Pulp fans need no introduction to the name Frederick Faust — better known by his penname Max Brand. Or his penname Evan Evans. The guy wrote so much, so fast, he needed a ton of pennames. The guy — who attended U.C. Berkeley, by the way — became known as “The King of the Pulps,” and given how many pulp fictioneers were knocking out yarns, climbing up toward a million words per year, I think that gives you the idea of where Max stood on the production line.
Now, with the various autographed cheques we’ve been putting up, obviously just seeing the John Hancock is the big thing. Historical types probably appreciate the dates and bank marks.
And occasionally the info on a cheque can help fill in the saga of a pulp writer.
For Autograph Hound Super-Sunday let’s dive into a little known — or unknown — moment in the career of Faust/Brand/etc.
Kevin Cook tossed a huge pileup of autos my way, but singled one out as especially worthy of Super Sunday attention.
Here’s Kevin:
“The prize of the new group, though, is a Frederick Faust signature on a check for the Max Brand story ‘John Ovington Returns’ in All-Story Weekly.
“This check is especially interesting because it is payment for ‘The Return of John Ovington’ by ‘Henry Urial.’
“Henry Urial is yet another Faust pseudonym.
“Although I am NOT a Faust expert, I do not believe that the name Henry Uriel was ever used with any published prose by Faust.
“Only on his poetry.
“The name was never used in the pages of All-Story Weekly.
“What that means is that sometime between the purchase of the story on January 12, 1917 and its publication on June 8, 1918, Faust decided to use his regular All-Story byline of Max Brand on the published story.
“Thus, ‘Henry Urial’ lost his bid for pulp immortality.”
