H. Adrian Smith columns

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James Foster
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H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby James Foster » August 30th, 2010, 2:39 pm

Does anyone have the date range for the column that H. Adrian Smith wrote for The Tops magazine. I have references from 1937 and 1938, but was curious if it ran longer than that span. Or, better yet, if those writings were ever compiled.

Thanks for any help.

James

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Joe Pecore
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Re: H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby Joe Pecore » August 30th, 2010, 5:12 pm

I see a column by him called "Magic Books of Another Day" in the November, 1941 issue of Tops (if that helps).
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James Foster
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Re: H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby James Foster » August 30th, 2010, 7:43 pm

Joe,

Thanks much. That was the name of the column. Trevor Hall references it with some frequency in his work. I was curious as to length of run and frequency within the issues. I appreciate your response.

James

Richard Hatch
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Re: H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby Richard Hatch » August 31st, 2010, 12:58 am

H. Adrian Smith's scholarly column ran in TOPS from August 1936 through June 1942 when he was inducted into the military. It was his intention to have them collected, revised and published in a single volume, I believe by Magic Inc, but the project was not completed as planned. Instead, a very nice compilation of about half the columns (revised) with some additional material was published in a single volume by his beloved alma mater, Brown University, in BOOKS AT BROWN, Volume XXXIV (1987). 156 pages and well worth seeking out, though a bit hard to locate now (possibly still available from Brown?).

James Foster
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Re: H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby James Foster » August 31st, 2010, 7:19 am

Dick,

Brilliant! Many thanks. Late last night I came across a copy of the BOOKS AT BROWN via an online seller. It also is possible, though I've yet to hear back, that Brown still sells them. I'll start with that and uncover the rest piecemeal.

James

Richard Hatch
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Re: H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby Richard Hatch » August 31st, 2010, 9:46 am

James, the columns didn't run in each issue at the end. In fact, strangely, BOOKS AT BROWN says they ran from August 1936 through February 1940, which is what I originally posted (trusting that source) until I noticed Joe's reference to a column in the November 1941 issue. I used AskAlexander.org to check the columns in revising my post, but the full Tops file is available as a CD-ROM from Todd Karr for just $50:
http://www.miraclefactory.net/tops.htm

James Foster
Posts: 108
Joined: March 18th, 2008, 2:11 pm

Re: H. Adrian Smith columns

Postby James Foster » August 31st, 2010, 10:59 am

Brown University still has copies of the BOOKS AT BROWN. I didn't know that AskAlexander covered TOPS; is that full-text of the articles? Anyway, seems like Smith's writings are easily available and I appreciate your assistance.


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