In late 2019, we get Series V of the “Argosy Library,” from Steeger Books (previously Altus Press), with 10 more books of great — and sometimes overlooked — fiction that appeared in the early pulps. We get some stand-alone works, as well as volumes of various sub-series.
As always, most are taken from the pulps started by Frank A. Munsey, who converted his fiction magazines to pulp paper and reduced their price, making them more profitable. He published the well-known Argosy magazine, which got its start in the late 1800s, and several other popular magazines such as The All-Story and Flynn’s Detective Fiction Weekly.
Series V consists of:
- Eric of the Strong Heart by Victor Rousseau
- Murder on the High Seas and The Diamond Bullet: The Complete Cases of Gillian Hazeltine by George F. Worts
- The Woman of the Pyramid and Other Tales: The Perley Poore Sheehan Omnibus, Volume 1 by Perley Poore Sheehan
- A Columbus of Space and The Moon Metal: The Garrett P. Serviss Omnibus, Volume 1 by Garrett P. Serviss
- The Black Tide: The Complete Adventures of Bellow Bill Williams, Volume 1 by Ralph R. Perry
- The Nine Red Gods Decide: The Complete Adventures of Cordie, Soldier of Fortune, Volume 2 by W. Wirt
- A Grave Must Be Deep! by Theodore Roscoe
- The Complete Adventures of Koyala, Volume 1 by John Charles Beecham
- The American by Max Brand
- The Cult Murders by Leonard Cline
So what are these works?
Victor Rousseau (1879-1960) was a prolific pulpster who wrote fantastical works early on, some of which have been reprinted recently, including in the Argosy Library, and he also wrote the first Jim Anthony novels (also available from Steeger Books). Eric of the Strong Heart is a lost-race novel that appeared in Railroad Man’s Magazine — if you can believe it! In it, Eric Silverstein has nightmares of Ragnarok, learning it is real when he meets a strange woman at a freak show. I am always up for a good lost-race novel, so I may be getting this one.
I’m familiar with George F. Worts as the author of Peter the Brazen and Singapore Sammy, and we’ve gotten those series in the Library. But this time, we get the start of another series featuring Gillian Hazeltine. This character is considered a prototype for better-known Perry Mason as he is a criminal attorney/investigator. He has a long series of stories and this first volume, Murder on the High Seas and The Diamond Bullet: The Complete Cases of Gillian Hazeltine, contains two stories as indicated in the title.
I recently read and reviewed another early work from Perley Poore Sheehan (1875-1943), and bemoaned the fact that his early works, especially several fantastical works, haven’t been reprinted. So now we get The Woman of the Pyramid and Other Tales: The Perley Poore Sheehan Omnibus, Volume 1. This volume, the first of I have no idea how many volumes, reprints four of his stories from All-Story and Argosy, starting with one I want to read, “The Woman From the Pyramid,” about an Egyptologist who dreams of a woman, meets her, and is somehow thrown back to the Egypt of the past. Also included are three other works — “The Lone Seminole,” The One Gift,” and “Egrets” — but I don’t think they are fantastical. These seem set in Florida, so it would be interested to read to see how accurate they are.
Garrett P. Serviss (1851-1929) was a journalist and astronomer who dabbled in early sf with a handful of tales, most of which have been reprinted by others. A Columbus of Space and The Moon Metal: The Garrett P. Serviss Omnibus, Volume 1 is the first of two volumes. These two stories appeared in The All-Story magazine. “A Columbus of Space” is about a visit to Venus that shows a planet with two races, one on the light side and another on the dark side, who don’t know the other exists. “The Moon Metal” is about a mysterious figure who offers a new valuable metal, artemsium, which the gold market collapses due to overabundance.
As there are only a few other stories he’s done, will the second volume include The Air Pirate, The Second Deluge, Edison’s Conquest of Mars, and The Moon Maiden? I’ve yet to get into reading Serviss, so may get this one.
The Black Tide: The Complete Adventures of Bellow Bill Williams, Volume 1 is the first of I don’t know how many volumes that will reprint Bellow Bill Williams, a popular character from the 1930s Argosy. Bellow Bill is another of those outlandish sailors who get into various adventures in the South Seas. He may be yet another character who inspired Doc Savage. This volume has his first six stories from 1929-31.
I’ve read and reviewed the first volume of the stories of Jimmie Cordie by W. Wirt, and now we get The Nine Red Gods Decide: The Complete Adventures of Cordie, Soldier of Fortune, Volume 2. With this volume, the stories are from The Argosy, and we get the next five adventures. So I am planning on getting and reviewing this one.
Theodore Roscoe (1906-92) wrote several adventure series and works, and Steeger Books has been reprinting his Thibaut Corday series. A Grave Must Be Deep! is a standalone work, a murder mystery set in Haiti that mixes in voodoo. So it may be interesting to check out.
Max Brand, really Frederick Faust (1891-1942), is best known as a Western author, but here we get a different work in The American, which is a historical epic about an American mixed up with the French Revolution. I find it interesting that all the Max Brand works I see reprinted of late are not Westerns.
Another adventure series I am not familiar with is the Peter Gross series by John Charles Beecham from All-Story Magazine. The Complete Adventures of Koyala, Volume 1 is actually a sub-series within that one, which has the mysterious Koyala, who is the “Argus Pheasant of Borneo.” This South Seas adventure series mixes in “yellow peril” as well. This one reprints the first two novels from this sub-series.
Another pulpster I’m not familiar with, Leonard Cline (1893-1929), apparently wrote The Cult Murders under his Alan Forsyth alias, one of two murder mysteries from Detective Fiction Weekly written while serving a sentence for manslaughter. Sadly, he died of a heart attack, which cut short his career. Among other works is one praised by H.P. Lovecraft, so I need to look more into this author.
It’s another good series of books. Some I am going to get, a few I might at some point, others probably not. We just got the next two set of Argosy Library works, so I’ll make comments with the third set. As always, as I read some of these, expect more detailed reviews.
