Donald A. Wollheim’s Authoritative Universe: Editors, Readers, and the Construction of the Science Fiction Paperback, 1926–1969

In the 1920s and 1930s, pulp science fiction editor Hugo Gernsback taught readers of his Amazing Stories and Wonder Stories magazines that “scientifiction,” as he called it, was not mere mechanical romance but a scientific enterprise in itself, with the power to shape and advance technology and the physical sciences. In his philosophy, the mundane act of reading constituted participation in scientific progress.For Gernsback’s readers, however, progress through science fiction took many forms, and participation could involve more than passive reception. During the late 1930s, Donald A. Wollheim, a reader and amateur contributor to Wonder Stories, promoted an alternative philosophy of “sociological” science fiction and created a casual network of aspiring writers, editors, and literary agents among science fiction fans in New York. Through the culture of constant collaboration fostered by his Futurian Society, Wollheim launched a long editorial career devoted to elevating a democratic ideal of sociological science fiction, transferring his focus from the technological objects of science fiction to its social, political, and philosophical significance. In Wollheim’s philosophy, the formulaic thrills of pulp paperback science fiction did not contradict the genre’s authority to contribute to serious discussions of humanity’s potential future and the social problems of the twentieth century.