Everett F. Bleiler
Encyclopedia
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction
, detective fiction
, and fantasy literature
. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature
has been called "the foundation of modern SF bibliography". Among his other scholarly works are two Hugo Award
–nominated volumes concerning early science fiction—Science-Fiction: The Early Years and Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years—and the massive Guide to Supernatural Fiction.
Bleiler worked at Dover Publications
from 1955, becoming executive vice-president of the company from 1967 until he left the company in 1977; he then worked for Charles Scribner's Sons
until 1987. He edited a number of ghost story
collections for Dover, containing what the genre historian Mike Ashley
has described as "detailed and exemplary introductions".
Bleiler received the Pilgrim Award
for lifetime achievement in science fiction scholarship in 1984, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
in 1988, the First Fandom Hall of Fame award
in 1994, and the International Horror Guild
Living Legend award in 2004.
Bleiler wrote two works of fiction: the fantasy novel Firegang: A Mythic Fantasy (2006), set in the tree of Yggdrasil
as well as
moving across time and space, and Magistrate Mai and the Invisible Murderer (2006), a detective story
set in ancient China,
similar to the work of Robert Van Gulik
.
Bleiler's son, Richard
, is also a science fiction historian and assisted his father on several of his
works.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
, and fantasy literature
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature
The Checklist of Fantastic Literature
The Checklist of Fantastic Literature is a bibliography of English language science fiction, fantasy and weird books compiled and edited by Everett F. Bleiler with a preface by Melvin Korshak and a cover by Hannes Bok....
has been called "the foundation of modern SF bibliography". Among his other scholarly works are two Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
–nominated volumes concerning early science fiction—Science-Fiction: The Early Years and Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years—and the massive Guide to Supernatural Fiction.
Bleiler worked at Dover Publications
Dover Publications
Dover Publications is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be...
from 1955, becoming executive vice-president of the company from 1967 until he left the company in 1977; he then worked for Charles Scribner's Sons
Charles Scribner's Sons
Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
until 1987. He edited a number of ghost story
Ghost story
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...
collections for Dover, containing what the genre historian Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley (writer)
Michael Ashley is a British bibliographer, author and editor of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.He edits the long-running Mammoth Book series of short story anthologies, each arranged around a particular theme in mystery, fantasy, or science fiction...
has described as "detailed and exemplary introductions".
Bleiler received the Pilgrim Award
Pilgrim Award
The Pilgrim Award is presented by the Science Fiction Research Association for Lifetime Achievement in the field of science fiction scholarship. It was created in 1970 and was named after J. O. Bailey’s pioneering book Pilgrims Through Space and Time. Fittingly, the first award was presented to...
for lifetime achievement in science fiction scholarship in 1984, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
This World Fantasy Award is presented to individuals for their outstanding service to the fantasy field, and decided by a panel of judges at the World Fantasy Convention.-1984:* L. Sprague de Camp* Richard Matheson* E. Hoffmann Price* Jack Vance* Donald Wandrei...
in 1988, the First Fandom Hall of Fame award
First Fandom Hall of Fame award
First Fandom Hall of Fame award is an annual award for contributions to the field of science fiction dating back more than 30 years. Contributions can be as a fan, writer, editor, artist, agent, or any combination of the five. It is awarded by First Fandom and is usually presented at the beginning...
in 1994, and the International Horror Guild
International Horror Guild Award
The International Horror Guild Award is a recognition presented by the International Horror Guild to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of horror and dark fantasy. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by a large,...
Living Legend award in 2004.
Bleiler wrote two works of fiction: the fantasy novel Firegang: A Mythic Fantasy (2006), set in the tree of Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
as well as
moving across time and space, and Magistrate Mai and the Invisible Murderer (2006), a detective story
Detective Story
Detective Story is a film noir which tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. It features Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, Lee Grant, among others. The movie was adapted by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan...
set in ancient China,
similar to the work of Robert Van Gulik
Robert van Gulik
Robert Hans van Gulik was a highly educated orientalist, diplomat, musician , and writer, best known for the Judge Dee mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An.-Life:Robert van Gulik was the son of a medical officer in the Dutch...
.
Bleiler's son, Richard
Richard Bleiler
Richard James Bleiler is a US bibliographer in science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. He is the son of Everett F. Bleiler and was a nominee for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2002...
, is also a science fiction historian and assisted his father on several of his
works.
The Best Science Fiction
- The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949 is a 1949 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. It was the first published anthology to present the best science fiction stories for a given year...
(with T. E. DiktyT. E. DiktyThaddeus Maxim Eugene Dikty was one of the earliest science fiction anthologists.He started the first "Best of the Year" anthologies, called The Best Science Fiction, which ran from 1949 until 1957. In 1953, he married writer Julian May, and in 1957 the two started an editorial service for...
) - The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1950The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1950The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1950 is a 1950 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1951 under the title The Best Science Fiction Stories...
(with T. E. Dikty) - The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1951The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1951The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1951 is a 1951 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1952 under the title The Best Science Fiction Stories: Second Series...
(with T. E. Dikty) - The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1952The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1952The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1952 is a 1952 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1953 under the title The Best Science Fiction Stories: Third Series...
(with T. E. Dikty) - The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1953The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1953The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1953 is a 1953 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1955 under the title The Best Science Fiction Stories: Fourth Series...
(with T. E. Dikty) - The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1954The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1954The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1954 is a 1954 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1956 under the title The Best Science Fiction Stories: Fifth Series...
(with T. E. Dikty) - Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1952Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1952Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1952 is a 1952 anthology of science fiction novels and novellas edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1954 under the title The Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels...
(with T. E. Dikty) - Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1953Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1953Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1953 is a 1953 anthology of science fiction novels and novellas edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by The Bodley Head in 1955 under the title Category Phoenix...
(with T. E. Dikty) - Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1954Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1954Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: 1954 is a 1954 anthology of science fiction novels and novellas edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty. An abridged edition was published in the UK by Grayson in 1955 under the title The Year’s Best Science Fiction Novels: Second Series...
(with T. E. Dikty)
Other anthologies
- Imagination UnlimitedImagination UnlimitedImagination Unlimited is a 1952 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty and published by Farrar, Straus & Young. An abridged edition was published in the UK by The Bodley Head in 1953 containing six of the stories from the US edition. The remaining...
(with T. E. Dikty, 1952) - Three Gothic Novels (1966)
- Five Victorian Ghost Novels (1971)
- Eight Dime Novels (1974)
- Three Supernatural Novels of the Victorian Period (1975)
- Three Victorian Detective Novels (1978)
- A Treasury of Victorian Detective Stories (1979)
- A Treasury of Victorian Ghost Stories (1981)
Single-author collections
- Three Prophetic Science Fiction Novels of H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
(1960) - Best Ghost Stories of J. S. Le FanuSheridan Le FanuJoseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
(1964) - Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose BierceAmbrose BierceAmbrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
(1964) - The Best Tales of Hoffmann, by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1967)
- The King in Yellow and Other Stories, by Robert W. ChambersRobert W. ChambersRobert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.-Biography:He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to William P. Chambers , a famous lawyer, and Caroline Chambers , a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
(1970) - Ghost Stories and Mysteries, by J. S. Le Fanu (1971)
- Best Max Carrados Detective Stories, by Ernest BramahErnest BramahErnest Bramah , born Ernest Brammah Smith, was an English author. He published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were ranked with Jerome K Jerome, and W.W. Jacobs, his detective stories with Conan Doyle, his politico-science fiction with H.G. Wells and his...
(1972) - Gods, Men and Ghosts, by Lord Dunsany (1972)
- The Best Dr. Thorndyke Detective Stories, by R. Austin Freeman (1973)
- Best Ghost Stories of Algernon BlackwoodAlgernon BlackwoodAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. He was also a journalist and a broadcasting narrator. S. T...
(1973) - Best "Thinking Machine" Detective Stories, by Jacques FutrelleJacques FutrelleJacques Heath Futrelle was an American journalist and mystery writer. He is best known for writing short detective stories featuring Professor Augustus S. F. X...
(1973) - Best Martin Hewitt Detective Stories, by Arthur MorrisonArthur MorrisonArthur George Morrison was an English author and journalist known for his realistic novels about London's East End and for his detective stories....
(1976) - Great Cases of the "Thinking Machine", by Jacques Futrelle (1976)
- The Collected Ghost Stories of Mrs J. H. RiddellCharlotte RiddellCharlotte Riddell aka Mrs J.H. Riddell was a one of the most popular and influential writers of the Victorian period. The author of 56 books, novels and short stories, she was also part owner and editor of the St...
(1977) - The Best Supernatural Tales of Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
(1979) - The Old Man in the Corner: Twelve Mysteries, by Baroness OrczyBaroness OrczyBaroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian noble origin. She was most notable for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel...
(1980)
Nonfiction
- The Checklist of Fantastic LiteratureThe Checklist of Fantastic LiteratureThe Checklist of Fantastic Literature is a bibliography of English language science fiction, fantasy and weird books compiled and edited by Everett F. Bleiler with a preface by Melvin Korshak and a cover by Hannes Bok....
(1948; corrected and revised edition, 1978) - Science Fiction Writers (1982)
- The Guide to Supernatural Fiction (1983)
- Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror (1985)
- Science-Fiction: The Early Years (with Richard Bleiler) (1990)
- Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years (with Richard Bleiler) (1998)
Fiction
- Firegang: A Mythic Fantasy. The Battered Silicon Dispatch BoxBattered Silicon Dispatch BoxThe Battered Silicon Dispatch Box is an independent, Canadian literary publisher, founded in 1993 by George A. Vanderburgh. Based in Shelburne, Ontario, and in Sauk City, Wisconsin, the company is headed by George Vanderburgh....
Press, 2006, ISBN 1552467287 . - Magistrate Mai and the Invisible Murderer. The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box Press, 2006 ISBN 1552467275.
External links
- Interview with E. F. Bleiler by Brian J. Showers
- Complete E. F. Bleiler bibliography
- Everett F. Bleiler at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 3rd edition (draft)