Schwartz, Julius

   (b. 1915)

   American agent and editor. As editor of Fantasy Magazine,Schwartz commissioned HPL (along with C.L.Moore, A.Merritt, Robert E.Howard, and Frank Belknap Long) to write the weird version of “The Challenge from Beyond” for the September 1935 issue (also a science fiction version with other writers). He later became an agent. At a party in New York, probably in the fall of 1935, HPL agreed to let Schwartz market his material; Schwartz sold At the Mountains of Madnessto Astoundingfor $350 (less 10% commission). In late 1936 he contemplated marketing HPL’s tales in England, but if he did so he was unsuccessful. He became an important figure in the comic industry in the 1950s. Schwartz has now published his memoirs, Man of Two Worlds(2000).

   See Will Murray, “Julius Schwartz on Lovecraft” (interview), Crypt No. 76 (Hallowmas 1990): 14–18.