Urania (magazine)

Urania is an Italian science fiction book series published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore since 10 October 1952.

Short story collections were thenceforth published in the main series, which at its height had a weekly periodicity with a circulation of 160,000 copies a month.

Since the very beginning Urania has been indeed the best selling SF magazine of Italy, also introducing to Italian readers some famed authors like Isaac Asimov, Alfred Elton van Vogt, Robert A. Heinlein, J. G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick and many others.

First covers were by Carlo Jacono and Kurt Caesar, but the "golden era" of the magazine was marked by the renowned Dutch painter Karel Thole, who introduced his unparalleled, bizarre medley of surrealism, horror, classical citations and sense of humour.

The magazine sprung a great deal of spin-off series, mostly short-lived and ceased today: For many years Urania included a comic strip section: main titles were B.C.

Cover for a number of Urania , featuring Alan Dean Foster 's The Mocking Program .
Cover of the first novel from the book series I Romanzi di Urania : The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke , 10 October 1952.
A cover by Karel Thole for Millemondi , a spin-off series of reprints or short stories collections.
A cover by Franco Brambilla for an issue of Urania Collezione , a reprint of Philip J. Farmer 's The Maker of Universes .