Two careers in print
Born in Beverly, New Jersey, in 1884, Merritt began as a journalist in Philadelphia. He became a longtime assistant editor of The American Weekly, a Sunday supplement distributed through the Hearst newspapers. In 1937 he took over as editor-in-chief and held the post until his death in 1943.
Fiction reached his readers through a different network. The Moon Pool appeared in All-Story Weekly in 1918. In 1924 Argosy All-Story Weekly carried The Ship of Ishtar in six instalments. The 1926 book was shortened. The longer text returned to print in 1949. A reader following the serial first met its world in weekly intervals of discovery and suspense.
An ancient object opens
The Ship of Ishtar begins with a block sent from Babylon to a modern man named Kenton. The object has a scent and a damaged inscription; inside is a ship with a conflict already under way aboard it. Merritt gradually changes Kenton’s relation to the find. What began as something he could hold becomes a place in which he can be hurt, take sides and fall in love. Burn, Witch, Burn! brings the same intrusion of the inexplicable much closer to a modern city street.
