Frank R. Paul's Thought-Reading Experiment, Amazing Stories April 1927
Step closer and examine this arresting April 1927 cover of Amazing Stories, the landmark science fiction pulp founded by Hugo Gernsback. Rendered by the inimitable Frank R. Paul, the scene depicts a group of formally dressed scientists conducting what appears to be an early brain-wave or telepathy experiment on a reclining young woman, wires connecting her head to a tangle of brass instruments on a green-draped table. The vivid scarlet background and theatrical curtained backdrop lend the scene an air of both clinical urgency and showmanship.
Paul's composition is remarkably restrained for the genre — the drama lies in suggestion rather than spectacle, with the scientific apparatus doing the heavy lifting. The blazing red background and theatrical curtain push it firmly into pulp territory, but the scene's parlor-room dignity keeps it from the wilder excesses of later covers.
“April AMAZING STORIES HUGO GERNSBACK EDITOR BROADCAST WRNY STATION 25 Cents Stories by H.G. Wells A. Hyatt Verrill Edgar Rice Burroughs EXPERIMENTER PUBLISHING COMPANY, NEW YORK, PUBLISHERS OF RADIO NEWS - SCIENCE & INVENTION - RADIO REVIEW - AMAZING STORIES - MONEY MAKING - RADIO INTERNACIONAL”
