Arthur Sullivant Hoffman
Encyclopedia
Arthur Sullivant Hoffman (1876-1966) was an American magazine editor. Hoffman is
best known for editing the acclaimed pulp magazine
Adventure
from 1912-1927,
as well as playing a role in the creation of the American Legion
.
, and graduated from Ohio State University
a Phi Beta Kappa
in 1897. He briefly taught English in a high school and did miscellaneous
journalism in Ohio.
He worked with several magazines: The Chatauquan, The Smart Set
, and Watson's Magazine, before moving on to become managing editor of Transatlantic Tales, and The Delineator
, where
Hoffman worked with Theodore Dreiser
. Hoffman also wrote a number of short stories for
Everybody's Magazine
and McClure's Magazine
, including a humourous series about the adventures of a Irishman, Patsy Moran.
In 1910, the Ridgway company decided to launch a pulp magazine, Adventure. Hoffman was on Adventure's staff from its beginning, and succeeded Trumbull White as editor in 1912.
that was well-plotted, had good characterization and was historically and geographically accurate. Hoffman's Adventure stable would eventually include some of the most distinguished popular fiction writers of the era, including John Buchan, Rafael Sabatini
, Talbot Mundy
, Harold Lamb
, Edgar Wallace
, Walt Coburn, W.C. Tuttle, Arthur O. Friel
, Gordon Young
and T.S. Stribling. Bleiler described Hoffman as a "tenacious, contentious and brilliant" editor. For the first two years of his term as Adventure editor, Hoffman was assisted by writer Sinclair Lewis
. Hoffman and Lewis worked on the famous "Camp-Fire" page in "Adventure", which featured readers' letters, biographies of the magazines' authors and discussions of various issues. Hoffman added several departments to Adventure, including "Ask Adventure", where numerous experts in various fields answered readers' questions on subjects as diverse as bicycle repair and crocodile trapping. Other departments Hoffman created included "Lost Trails", (helping readers find lost relatives and friends), "Weapons, Past and Present" (the history of weapons) and "Mountains and Mountaineering" (discussing which mountains were best for climbing
, hunting
, and camping
).
.
Hoffman also obtained the services of some famous artists to illustrate Adventure, including Rockwell Kent
and Lejaren Hiller, Sr.
Concerned about the threat of war, Hoffman set up a committee in 1915 designed to secure pledges from former soldiers whose skills could be used in times of need. The committee was named "The American Legion". The pledges were sent to Washington,where they were used to create two regiments of aircraft mechanics. After the war, the American Legion adopted the name of Hoffman's organisation; Hoffman stated in 1934 that he was "delighted" to give up his claim to the name.
Writer Lee Server
describes Adventure under Hoffman's editorship as "inarguably one of the handful of great pulp publications" and magazine historian Mike Ashley
states in its that under Hoffman: "Adventure, along with Blue Book
and Argosy
, was one of the
top three American pulp magazines to which all such authors aspired to contribute."
and how to sell such
writing commercially, including The Writing of Fiction (1934). Hoffman died in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
best known for editing the acclaimed pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Adventure
Adventure (magazine)
Adventure magazine was first published in November 1910 as a monthly pulp magazine. Adventure went on become one of the most profitable and critically acclaimed of all the American pulp magazines...
from 1912-1927,
as well as playing a role in the creation of the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
.
Early Life
Hoffman was born in Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, and graduated from Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
a Phi Beta Kappa
in 1897. He briefly taught English in a high school and did miscellaneous
journalism in Ohio.
He worked with several magazines: The Chatauquan, The Smart Set
The Smart Set
The Smart Set was a literary magazine founded in America in March 1900 by Colonel William d'Alton Mann.-History:Mann had previously published Town Topics, a gossip rag which he used for political and social gain among New York City's infamous elite known as "The Four Hundred." With The Smart Set,...
, and Watson's Magazine, before moving on to become managing editor of Transatlantic Tales, and The Delineator
The Delineator
The Delineator was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name The Metropolitan Monthly. Its name was changed in 1875. In November 1926, under the editorship of Mrs...
, where
Hoffman worked with Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
. Hoffman also wrote a number of short stories for
Everybody's Magazine
Everybody's Magazine
Everybody's Magazine was an American magazine from 1899 to 1929.The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little role in its actual operations....
and McClure's Magazine
McClure's
McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...
, including a humourous series about the adventures of a Irishman, Patsy Moran.
In 1910, the Ridgway company decided to launch a pulp magazine, Adventure. Hoffman was on Adventure's staff from its beginning, and succeeded Trumbull White as editor in 1912.
Adventure Editor
Hoffman began to develop a "stable" of writers for Adventure that would publish adventure fictionAdventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
that was well-plotted, had good characterization and was historically and geographically accurate. Hoffman's Adventure stable would eventually include some of the most distinguished popular fiction writers of the era, including John Buchan, Rafael Sabatini
Rafael Sabatini
Rafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Iesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
, Talbot Mundy
Talbot Mundy
Talbot Mundy was an English writer. He also wrote under the pseudonym Walter Galt.-Life and work:...
, Harold Lamb
Harold Lamb
Harold Albert Lamb was an American historian, screenwriter, short story writer, and novelist.Lamb was born in Alpine, New Jersey. He attended Columbia University, where his interest in the peoples and history of Asia began. Lamb's tutors at Columbia included Carl Van Doren andJohn Erskine. ...
, Edgar Wallace
Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
, Walt Coburn, W.C. Tuttle, Arthur O. Friel
Arthur O. Friel
Arthur Olney Friel was one of the most popular writers for the adventure pulps. He began appearing in Adventure magazine in 1919 with stories set in the Amazon jungle featuring the characters Pedro and Lourenço, two rubber-industry workers who undergo harrowing experiences in the impenetrable...
, Gordon Young
Gordon Young
Gordon Young was an American organist and composer of both organ and choral works.Young was born in McPherson, Kansas. His undergraduate degree in music was earned at Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas...
and T.S. Stribling. Bleiler described Hoffman as a "tenacious, contentious and brilliant" editor. For the first two years of his term as Adventure editor, Hoffman was assisted by writer Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...
. Hoffman and Lewis worked on the famous "Camp-Fire" page in "Adventure", which featured readers' letters, biographies of the magazines' authors and discussions of various issues. Hoffman added several departments to Adventure, including "Ask Adventure", where numerous experts in various fields answered readers' questions on subjects as diverse as bicycle repair and crocodile trapping. Other departments Hoffman created included "Lost Trails", (helping readers find lost relatives and friends), "Weapons, Past and Present" (the history of weapons) and "Mountains and Mountaineering" (discussing which mountains were best for climbing
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, and camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
).
.
Hoffman also obtained the services of some famous artists to illustrate Adventure, including Rockwell Kent
Rockwell Kent
Rockwell Kent was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer.- Biography :Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York, the same year as fellow American artists George Bellows and Edward Hopper...
and Lejaren Hiller, Sr.
Lejaren Hiller, Sr.
Lejaren Hiller, Sr./Lejaren à Hiller/John Hiller , was an accomplished American illustrator and photographer. Born John Hiller, he changed his name to Lejaren à Hiller when he moved from Milwaukee to New York City....
Concerned about the threat of war, Hoffman set up a committee in 1915 designed to secure pledges from former soldiers whose skills could be used in times of need. The committee was named "The American Legion". The pledges were sent to Washington,where they were used to create two regiments of aircraft mechanics. After the war, the American Legion adopted the name of Hoffman's organisation; Hoffman stated in 1934 that he was "delighted" to give up his claim to the name.
Writer Lee Server
Lee Server
Lee Server is an American writer. Server has written several books aboutHollywood cinema and pulp fiction. He is a graduate of New York University Film School...
describes Adventure under Hoffman's editorship as "inarguably one of the handful of great pulp publications" and magazine historian Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley (writer)
Michael Ashley is a British bibliographer, author and editor of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.He edits the long-running Mammoth Book series of short story anthologies, each arranged around a particular theme in mystery, fantasy, or science fiction...
states in its that under Hoffman: "Adventure, along with Blue Book
Blue Book (magazine)
Blue Book was a popular 20th-century American magazine with a lengthy 70-year run under various titles from 1905 to 1975.Launched as The Monthly Story Magazine, it was published under that title from May 1905 to August 1906 with a change to The Monthly Story Blue Book Magazine for issues from...
and Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
, was one of the
top three American pulp magazines to which all such authors aspired to contribute."
Later Years
After leaving Adventure, Hoffman worked as the editor of McClure's Magazine before retiring to New York. Hoffman wrote some of the first books on creative writingCreative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
and how to sell such
writing commercially, including The Writing of Fiction (1934). Hoffman died in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.