Title:
Story: The Magazine of the Short Story
Subtitle varied:
The only magazine devoted solely to the short story (Apr./May 1931 – Apr. 1933)
Devoted solely to the short story (June 1933 – Jan. 1937)
The magazine of the short story (Feb. 1937 – 1964)
Date of Publication:
April 1931 – Summer 1948
1960 – 1967
Place(s) of Publication:
Vienna, Austria
Majorca, Spain
New York, NY
Frequency of Publication:
Bi-monthly (frequency varied from quarterly to monthly)
Circulation:
600 copies in 1933, a figure that climbed to 21,000 copies by the late 1930s
Publisher:
Story Magazine, Inc., New York, NY (June 1933 – Sept. 1934; Sept. 1935 – Summer 1948; 1960-1967)
Random House Magazine, Inc., New York, NY (Nov. 1934 – Aug. 1935)
Physical Description:
21 x 24 cm
Price:
50 cents per issue / $2.50 per year (3.3)
Price varies between 25 – 50 cents per issue and $2 – $4 per year
Editor(s):
Whit Burnett (1931 – 1967)
Martha Foley (1931 – 1941)
Associate Editor(s):
Bernardine Kielty (1933 – 1940)
Hallie S. Burnett (1942 – 1948)
Libraries with Complete Original Issues:
Princeton University
Reprint Editions:
Kraus Reprint Corporation, New York, 1967
Story Magazine was originally printed in Europe (Vienna and Majorca, Spain) for two years before it moved to the United States. Editors Whit Burnett and Martha Foley were dedicated to preserving the short story, concerned that it would be lost among the article-ridden magazines of America. Their manifesto, printed in the first issue of the magazine, rejected the commercial preoccupations that were associated with magazines during this time. The magazine tried its best to remain separate from theories and popular movements during this time by focusing exclusively on short stories instead of political issues.
Story was published from 1931 to 1967, but ceased publication from 1948 to 1960. The covers were often red or yellow with simple, black script denoting the contents of the magazine. For the most part, Story is devoid of advertisements or color pages, consisting mostly of the plain text of story stories written by various authors, with occasional black and white images during the later years of publication. Story tried to distinguish itself from ubiquitous pulp magazines and to remain separate from mass consumer culture by emphasizing literary prestige. Around the time of World War II, Story started including various articles supporting the American troops, such as the spread of photos titled “Writers and Fighters” that appeared in the September/October 1945 edition of the magazine. Biographies of the authors often accompanied the title page of each issue. In later editions, the magazine included a “Plus & Minus” section that was a survey of reviews published during the time.
The following manifesto appeared in Story: The only magazine devoted solely to the Short Story 1:1 (April-May 1931):
“The only purpose of Story is to present, regularly, from one place, a number of Short Stories of exceptional merit. It has no theories, and is part of no movement. It presents short narratives of significance by no matter whom and coming from no matter where.
It is not an anthology, but a sort of proof-book of hitherto unpublished manuscripts. Some of the stories will doubtless appear later in other, perhaps more permanent pages, and the rights remain vested in the authors, to whom communications may be addressed, or to the Editors of Story, 16 Poetzleinsdorferstrasse (xviii) Vienna. Thus the magazine is withheld by the editors from public sale in England and the United States, but may be obtained in Vienna, Paris, Nice, Budapest and Berlin.
Only Short Stories are considered, and if and when any articles are used, they will be as rare as Short Stories of creative importance are today in the article-ridden magazines of America.”
Whit Burnett (Aug. 14, 1899 – 1972)
Editor: 1931 – 1967
Whit Burnett was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 14th, 1899 (Burnett). He attended school at the University of Utah and the University of California. After school he worked at various newspapers before moving to Europe to be a correspondent for the New York Sun (Burnett; Hailey). While in Vienna, in 1931, he cofounded Story with his wife, Martha Foley. Two years later the couple moved back to the states and continued editing Story together until 1941, when they divorced. Burnett later married Hallie Southgate Abbett, who then joined him as associate editor from 1942 – 1948 (Hailey). Burnett continued as Story’s editor until 1967, despite a lapse in publication from 1948 to 1960. He contributed numerous short stories to the collection and was responsible for discovering many talented young short story writers.
Martha Foley (1897 – 1977)
Editor: 1931 – 1941
Martha Foley was born in Boston and studied at Boston University. After she graduated, she became heavily involved in American feminist and labor movements. She also became involved in newspaper work, which resulted in her becoming a correspondent in Vienna (Burnett). She continued functioning as its co-editor until 1941. During her time editing Story, she contributed numerous short stories and editorials.
Whit Burnett
numerous contributions
Charles Bukowski
“Rejection Slip” (1944)
Truman Capote
“My Side of the Matter” (1945)
John Cheever
“Homage to Shakespeare” (1937)
William Faulkner
“Artist at Home” (1933)
Martha Foley
numerous contributions
Joseph Heller
“I Don’t Love You Anymore” (1945)
Zora Neale Hurston
“The Gilded Six-Bits” (1933)
Aldous Huxley
“Morning in Basle” (1936)
J.D. Salinger
“The Young Folks” (1940)
“The Long Debut of Lois Taggett” (1942)
“Once a Week Won’t Kill You” (1944)
“Elaine” (1945)
William Saroyan
“The Daring Young man on the Flying Trapeze” (1934)
“The Nurse, the Angel, the Daughter of the Gambler” (1936)
“The Cat” (1936)
“We Want a Touchdown” (1938)
Tennessee Williams
“The Field of Blue Children” (1939)
Richard Wright
“Fire and Cloud” (1938)
Archives of Story Magazine and Story Press; 1931-1999, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Burnett, Hallie. “Personal Recollections Of A Story Editor.” Connecticut Review 6.2 (1973): 5-12. Print.
Burnett, Whit, and Martha Foley, eds. Story: The Magazine of the Short Story. 1931. 32 vols. New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation, 1967. Print.
Burnett, Whit, and Martha Foley, eds. Story: The Magazine of the Short Story. 1931. 32 vols. New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation, 1967. Print.
Calder-Marshall, A. “A Story Anthology. Edited by Whit Burnett and Martha Foley (Book Review).” The Spectator 152, no. 5526 (May 25, 1934): 820. Web.
Hailey, Jean R. “Whit Burnett, Editor of Story Magazine.” The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). April 25, 1973, sec. Metro Local News Obituaries Classified
Images. AbeBooks Advertisement of Story: The Magazine of the Short Story. Digital image. AbeBooks. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
Neugeboren, Jay. “Story.” The American Scholar Vol. 52, No. 3 (Summer 1983): 396-400, 402-406. Web.
Stolts, Craig. “J. D. Salinger’s Tribute to Whit Burnett.” Twentieth Century Literature Vol. 27, No. 4 (Winter, 1981): 325-330. Web.
Thorp, Willard. “Whit Burnett and Story Magazine.” Princeton University Library Chronicle 27 (1966): 107–12.
“Story” compiled by Audrey Lane (Class of 2016)