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Post by dem bones on Nov 19, 2016 11:30:56 GMT
C. C. Senf (1879-1948) "The late 1920's and early 1930's saw a succession of interior artists working for 'the unique magazine.' Probably the worst was Curtis C. Senf." - Robert Weinberg, The Weird Tales Story, FAX, 1977. Senf worked for Weird Tales from 1927 - 1933, providing 45 cover paintings and well over 100 interior illustrations. The cover paintings include several personal favourites (we'll come to them) and even Mr. Weinberg agreed he was "reasonably good" in this capacity. I'm not in the business of judging "good" from "bad", just know what I like - and I like Cenf's artwork. Something about his illustrations - and those of Olinick, Margaret Brundage, and Hugh Rankin - absolutely scream Weird Tales to me in a way that the justly lauded works of Virgil Finlay and Lee Brown Coye rarely do. Seabury Quinn - The Corpse Master ( Weird Tales, July 1929) G. G. Pendarves - The Footprint ( Weird Tales, May 1930) Ralph Milne Farley - Another Dracula? (Part 2) ( Weird Tales, Oct 1930) E. F. Benson - The Bed by the Window ( Weird Tales, Nov. 1929) Don Robert Catlin - Listening Death ( Weird Tales, May 1927) Seabury Quinn - The Veiled Prophetess ( Weird Tales, May 1927) John Murray Reynolds - The Celadon Vase ( Weird Tales, March 1929) Everil Worrell - Light-Echoes ( Weird Tales, May 1930) Robert S. Carr - Phantom Fingers ( Weird Tales, May 1927) Seabury Quinn - The Corpse Master ( Weird Tales, July 1929)
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Post by pulphack on Nov 19, 2016 12:13:43 GMT
These illos are wonderful, as are all the Weird Tales line drawings you've been posting. I've been loving them and finding them in some ways more evocative than some of the stories (not being a Weird Tales aficionado as such). Thanks for digging all these out. More please!
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Post by dem bones on Nov 20, 2016 12:13:21 GMT
These illos are wonderful, as are all the Weird Tales line drawings you've been posting. I've been loving them and finding them in some ways more evocative than some of the stories (not being a Weird Tales aficionado as such). Thanks for digging all these out. More please! "Evocative" is spot on. The 'twenties and early 'thirties issues are the ones most do it for me, both in terms of the stories and the artwork. I so hope Weird Tales stays dead after the latest in a long line of "revivals" seemingly went tits up. Personally, I'd have been happier if it had been laid to rest after it went under in 1954. Anyway, here's a selection of the all-action Cenf! Edmond Hamilton - The Sea Horror ( Weird Tales, March 1929) Seabury Quinn - The Bride Of Dewer ( Weird Tales, July 1930) Chester L. Saxby - The Death Touch ( Weird Tales, July 1929) Henry S. Whitehead - The People Of Pan ( Weird Tales, March 1929) Ralph Milne Farley - Another Dracula? ( Weird Tales, Sept 1930)
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Post by cromagnonman on Nov 20, 2016 18:54:20 GMT
Alistair Durie voices a similar opinion concerning Senf's perceived lack of quality in his book of Weird Tales covers:
"His humans are quite acceptable, but the monsters here are more funny than frightening".
Now, granted, Senf probably wasn't in Rankin's class but he still produced some pretty striking covers. I think my favourites are October 1927: "The Dark Lore" by Nictzin Dyalhis, July 1930: "The Bride of Dewer" by Seabury Quinn, and January 1932: "The Monster of the Prophecy" by Clark Ashton Smith.
Great gallery by the way Dem; keep 'em coming.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 21, 2016 12:18:20 GMT
Alistair Durie voices a similar opinion concerning Senf's perceived lack of quality in his book of Weird Tales covers: "His humans are quite acceptable, but the monsters here are more funny than frightening". Now, granted, Senf probably wasn't in Rankin's class but he still produced some pretty striking covers. I think my favourites are October 1927: "The Dark Lore" by Nictzin Dyalhis, July 1930: "The Bride of Dewer" by Seabury Quinn, and January 1932: "The Monster of the Prophecy" by Clark Ashton Smith. Great gallery by the way Dem; keep 'em coming. Will add some of Senf's cover paintings as we go along as am sure we fans of this stuff are agreed they are among his finest work. Also have a very lovely Hugh Rankin selection prepared for a later date. Meanwhile, a CCS jungle/ fancy dress selection. H. F. Scotten - The Invading Madness ( Weird Tales, Sept 1930) Guy Pain - The Choking Of Allison Grey ( Weird Tales, June 1927) Arlton Eadie - The Invisible Bond ( Weird Tales, Sept 1930) Henry S. Whitehead - The Left Eye ( Weird Tales, June 1927) Capwell Wyckoff - The Guillotine Club ( Weird Tales, July 1929) Gertrude Macauley Sutton - Gesture ( Weird Tales, Sept 1930)
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Post by dem bones on Nov 22, 2016 8:58:45 GMT
Eldridge Morton - Out Of The Grave ( Weird Tales, June 1927) Ray Cummings - Explorers Into Infinity ( Weird Tales, June 1927) Victor Rousseau - The Dream That Came True ( Weird Tales, June 1927) H. F. Arnold - City Of Iron Cubes ( Weird Tales, March 1929)
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Post by dem bones on Nov 24, 2016 12:14:17 GMT
Cenf covers color supplement. May be a part 2 later, when stash of interior illustrations exhausted. As ever, grateful thanks to Galactic Central, SFFAudio, Pulp Covers, Robert Weinberg and Peter Haining without whom this thread would be extremely short.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 25, 2016 12:20:23 GMT
Carl F. Keppler - Dr. Pichegru's Experiment ( Weird Tales, July 1929) Greye le Spina - A Suitor From The Shade ( Weird Tales, June 1927) Frank Belknap Long - The Hounds of Tindalos ( Weird Tales, March 1929) Seabury Quinn - The House Without A Mirror ( Weird Tales, Nov. 1929) Arlton Eadie - The Immortal Hand ( Weird Tales, March 1929)
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Post by helrunar on Nov 25, 2016 20:24:57 GMT
More wonderful drawings. I'm curious about Greye La Spina. I had never heard of her until the Spring of 2015 when I checked this enormous book on the Weird Tales circle out of the library and she had a short entry in that.
H.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 2, 2016 10:23:36 GMT
More wonderful drawings. I'm curious about Greye La Spina. I had never heard of her until the Spring of 2015 when I checked this enormous book on the Weird Tales circle out of the library and she had a short entry in that. H. Cauldon Brewer has a lovely Greye La Spina thread. When I first heard about Weird Tales (most likely via the anthologies of Peter Haining), at least part of the fascination was those exotic-sounding names. Seabury Quinn, Hugh B. Cave, Eli Colter, Culpeper Chunn, Everil Worrell, H. Warner Munn, Otis Adelbert Kline, Hamilton Craigie, Major (sometimes 'Captain') George Fielding Eliot, August Derleth ("is that a man or a woman?"), Manly Wade Wellman (who?), Oscar Schisgall, Julian Kilman, Nictzin Dyalhis (what?), Lyle Wilson Holden , Estil Critchie (Arthur J. Burks, but I wasn't to know that) and so on & so on. Perhaps the most wonderful of all, Greye La Spina. Who were these people? Could their stories possibly be as fantastic as their moniker? That I'm still getting a thrill from their work three decades on suggests they could. Seabury Quinn - Stealthy Death ( Weird Tales, Nov. 1930) S. Fowler Wright - The Rat ( Weird Tales, March 1929) Edmond Hamilton - The Cosmic Cloud ( Weird Tales, Nov. 1930) Adam Hull Shirk - From the Pit ( Weird Tales, May 1927) Seabury Quinn - Satan's Stepson ( Weird Tales, Sept. 1931) Murray Leinster - The Murderer ( Weird Tales, Jan. 1930)
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