not I advise you to write again. I know from experience that while we are paying much better now than before, the authors that are first served (those that have money owed from years ago) are those who write in requests frequently. Make it a bit vehement, though not threatening.32
But the accounts section was oblivious and Smith at last decided to take the action further. Several authors were now resorting to taking legal action. From Lovecraft he obtained the name of a female New York attorney, lone Weber, who was one of several lawyers who had been successful in obtaining debts form Gernsback. On May 24, 1934 she confirmed she would be glad to undertake the collection of the debt and outlined in her letter the extent of the backlog according to Gernsback's accounts department:
| The Planet Entity | $118 |
| Beyond the Singing Flame | $68 |
| The Eternal World | $60 |
| The Invisible City | $60 |
| The Immortals of Mercury | $80 |
| Flight into Super-Time | $95 |
| Master of the Asteroid | $40 |
| The Dimension of Chance | $65 |
| Dweller in Martian Depths | $50 |
| The Light from Beyond | $50 |
| Visitors from Mlok | $50 |
| Total | $741 |
Gernsbackhad offered to pay the outstanding balance in instalments at stated intervals. Miss Weber's fee, if collection was made without suit, was to be 15% increasing to 25% upon suit and 50% upon proceedings. Moreover her fee, payable upon each instalment, had to be paid in advance. If the full $741 was forthcoming without suit it would amount to $111, virtually the whole cost of "The Planet Entity", which had been a solid week's work. Smith agreed to the terms and Miss Weber began to apply pressure.
Remarkably a payment of $50 was made in July 1934 and a further $50 followed in September. Gernsback now agreed to pay by monthly instalments of $75, and the first $75 was duly received in October. The payments continued, not always on a monthly basis, but at least they appeared, lone Weber was herself somewhat surprised. Writing to Smith in March 1935 she commented: "As you can see, it is getting even more difficult to collect from Gernsback. However, you are the one that is being paid. I have not had a check for any other author for months and months."33
Just why Smith should be accorded this remarkable preferential treatment I am not sure. It is unlikely to have been Hornig's influence, since he had no influence with either of the Gernsbacks, or the accountants. Since Weber represented other authors who were not being paid it cannot have been specifically the pressure she was bringing to bear. It suggests that Gernsback must have felt he owed a debt to Smith, but it seems hard to believe Gernsback would have felt so guilty about the changes made to "The Dweller in the Gulf". Moreover, since Smith was no longer contributing to Wonder, Gernsback was not pandering to an existing author whom he might wish to have kept, such as David H. Keller, Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson or Laurence Manning. The only conclusion left is that Gernsback must have been hoping to tempt Smith back to Wonder Stories, and if this is the case then it suggests that not only Lasser but also Gernsback had a high opinion of Smith's work. Yet Smith was amongst the least scientific of Gernsback's authors, preferring to evoke vivid images more in the vogue of Abraham Merritt than of E. E. Smith. But perhaps that was the answer. Gernsback had lost many of his major writers of good scientific fiction to the newly relaunched Astounding Stories, and perhaps he saw the possibility of converting Wonder Stories into a more imaginative and less scientific magazine. During 1934 he had toyed with the idea of launching a weird fiction magazine but the concept never materialised. Perhaps the possibility remained in a change of direction at Wonder. If so, Smith would have been a leading light to attract to the magazine.
But Smith was not so easily won over. The payments continued and by May 1935 Smith was able to tell Derleth that only two instalments remained outstanding. I do not know whether these were paid, but there is little reason to doubt it. Shortly thereafter the cost of maintaining Wonder Stories became prohibitive and Gernsback sold the title to Ned Pines at Standard Magazines. Smith was not tempted into trying the new market, though he did eventually sell one further story, "The Great God Awto", which appeared in the February 1940 issue of the now retitled Thrilling Wonder Stories.
The Wonder episode was over. The moral is ironic. Smith entered the realms of science fiction because, in his desire to become a full-time writer, he realised he would have to produce a certain amount of hackwork, and he regarded SF as such. Nevertheless he also recognised the potential of science fiction for his hyper-imaginative mind. This did not fit into the concept of David Lasser who, whilst appreciating Smith's talents and vivid images, believed these should serve only to add color to plots involving human motivations and characterisations. Many of us might agree with Lasser had It been any writer other than Smith, but Smith was at heart a poet and words were the clay with which he modelled fantastic imagery and sinister sensations, not human desires and failings. Yet to Lasser and probably Gernsback he was one of the better writers of SF, but needed a degree of editorial remodelling to bring out the desired results. That was Wonder's failing, and ironically Smith's triumph. By sticking to his principles Smith found that he finally received all the money due to him from Gernsback and, in the meantime, channelled his remaining creative energies into his better imaginative fantasies for Weird Tales. As I said at the outset, Smith was certainly unique amongst SF writers of his day.
Notes: Quotations have come from the following sources. Letters provided by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin are identified by SHSW, and those by the Brown University Library, Providence, by BU. Letters from Smith to Lovecraft are quoted from Letters to H. P. Lovecraft edited by Steve Behrends (Necronomicon Press, 1987) and are identified as CAS and the letter number.
The Dark Eidolon: The Journal of Smith Studies #2
Printed from: eldritchdark.com/articles/criticism/23
Printed on: April 18, 2024