HOME - FRANK R. PAUL GALLERY ROOM 1 ROOM 2 ROOM 3
FRANK R. PAUL's ARTWORK
CHECKLIST PART I: FRONT COVER ART
The inspiration and tiny seed kernel for this bibliography was a brief list from isfdb.com (which was not illustrated). That list has been expanded (probably ten-fold) by my own research and never-ending quest for Paul images; with more than a little help from various FOPs (Friends of Paul) for corrections, additions and jpg's. Thank you all. The lists of front covers are now fairly complete and stand at 220+, not counting the reprints in the 1960's. A few gaps in the data probably remain about covers for the Science and Mechanics and other early Gernsback publications; some Forecast covers also remain elusive and undefined. A invaluable resource for information about front covers was Michael Ashley's three-volume The History of the Science Fiction Magazine, 1974-5, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago.
The list of Frank R. Paul's back covers is probably complete now (stands at 60+). I also now have over 605 interior pieces of Paul's artwork listed in Part IV of this list; but note that this number reflects the number of stories illustrated, not the number of illos, as many stories had more than one. A major source for information on interior art was Everett Bleiler's book on Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years (which was also a good source on cover art). (Bleiler catalogued every story that appeared in the major pulp magazines from from 1926 to 1936, with editorial remarks like "a very bad story" or "a little amateurish" or "very clumsily handled" or "a succession of plot cliches, without even the grace of an explanation.")
This means that I know of approximately 900 covers, back covers and interior art pieces done by Mr. Paul. Wow.
The ultimate goal is to generate a complete checklist of every piece of cover and interior artwork ever done by Paul; as far as I know, nothing on this scale has ever been attempted before. The highlighted text indicates links for larger images. If anyone has additions, corrections, or more images of Paul's other works, please let me know.
The list is divided into these parts:
PART I: List of Cover Art: Amazing Stories;
PART II: List of Cover Art (cont.): Air/Science Wonder Stories;
PART III: List of Cover Art (cont.): other magazines (Dynamic, Fantastic Novels, Fantastic Stories, Future Fiction, Gernsback Awards, Planet Stories, Science and Mechanics, Science Fiction, Science-Fiction +, etc.);
PART IV: List of Back Cover Art;
PART V: Interior Art and Essays/Articles.
Corrections? Additions? Please email me at Qarlo999@hotmail.com.
Also, all the references listed herein are magazines unless otherwise noted.
artwork (c) Frank R. Paul estate
AMAZING STORIES
Amazing Stories
April 1926 
May 1926 
June 1926 
August 1926 
October 1926 
December 1926 
This illo was
the first done for a story contest. The winner was Canadian writer Cyril G.
Wates' "The Visitation," published in Amazing in June
1927.
January 1927 
March 1927 
April 1927 
May 1927 
July 1927
September 1927 
November 1927 
January 1928 
February 1928 
March 1928 
May 1928 
September
1928 
The
prize-winning design for a Gernsback contest for a symbol for "scientification,"
won by A. A. Kaufman of Brooklyn and redrawn by Paul.
November 1928 
December 1928 
March 1929 
April 1961 
February 1966 
April 1966 
October 1966 
August 1967 
September 1968 
Amazing Stories Annual & Quarterly
Amazing
Stories Annual 1927
Amazing Stories Quarterly
Winter 1928 
Spring
1928 
Summer 1928
Fall
1928 
Winter
1929 
Spring
1929 
artwork (c) Frank R. Paul estate
This list is now believed to be complete, though it is possible there may be a couple reproductions from the sixties not yet accounted for.
According to The History of the Science Fiction Magazine, 1974, Vol. 1, ed. Michael Ashley, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago, p. 238, Paul painted 37 total for Amazing Stories, not counting the 1960's issues. However, I count 38 (perhaps Ashley did not include Sept. '28, wherein Paul redrew someone else's design). Ashley also counts 8 total for for the Annual and Quarterlies, whereas I count 7. The discrepancy may be due to the Summer 1929 issue, which is unsigned, but sometimes incorrectly attributed to Paul. This issue does not look like Paul's style, and Bleiler suggests that it might have been Hugh Mackay (p. 564).
For an interesting history of the magazine itself, from inception up to Dec., 1936, see pp. 544-550 in Bleiler's book. It is an interesting story, full of idealism, hucksterism, debt-ducking, and possible criminal acts; the story covers the time when Gernsback lost control of Amazing. (Did you know that Hugo Gernsback's paycheck was twice that of the then-Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Yet he refused to pay his creditors.)
FRANK R. PAUL BIBLIOGRAPHY
PART I: List of Cover Art: Amazing Stories;
PART II: List of Cover Art (cont.): Air/Science Wonder Stories;
PART III: List of Cover Art (cont.): other magazines (Dynamic, Fantastic Novels, Fantastic Stories, Future Fiction, Gernsback Awards, Planet Stories, Science and Mechanics, Science Fiction, Science-Fiction +, etc.);
PART IV: List of Back Cover Art;
PART V: Interior Art and Essays/Articles.
artwork (c) Frank R. Paul estate
Corrections? Additions? Please email me at Qarlo999@hotmail.com.
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