David G. Hartwell, an editor who brought a literary sensibility to genres like horror, fantasy and science fiction, working with Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick and other notable authors, has died. He was 74.

He was declared brain-dead on Jan. 20 at a hospital in Plattsburgh, N.Y., after falling down the stairs the day before at his home in Westport, N.Y., said his wife, the writer and editor Kathryn Cramer.

Mr. Hartwell worked at several publishing houses before starting as a consulting editor at Tor/Forge Books in the early 1980s. At his death, he was a senior editor there. He was nominated more than 40 times for Hugo Awards, among the most prominent prizes in science fiction, and won three times for editing.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden, a senior editor at Tor, said in an email that Mr. Hartwell had edited and published hundreds of books, including Mr. Dick’s novels “The Divine Invasion,” “The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” and “Radio Free Albemuth,” as well as novels in Mr. Herbert’s “Dune” saga and Gene Wolfe’s “The Book of the New Sun” series.