The Argosy Library Series

Though author Anthony M. Rud made his mark as one of the scribes to appear in the first issue of Weird Tales, and soon after, as a long-time editor of the prestigious Adventure Magazine, he never forgot his series character, J.C.K. "Jigger" Masters, whom he introduced in a series of offbeat, bizarre mysteries which sometimes drifted into the realm of the supernatural in the pages of The Green Book magazine. Upon Rud's return to writing in 1933, he reintroduced Jigger Masters to the pages of Munsey's Detective Fiction Weekly, were he quickly became one of DFW's most popular recurring series characters, appearing a dozen times over the next four years. For the first time, Rud's initial eight Masters stories are collected, along with the original illustrations by the incomparable Robert A. Graef.

Best remembered as the author of Thibaut Corday and his French Foreign Legion yarns, author Theodore Roscoe wrote another, little-known, long-running series: the adventures of curio hunter Peter Scarlet and Bradshaw, the naturalist. While each appeared in solo stories, they also teamed up in several yarns. These tales of treasure in the Orient are action-filled adventure by one of pulpdom’s best. Volume 2 collects the next six adventures, taken from the pages of Action Stories, Far East Adventure Stories, and Argosy magazines.

Something natural—or supernatural—enters the soul of Andrew Creel, a commonplace young man, and drives him into a swift game where death is a probability on the one side and love only a possibility on the other. Creel plays it to the end: an end unlike the end that seemed so sure when dusk fell on the garden of that charming mansion with its sinister residents. Author Max Brand graced the pages of Argosy with this tale of mistaken identity, a femme fatale, and a haul of stolen jewels in a never-before reprinted story, along with an all-new introduction by Brand historian William F. Nolan (Logan’s Run).

Once voted Adventure magazine's most popular author, W.C. Tuttle introduced the world to one of his longest-running—and most popular—series characters, Henry Harrison Conroy, in the pages of Argosy. Collected here are the next two novels: “The Sheriff of Tonto Town” and “Suspected by Henry.”

The Flying Legion: Thirty reckless, war-tried flyers—a Master stern and grim of purpose—and all the world their helpless toy as they streaked across the heavens to tear the veil from Earth’s last mysteries…. Never was there more dangerous venture—never more fabulous quest—than the voyage of the winged New World argonauts, pledged to each other to the end by a mystic bond as old as time itself…. Written by George Allan England and featuring illustrations by acclaimed fantasy artist Lawrence Sterne Stevens from this story’s appearance in Fantastic Novels Magazine.

Peter the Brazen is back! In this next story in the series, Jonathan Driggs, journeying in search of his love, Gloria Dale, has learned that she was become the mistress of Fong-Chi-Ah, fiend of all Asia. At the same time, the Golden Cat—a symbol of the long-absent Queen Shari—has been stolen. Elsewhere in China, wireless operator Peter Moore receives a message from a "Gloria Dale:" a mysterious woman seemingly kidnapped, and wearing a Golden Cat around her neck.... Written by long-time Argosy author George F. Worts under his primary pen-name, Peter the Brazen made a marked impression on Argosy reader Lester Dent when he co-created Doc Savage. The saga of Peter the Brazen is amongst the best adventure series in the history of pulp fiction.

When Jimmy Wendell takes a yachting trip with some friends, he never expected to become involved in an attempted murder of the crew and the ship's destruction on a reef. Making it to a small, shark-encircled island, Wendell will soon learn of the ape inhabitants of that mysterious land.... Argosy often revisited the themes from their most popular stories, and this is no different: author John Cunningham pens a tale of high adventure that has been forgotten for too long.

When Boston's U.S. Assistant District Attorney disappeared, not even the investigators knew that this was the opening gun of a weird and secret invasion of America. Trailing this disappearance, reporter Larry Larrabee finds himself pitted against amazing adversaries with strange scientific weapons and stranger, non-human allies: an overwhelming army of robots led by beast scientists from the planet Venus. One of the most beloved of the fantastic story pulp authors akin to Edgar Rice Burroughs, author Ralph Milne Farley pens another installment of his popular Radio series, The Radio Menace.

Semi Dual returns in another suspenseful mystery which only his occult skills can resolve. Dorien, a wealthy man about town, is shot and wounded in his apartment in the course of what Inspector Johnson suspects is an extortion attempt. But Dorien won’t talk, leading the Inspector to call on Glace & Bryce—private investigators—and their strange partner, Semi Dual, the recluse and astrologist who uses his occult powers to straighten out the tangles of human affairs.

Scourge of the underworld, “that damned dude dick”—Beau Quicksilver was an enigmatical crime-chaser—a mercurial master. A predecessor to Philo Vance, this detective solved seven separate cases in the pages of Argosy magazine, published in consecutive issues. Author Florence M. Pettee’s work appeared in several of the top pulp magazines of the 1920s, including Black Mask, and her quirky characters known for their offbeat gimmicks and situations… not to mention her distinctive prose. Often written about—but never reprinted—the exploits of Beau Quicksilver belong in The Argosy Library.