Bibliographic Details
Authentic was pocket book size (7.25 × 4.75 inches) for most of its life, changing to digest size (7.5 × 5.5 inches) for the last eight issues. The issue numbering was consecutive from 1 to 85, with no volume numbers. The first issue had a publication date of 1 January 1951, and the first eight issues had publication dates of the 1st and 15th of each month. From the ninth issue to the end Authentic maintained a completely regular monthly schedule; the publication date was given in the magazine as the 15th of each month from issue 9 through issue 73; thereafter the date was just given as the month and year.
The price began as 1/6 (one shilling and six pence); the price was raised to two shillings with issue 60, February 1955, and stayed at that price until the end of the run. Interior artwork was not used for the first issues, which contained no fiction other than a single novel; illustrations began to appear with issue 29. Tubb announced in issue 85, which turned out to be the last issue, that he had dropped all interior artwork.
The title of the magazine changed several times:
| Issues | Dates | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | 1 January 1951 – 15 January 1951 | Authentic Science Fiction Series |
| 3–8 | 1 February 1951 – 15 April 1951 | Science Fiction Fortnightly |
| 9–12 | May 1951 – August 1951 | Science Fiction Monthly |
| 13–28 | September 1951 – December 1952 | Authentic Science Fiction |
| 29–67 | January 1953 – April 1956 | Authentic Science Fiction Monthly |
| 69–85 | May 1956 – October 1957 | Authentic Science Fiction on the masthead |
The first six issues were 132 pages, with the page count dropped to 116 for issues 7 through 25. Issue 26 saw the page count return to 132. The cover layout for all these issues remained essentially the same, despite title changes. With issue 29 a layout using a yellow inverted "L" to frame the cover picture was introduced, and the page count was increased to 148. Another cover redesign with issue 39 saw the yellow "L" removed, and the page count went up again to 164 with issue 41, then back to 148 with issue 47. The cover design varied further, with different title fonts; the page count went back to 132 with issue 57, then returned to 164 from issue 60 through issue 77, the last in pocket-book format. The eight issues in digest format all had 132 pages.
The editors were:
- L.G. Holmes (pseudonym for Gordon Landsborough), issues 1–27 (27 issues)
- H.J. Campbell, issues 28–65 (38 issues)
- E.C. Tubb, issues 66–85 (20 issues)
Read more about this topic: Authentic Science Fiction
Famous quotes containing the word details:
“If my sons are to become the kind of men our daughters would be pleased to live among, attention to domestic details is critical. The hostilities that arise over housework...are crushing the daughters of my generation....Change takes time, but men’s continued obliviousness to home responsibilities is causing women everywhere to expire of trivialities.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)