Lester del Rey's Uncle and THE SCALES OF JUSTICE
After gaining some good traction on how Del Rey Books brilliantly marketed a so-so fantasy novel, I’ve figured out that blog posts on long forgotten novels are the key to internet fame. So, let's milk this cow dry! Today's entry: Dr. George L. Knapp and The Scales of Justice (1910) . For the record, this is not an SFF novel ... but, naturally, it has a heavy biographical connection to fantasy. You see, George Knapp was uncle to Lester del Rey -- and a hugely influential uncle, at that. In 1931, Uncle George offered to finance his nephew's education at George Washington University, even putting the kid up in his own house, despite (probably) never having met Lester in person. Nor was George Knapp especially close to his half-brother, Lester's father Wright, either. (**If you're wondering at the names, Lester was originally "Leonard Knapp.") But Uncle George wasn't just extremely generous. During his time, Dr. Knapp was a highly prominent public fig...