Theron Posted May 11, 2006 Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 I got this book the same week as my copy of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana. Between these two works, I may never want for pulp inspiration again. Folks have covered Fantastic Victoriana previously, so I'll wax poetic about The Wide World. It's a volume of reprints from a British men's magazine that printed story of true-life adventures. To quote it's key-note introduction (from the late 19th century): It may be taken for granted that at no time in our history did we take such a quick, keen, and intelligent interest, as at present, in the affairs of the Wide World. What is the result of this wonderful trend of the times? One result is that we demand almost hourly information about all parts of the Universe -- literally from China to Peru. It is not our purpose in this Introduction to offer any explanation of this awakening. Rather do we offer THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE, feeling morally certain that its birth comes exactly at the right moment. The key-note of the Magazine is struck in the motton on the cover -- "Truth is Stranger than Fiction." This we hope to prove by personal narratives and actual photographs. Also on the cover you will read, "Astounding Photographs" -- "Thrilling Adventures." Big words, these. DO the Contents of this first number justify such phrases? It is for our readers to judge. There will be no fiction in the Magazine, but yet it will contain stories of weird adventure, more thrilling than any conceived by the novelist in his wildest flights. These will be the plain, straightforward narratives of well-known travellers, explorers, and others. As a rule, the photo. of each narrator will be reproduced, so that you may see for yourself what manner of man the story-teller is. And so wonderful will the pictures be found, so enthralling the letterpress, that the Magazine will be found to fascinate not merely serious men, but also women of all degrees and even the smallest children, who will learn many delightful lessons from its attractive pages. As to the pictures, these will be mostly direct reproductions from photographs; and we think we may fairly claim for some in these pages that they are the most amazing photos. ever seen. And the supply is practically inexhaustible, thanks to the far-reaching arrangements we have mad in both civilized and uncivilized countries. The enterprise is absolutely unique; and the Conductors conclude this "foreword," in quiet assurance that THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE may safely be trusted to carry into every home, by means of the infallible camera and the responsible traveller, the almost incredible wonders of the Wide World. The stories run a remarkable gamut of tales of human achievement and failure, spanning the magazine's nearly seventy year publication history and are accompanied by the original illustrations, occasional color plates of covers, short articles, and pages of advertisements. Even without reading the text, the table of contents is a veritable treasure-trove of pulp plot hooks: Out of the Lion's Jaws The Last Dive Lost in Vesuvius Bandsaw Amok A Fall of Three Thousand Feet! The Sheer Face of Hell Over Niagara Falls in a Rubber Ball! A Fight With a Leopard I Fell 20,000 Feet I'll Climb Everest Alone! (Part I) Descent From Danger (Part II) The Final Assault (Part III) The Professor in the Bear Trap The Bird Man's Final Gamble The Grey Scourge A Lady's Meteor-Hunt Above the Clouds "My Strangest Experience" Buried Alive by a Dead Elephant Death in the Desert Green Killer Across America by Airship Under the Train The Peril of Seaman Diver Young Long Journey to Nowhere A Training School for Cowboys I got my copy as a Xmas gift from a friend in England and it doesn't look like it saw US publication, but it is available fairly cheaply (apart from shipping) from Amazon UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 11, 2006 Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 Re: Mini-Review: The Wide World - True Adventures For Men Hmmm, something good for my "Victorian Hero Notes" file. Thanx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theron Posted May 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 Re: Mini-Review: The Wide World - True Adventures For Men Hmmm' date=' something good for my "Victorian Hero Notes" file. Thanx![/quote'] The beauty of it is that it starts in the Victorian era and goes all the way into the 1960s. The story about falling 20,000 feet is a pilot's account of an engine flame out in a Gloucester Meteor. Ample pulpiness for all eras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 11, 2006 Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 Re: Mini-Review: The Wide World - True Adventures For Men Coolness. I'll have to acquire it sooner rather'n later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerryss Posted May 14, 2006 Report Share Posted May 14, 2006 Re: Mini-Review: The Wide World - True Adventures For Men http://users.ev1.net/~homeville/fictionmag/0start.htm#TOC this looked related and useful... ~xerryss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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