McIlwraith to Derleth on Bradbury

McIlwraith, Dorothy. TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS). 1/2 page on WEIRD TALES letterhead, signed "Mac", dated 10 January 1945, to "Dear August" [August Derleth]. Thanks Derleth for his letter of January 2, and responds to his comments about a recent issue of WEIRD TALES. She promises to avoid a "consistently flippant" tone; says she's gratified that "you agree with us that [Ray] Bradbury is a good addition to the list"; observes that WEIRD TALES readers "write us very much more frequently than those of SHORT STORIES." Assures Derleth that his "friendship for the magazine is one of out most valued assets... ." Arkham House in 1945 was ramping up its production, issuing six titles that year, on its way towards becoming the dominant specialty press publisher of supernatural fiction. McIlwraith was the third editor at WEIRD TALES, overseeing issues from May 1940 through September 1954, a period of decline, admittedly, after the magazine's heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. The letter documents a connection between the most important periodical and book markets for weird fiction in the mid-century period. Faint fold creases short closed tear in left margin, near fine overall. (#116742)

Alva Rogers art

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The 1945 cover art of Garden of Fear was a commission by artist Alva Rogers.

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Here are two commsions from British Strange Tales (UK) the first from issue #1 February 1946.


and this one from Strange Tales #2 of March 1946.



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This may have been one of the earliest commissions, Forest J Ackerman's "VOM - VOICES OF THE IMAGI-NATION"; Issue #37, Christmas, 1944; Illustrated rear cover by Alva Rogers. You can see that the Strange Tales cover is identical and basically a copy of VOM issue #37.



I can't confirm that the front cover is also Alva Rogers, but it certainly fits the artistic technique.




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Rogers won a retro-Hugo with other artists for the year of 1946:

1946(awarded in 1996)
Bill Rotsler
Joe Gibson
Lou Goldstone, Jr.
Alva Rogers
Jack Wiedenbeck

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Rogers was apparently a mainstay of the SF scene for decades, including this reported article: "Fandom As A Way of Life?" by Alva Rogers (Fan Guest of Honor speech Westercon XV Banquet, 1962