# Edwin Baird

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American magazine editor (1886–1954)

Edwin Baird Born June 28, 1886 Died September 27, 1954(1954-09-27) (aged 68) Occupation Magazine editor Language English Nationality American Citizenship United States Genres Horror, pulp fiction Spouse Mildred Ward[1]

**Edwin Baird** ([/bɛərd/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English); June 28, 1886 in [Chattanooga, Tennessee](/source/Chattanooga%2C_Tennessee)[1]– September 27, 1954)[2] was the first editor of *[Weird Tales](/source/Weird_Tales)*, the pioneering [pulp magazine](/source/Pulp_magazine) that specialized in [horror fiction](/source/Horror_fiction), as well as *Detective Tales*, later re-titled *Real Detective Tales*.

Baird's novel *The Heart of Virginia Keep* appeared in [*The Argosy*](/source/Argosy_(magazine)) in 1915.

## Career

Baird, hired by *Weird Tales* publisher J. C. Henneberger, put out the magazine's premiere issue, dated March 1923.[3] Over the course of the next year, Baird published some of the magazine's most famous writers, including [H. P. Lovecraft](/source/H._P._Lovecraft), [Clark Ashton Smith](/source/Clark_Ashton_Smith), and [Seabury Quinn](/source/Seabury_Quinn).[4]

Baird—in marked contrast to his successor—accepted everything that Lovecraft submitted to the magazine,[5] including "[The Hound](/source/The_Hound)", "[Arthur Jermyn](/source/Arthur_Jermyn)", "[The Statement of Randolph Carter](/source/The_Statement_of_Randolph_Carter)", "[The Cats of Ulthar](/source/The_Cats_of_Ulthar)", "[Dagon](/source/Dagon_(short_story))", "[The Picture in the House](/source/The_Picture_in_the_House)", "[The Rats in the Walls](/source/The_Rats_in_the_Walls)", "[Hypnos](/source/Hypnos_(short_story))" and "[Imprisoned with the Pharaohs](/source/Imprisoned_with_the_Pharaohs)".[6] He did, however, insist that Lovecraft retype his first submissions using double spacing, causing the author to remark, "I am not certain whether or not I should bother."[7]

Under Baird's editorship, *Weird Tales* lost a considerable amount of money—estimated at $51,000.[8] After the April 1924 issue, Henneberger fired him and offered his job to Lovecraft.[9] When Lovecraft declined, the publisher made [Farnsworth Wright](/source/Farnsworth_Wright), until then Baird's assistant, the editor of *Weird Tales*, a position he held until 1940.[10]

Baird remained as editor of another of Henneberger's titles, *Detective Tales*. In this post, he rejected Lovecraft's "[The Shunned House](/source/The_Shunned_House)" in July 1925.[11] *Detective Tales* was sold off, and Baird remained editor when it retitled as *Real Detective Tales*.

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Marquis1926_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Marquis1926_1-1) [BAIRD, Edwin](https://archive.org/details/whoswho141926/page/204/mode/2up), in *[Who's Who in America](/source/Who's_Who_in_America)* (1926 edition); p. 204; via [archive.org](/source/Archive.org)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Vincent Starrett](/source/Vincent_Starrett), "Books Alive" (column), *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)*, February 13, 1955. Starrett added several brief details about Baird's life, but gave no further information about his death.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Joshi and Schultz, p. 15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Carter, p. 37.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Joshi and Schultz, p. 305.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Carter, pp. 32-35.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** H. P. Lovecraft, letter to Frank Belknap Long, May 13, 1923; cited in Carter, p. 33.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Carter, pp. 35-37.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Carter, pp. 41-43.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Joshi and Schultz, pp. 304-305.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Joshi and Schultz, p. 14.

## References

- [Lin Carter](/source/Lin_Carter), *[Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos](/source/Lovecraft%3A_A_Look_Behind_the_Cthulhu_Mythos)*. New York: Ballantine Press, 1972.

- [S. T. Joshi](/source/S._T._Joshi) and David E. Schultz, *[An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia](/source/An_H._P._Lovecraft_Encyclopedia)*. New York: Hippocampus Press, 2001.

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