The Crystal of Beryl

[Orcadian]

When I was 10 or 11 my brothers and I found in the cellar under our new house a trove of Astounding, Amazing, Fantasic etc pulp fiction magazines. They dated from ~ 1930 to 1940 and were in good condition as the cellar was very dry. I read them all from cover to cover. A few stories stick with me, some of which I've been able to re-find via sites like the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. But one in particular has eluded all searches.

AFAICR the title was something like the The Crystal of Beryl, or The Beryllium Crystal. The story's title page pictured a crystal lattice. Somehow the protagonist has got inside it and is trapped there. The crystal has strange properties that lets him travel in time and space. This picture reminded me of it. Do I jog anyone's memory? Mine hasn't proved very useful! Suggestions also welcome.

 

[Orcadian]

Not sure how to 'bump' things but possibly by replying to my own message I might get this back to the top of the Book Search list? Last June no-one had any suggestions but new members join all the time...

 

[BAYLOR]

Many a new poster joins just to get the name of a book or story and once they get it , we never see them again. it's a bit disappoint when that happens.

 

[Orcadian]

Many a new poster joins just to get the name of a book or story and once they get it , we never see them again. it's a bit disappoint when that happens.

I agree, Baylor. I too find it disappointing when that happens, because there's no sense of closure for the person who solves it. The rest of us still benefit from knowing the answer, though - and you never know, one of us may have been searching for that book - or for something good on that theme.

 

[BAYLOR]

I agree, Baylor. I too find it disappointing when that happens, because there's no sense of closure for the person who solves it. The rest of us still benefit from knowing the answer, though - and you never know, one of us may have been searching for that book - or for something good on that theme.

I think ive help one or two people find a book or storie since ive been here. I like doing that.

 

[tachyon]

Could this be "Philosophers of Stone" by D. L. James, published in the June 1938 Astounding, reviewed here:
Astounding Science-Fiction v21n04, June 1938 (including title page illustrations)

No "beryl" or "beryllium" in the title, but I found the full text at archive.org, one of the characters in the story is a beryl crystal:

Full text of "Astounding v21n04 (1938 06) (Firebelly)"

 

[Orcadian]

Could this be "Philosophers of Stone" by D. L. James, published in the June 1938 Astounding, reviewed here:
Astounding Science-Fiction v21n04, June 1938 (including title page illustrations)

No "beryl" or "beryllium" in the title, but I found the full text at archive.org, one of the characters in the story is a beryl crystal:

Full text of "Astounding v21n04 (1938 06) (Firebelly)"

Wow, Tachyon; thank you for this! I had no idea the full text of some pulp fiction stories is available online. The story you mention (which I've just read) is a good guess but sadly it doesn't ring any bells. The memory of the chap being somehow trapped inside a dimly-lit, multi-dimensional crystal is very clear. I remember him wandering round in there and seeing marvellous sights but I don't recall any aliens. I suppose I may have conflated two stories...