Sun Tempest manuscript
Collection
Identifier: MS496
An unpublished manuscript for the story "Sun Tempest" written by Raymond Z. Gallun, a pioneer of the early years of science fiction.
Typed Manuscript. l 2pp. Quarto sheets. Stapled at the top margin. Printed rectos only. Horizontal creases from being folded, a few small stains and short tears on first page with an inked notation ("submitted to Marvel Tales"), and a couple of handwritten corrections. Very good.
This collection is open.
These materials are under copyright. Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the copyright owner.
.1 Linear Feet
An unpublished short science fiction story about Sam Frost, an "adventurer of the Void," aboard the space ship "The Dark Comet." He travels with other scientists and their mascot Ahnarlu, a leathery little Callistan from the planet Callisto. The scientists are studying solar phenomena and searching for rare elements when they encounter flaming storm clouds known as solar prominences being ejected from the sun.
Gallun submitted the story to the semi-professional science-fiction magazine Marvel Tales, published by William L. Crawford, however the issue was never published. Crawford had announced in a 1936 issue of Fantasy Magazine that Marvel Tales was going to convert to a professional magazine and would soon appear on newsstands. The next issue was supposed to be 64 pages and contain stories by H. P. Lovecraft, E. E. Smith, Donald Wandrei, Murray Leinster, and others. Proofs were prepared but due to "insurmountable obstacles" in the form of financial difficulties the issue never materialized. According to the proofs, they were going to switch from digest-size to pulp and feature Gallun's "Sun Tempest" (which Crawford called "an example of courage on the spaceways") along with the fourth installment of P. Schuyler Miller's "Titan," Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Sixth Sense" by Stanton A. Coblentz, "The Ghost Mother" by Francis Flagg, and several other short stories with artwork by Clay
Ferguson and Frank Utpatel.
Born in Beaver Dam, WI in 1911, Raymond Z. Gallun was part of a group of early 20th century science fiction pulp writers who helped popularize the genre. He published over 120 short stories in pulp magazines beginning with "The Space Dwellers" and "The Crystal Ray" in 1929 when he was just 18 years old. Isaac Asimov mentioned Gallun's "Old Faithful," a story about sympathetic Martians, in his book Before the Golden Age, writing: "More important [than getting a sequel] was the fact that sympathetic portraits of extraterrestrials became common after "Old Faithful," particularly among the more sophisticated writers. The old picture of extraterrestrial as mindless villains receded into the more primitive byways." At the 1985 I-CON IV convention, Gallun was awarded the I-CON Lifetime Achievement Award, which was later renamed The Raymond Z. Gallun Award. His pen names include Dow Elstar, E.V. Raymond, William Callahan, and Arthur Allport.
The typed manuscript is stapled in one archival folder.
Materials are stored onsite.
Manuscript purchased from Between the Covers Rare Books in April 2025.
Typed Manuscript. l 2pp. Quarto sheets. Stapled at the top margin. Printed rectos only. Horizontal creases from being folded, a few small stains and short tears on first page with an inked notation ("submitted to Marvel Tales"), and a couple of handwritten corrections. Very good.
Manuscript processed by Alison Reynolds in 2025.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository