Le Rayon fantastique (English – "The Fantastic Ray") was a collection of science fiction novels co-published by éditions Gallimard and Hachette between January 1951 and February 1964. The first work in the collection was "Assassinat des États-Unis" de Will Jenkins (better known under the pseudonym Murray Leinster).
It symbolised a revival in science-fiction writing in the 1950s and reignited public passion for the genre, making great American 'Golden Age' writers like Edmond Hamilton, Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. van Vogt, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and Clifford D. Simak widely known in France for the first time and launching a new generation of French writers in the genre, such as Francis Carsac, Daniel Drode, Philippe Curval, Gérard Klein, Michel Jeury (under the pseudonym Albert Higon), Françoise d'Eaubonne, Pierre Barbet and Nathalie and Charles Henneberg.
History.
It had two births, the first at Gallimard on 22 November 1949 when it commissioned Martinique-born writer Michel Pilotin (1906–1972) to create a science-fiction collection for them. Between 1950 and 1951 Pilotin prepared that collection by buying the rights on translations of American works and seeking French authors in the genre.
In the meantime Hachette had commissioned science fiction fan Georges H. Gallet to create a science fiction collection entitled "Le Rayon fantastique" in response to the 1950"le Figaro" article "La science-fiction remplacera-t-elle le roman policier ?" ("Will science fiction replace the detective novel?"), based on an interview between Gallet and a journalist. To avoid competition, the two publishing houses decided to publish the series jointly, with the project edited by Pierre-André Gruénais (1919–1993), director of the general literature department at Hachette, Pilotin (under the name Stephen Spriel) for Gallimard and Gallet for Hachette.
Publication.
From number 81 ("La Terre endormie" by Arcadius) onwards, for reasons of economy, the works were alternately printed in France and at the "Ars Polona" press in Warsaw, Poland. From number 97 ("Griada" by A. Kolpakov) to the end of the collection they were solely printed in Poland.
Due to its double origins, the works' numbering is sometimes very approximate, with 124 works but only "109 volumes in all" and no numbers assigned to the first 66 titles or to number 73 ("Druso" by Friedrich Freksa), with the latter inserted between two numbered titles.
From number 81 onwards the number was in theory separated from the title on the back cover by a horizontal line, though many later works did not do so. Five works bear a double number, number 111 was never assigned and number 110 was assigned twice (the correct holder was "La Machine suprême" by John W. Campbell as it was the first of the two to be published). Despite all this, an 'official' list of already-published works appeared at the end of some of the works.
Covers.
The covers evolved over time. Initially unillustrated, they later alternated between stylised images and realistic ones according to the artists (Jean Delpech, Troy, René Caillé, Georges Pichard, Jean Latappy, Lucien Lepiez and several who remained anonymous). Jean-Claude Forest arrived in 1958, producing more than half the subsequent cover designs, veering from stylised images to totally abstract ones.
Simultaneously, a 'black' series was followed by 'brown', 'red' and (under Forest) 'white' or 'cream' ones, all named after the colour of the background used. From n° 118 ("Métro pour l'enfer" by Vladimir Volkoff, 1963) until the last work (n° 124, "Rêve de feu" by Françoise d'Eaubonne, 1964) the cover illustrations were shaped like a cinema or television screen, with a white background and a black frame.télévision (cadre noir, fond blanc).