An interesting literary coincidence can be found in a story that appeared on Weird Tales magazine in July 1927.
The tale “The Ultimate Problem,” by Victor Rousseau, originally published in some American newspapers in 1911, revolves around the idea of ​​transferring a person’s soul into a device and, through this, ensuring its survival in this world through subsequent transfer into a younger body. The plot itself is quite intriguing, but that’s not the coincidence.
The fact is that “The Ultimate Problem” is also a key aspect of the principles set forth in the philosophical treatise “The Social Contract,” written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762. This treatise refers, as every student of philosophy knows, to the supposed negative stimuli produced by society that lead to the distancing of individuals, originally inclined to good, towards major flaws in behavior and thought.
It can happen that an author, due to a case of homonymy, shares the same surname with another; less frequently, they publish a work with the same title.
The question that arises, then, is this: was our pulp author aware in 1911 of the existence of this work written by his illustrious namesake a century and a half earlier? And why did he choose to use the same title? Or is it just a coincidence? The reader will have to decide.
MORE PULP MAGAZINES
Four more issues of WEIRD TALES (from July 1927, August 1927, September 1927, October 1927) have been added to our collection available free to users. You can click the image below to see the September 1927 issue.
CLASSIC COMICS
Four stunning issues of RIN TIN TIN (December 1954, December 1955, November 1956, January 1957) have been added to the previous six already present in their section.
CLASSIC MAGAZINES
Finally, also in February, the OLD MAGAZINES section saw the addition of five more PICTURE-PLAY MAGAZINE (August 1922, February 1923, December 1922, January 1923, April 1923) to those already present on their page.
For the month of March we are planning to include the shelter magazine HOUSE & GARDEN, the fascinating periodical focused on interior design, entertaining and gardening that began in the US in 1901.
Friends, that’s all for now.
See you in April on
Davide Dana.
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