The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 1

by Anthony Boucher (Editor), J. Francis McComas (Editor)

Little, Brown, 1952. Hardcover with dustjacket. There were three printings. This is the first in the long-running series of anthologies collecting stories from the magazine. Includes an introduction by the editors and these Huge Beast" (1950) by Cleve Cartmill; "John the Revelator" (1951) by Oliver La Farge; "Elephas Frumenti" (1950) by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt; "The Gift of God" (1950) by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt; "The Friendly Demon" (1726) by Daniel Defoe; "Old Man Henderson" (1951) by Kris Neville; "The Threepenny-Piece" (1913) by James Stephens; "No-Sided Professor" (1947) by Martin Gardner; "The Listening Child" (1950) by Margaret St. Clair [as by Idris Seabright]; "Dress of White Silk" (1951) by Richard Matheson; "The Mathematical Voodoo" (1951) by H. Nearing, Jr.; "Hub" (1951) by Philip MacDonald; "Built Up Logically" (1949) by Howard Schoenfeld; "The Rat That Could Speak" (1860) by Charles Dickens; "Narapoia" [Dr. Manly J. Departure]" (1948) by Alan Nelson; "Postpaid to Paradise" (1940) by Robert Arthur; "In the Days of Our Fathers" (1949) by Winona McClintic; "Barney" (1951) by Will Stanton; "The Collector" (1951) by H. F. Heard; "Fearsome Fable" (1951) by Bruce Elliott.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

214 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1952

About the author

William Anthony Parker White, better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher, was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dramas. Between 1942 and 1947, he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to "Anthony Boucher", White also employed the pseudonym "H. H. Holmes", which was the pseudonym of a late-19th-century American serial killer; Boucher would also write light verse and sign it " Herman W. Mudgett" (the murderer's real name).
In a 1981 poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time.