1912 Field and Stream Serial

In 1906, Eltinge Warner had taken command of Field and Stream Magazine.  By 1910, he was publishing the periodical with the byline "Official Organ of the Camp-fire Club. Though the magazine's policy was to not publish works of fiction, Grey's friend and agent, Bob Davis, approached Warner anyway. Eltinge responded, "Anything this good is right for us.” When Grey foolishly questioned Warner regarding whether Field and Stream was the right publication for his story. Eltinge cut him off, “You leave that decision to me!” Between January 1912 and July 1913, Warner published Riders of the Purple Sage in serial form and the rest of Zane Grey's literary success was launched. 

The illustrations in the serial editions of Riders of the Purple Sage brought Grey's words to life during an age when movie were in their infancy and television was only a dream.  Two illustrators contributed their art to the serials. One was the well known comic illustrator, Victor Clyde Forsythe.  The other illustrator was Douglas Duer, who also illustrated Grey's novel Desert Gold (1913).