Collectible Paperback Imprints
December 21st, 2006 by Alan Chudnow
Not too long ago I talked about the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series and the Ace Science Fiction Special series as possible themes for a nice paperback collection. Here are a few more imprints that are excellent choices for paperback collectors.
- Ace Doubles – The original Ace Books series that began in 1952. Mostly comprised of titles in the science fiction, mystery, and western genres in the dos-à-dos format. Between 1952 and 1968, the books had a letter-series identifier; after that date they were given five digit numeric serial numbers. The “D” series in particular is highly collectible for SF fans as it includes many excellent paperback originals (PBO).
- Avon Fantasy Readers – A digest anthology series of 18 magazines published between 1947 and 1952, the series featured reprints of classic stories from the pulps and wonderful cover art.
- Ballantine Originals- Created in the early 1950s Ballantine Books published a large number of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror PBOs. A number of seminal works from authors including Pohl Anderson, James Blish, Arthur Clarke, Phillip Jose Farmer, Larry Niven and a whole raft of others were published under this imprint. The series is also coveted for the many wonderful Richard Powers covers.
- Ballantine Star Series – A series of six (as far as I know) anthologies edited by Frederick Pohl from 1953 to 1959. I’ve found it cited by a number of sources as the first original SF anthology series.
- DAW Books – An imprint of New American Library started by Donald A. Wollheim in 1972. Until July-1984 all DAW books were characterized by yellow spines and a prominent yellow cover box containing the company’s logo as well as a chronological publication number. When the design was changed the chronological number was retained but moved to the copyright page and renamed the “DAW Collectors’ Book Number”. (Source: Wikipedia) Collecting this series would be a massive undertaking as there are currently more than 1300 titles under the imprint. A title list can be found here.
- Laser Books – An imprint of Harlequin Books, the series is comprised of 58 PBO books published between 1975 and 1977. Featured books include early work from Tim Powers and K.W. Jeter. Collectible also for the wonderful cover paintings of Hugo Award winner Kelly Freas. I’ve posted a Title Checklist on the Collecting SF website.
- Timescape Books – A 1980s imprint of Pocket Books. The series published a number of PBOs from authors like Keith Laumer, Barry Malzberg, Jerry Pournelle, Norman Spinrad and others.
Any particular favorites I didn’t mention? Let me know.
[...] I have “collected” a copy of each Hugo Award-winning novel but they certainly are not necessarily collector’s editions. SF Bookworm has some good suggestions on imprints that are good choices if you’re interested in collecting SF books. [...]