Copyright 1998, 2012 by the Estate of Theodore White
Introduction
Copyright 1998 by James A. Mann
Dust Jacket Illustration
Bob Eggleton
Copyright 2012 Bob Eggleton
ALL RIGHTS RESERVERD. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY ELECTRONIC, MAGICAL, OR MECHANICAL MEANS INCLUDING INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER, EXCEPT BY A REVIEWER WHO MAY QUOTE BRIEF PASSAGES IN A REVIEW
SECOND EDITION
First Printing
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-68084
ISBN-13: 978-1-60373-03-6
ISBN-10: 1-886778-02-7
Copyright Acknowledgements
“The Ambassadors” first appeared in Startling Stories, June 1952
“The Anomoly of the Empty Man” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1952
“Balaam” first appeared in 9 Tales of Space and Time, edited by Raymond J. Healy, 1954
“Barrier” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942
“The Chronokinesis of Jonathan Hull” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1946
“The Compleat Werewolf” first appeared in Unknown Worlds, April 1942
“Conquest” first appeared in Star Science Fiction 2, edited by Frederik Pohl
“Elsewhen” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1943
“Expedition” first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1943
“The First” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1952
“Gandolphus” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1956
“The Ghost of Me” first appeared in Unknown Worlds, June 1942
“The Greatest Tertian” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942
“Khartoum” first appeared in Stefantasy, August 1955. First professional publication in Strange Bedfellows, edited by William F. Nolan
“A Kind of Madness” first appeared in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine, August 1972
“Man’s Reach” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1972
“Mary Celestial” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1955
“The Model of a Science Fiction Editor” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1953
“Mr. Lupescu” first appeared in Weird Tales, September 1945
“Nellthu” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1955
“Nine-Finger Jack” first appeared in Esquire, May 1951
“One-Way Trip” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, August 1943
“The Other Inauguration” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1953
“Pelagic Spark” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1943
“The Pink Caterpillar” first appeared in Adventure Magazine, 1945
“The Public Eye” first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1952
“The Quest for Saint Aquin” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1959
“Q.U.R.” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, March 1943
“Rappaccini’s Other Daughter” appears here for the first time.
“Review Copy” first appered in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fall 1949
“Robinc” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, September 1943
“Sanctuary” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1943
“The Scrawny One” first appeared in Weird Tales, May 1949
“Secret of the House” first appeared in Galaxy, March 1953
“A Shape in Time” first appeared in The Future Is Now, edited by William F. Nolan, 1970
“Snulbug” first appeared in Unknown Worlds, December 1941
“Sriberdegibit: first appeared in Unknown Worlds, June 1943
“Star Bride” first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1951
“The Star Dummy” first appeared in Fantastic, Fall 1952
“A Summers Cloud” first appeared in Twilight Zone, June 1981
“The Tenderizers” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1942
“They Bite” first appeared in Unknown Worlds, August 1943
“Transfer Point” first appeared in Galaxy, December 1950
“The Way I Heard It” first appeared in Twilight Zone, June 1981
“We Print the Truth” first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1943
Acknowledgements
This book was produced with the help of a number of people. George Flynn once again reviewed every story and meticulously compared what we had on hand with previously published versions. Mary Tabasko also provided extensive proofing help and advice on design, and Scot Taylor lent a hand in the proofing. Kevin Riley helped design the dust jacket, using the art provided by Jane Dennis. Mark Olson and Tony Lewis provided advice and support throughout. Teresa Nielsen Hayden provided advice on a couple of editorial points. Charles N. Brown helped us track down the agent of the estate. Laurie Mann helped scan a number of the stories and in general provided support throughout this effort. And Leslie Mann provided some clerical help. Thanks to you all.
James A. Mann
Editor
Pittsburgh, PA
September 1998
Acknowledgements to the Second Edition
Thanks to Bob Eggleton for the new dust jacket artwork. Thanks to Lisa Hertel for collating corrections from the initial edition, to Sharon Sbarsky and Rick Katze for their assistance. Special thanks to my wife, Ann A. Broomhead for fully proofing the entire revised text.
Tim Szczesuil
Littleton, MA
October 2012
Contents
Editor’s Introduction
The Quest for Saint Aquin
The Compleat Werewolf
Elsewhen
The Pink Caterpillar
The Chronokeisis of Jonathan Hull
Gandolphus
Sriberdegibit
The Ambassadors
Q.U.R.
Robinc
Nine-Finger Jack
Barrier
Pelagic Spark
The Other Inauguration
One-Way Trip
Man’s Reach
Mr. Lupescu
Balaam
The Anomaly of the Empty Man
The Ghost of Me
Snulbug
Sanctuary
Transfer Point
Conquest
The First
The Greatest Tertian
Expedition
The Public Eye
The Secret of the House
The Scrawny One
Star Bride
The Way I Heard It
The Star Dummy
Review Copy
A Kind of Madness
Nellthu
Rappaccini’s Other Daughter
Khartoum
A Shape in Time
A Summer’s Cloud
The Tenderizers
They Bite
The Model of a Science Fiction Editor
We Print the Truth
Mary Celestial
Recipe for Curry De Luxe
The Very Model of a Science Fiction Editor . . . and Writer . . . and Critic . . . And. . .
James A. Mann
Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White) is perhaps best known as one of the great editors of science fiction. He and J. Francis McComas started The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1949. F&SF, along with Horace Gold’s Galaxy, wrested the unchallenged leadership of the science fiction field away from John W. Campbell’s Astounding, which, since 1939, had been the leader of the field. After 1950, there were three great magazines in the field, not just one. F&SF helped move science fiction fantasy into new directions under Boucher’s leadership. He also edited several anthologies, the most notable of which, the two-volume A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, was a selection of just about everybody who joined the Science Fiction Book Club for decades.
But Boucher was more than a science fiction editor. He was a critic, whose book reviews appeared in such prestigious places as
