Ballantine Books
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Parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House | | |
Founded | 1952 | |
---|---|---|
Founder | ||
Country of origin | United States | |
Headquarters location | New York City, New York | |
Official website | randomhousebooks |
Ballantine Books is a major American book
Ballantine's original logo was a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back, later changing to two Bs stacked to form an elaborate gate.[3] The firm's early editors were Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff.[4]
History
Following Fawcett Publications' controversial 1950 introduction of Gold Medal paperback originals rather than reprints, Lion Books, Avon and Ace also decided to publish originals. In 1952, Ian Ballantine, a founder of Bantam Books, announced that he would "offer trade publishers a plan for simultaneous publishing of original titles in two editions, a hardcover 'regular' edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, 'newsstand' size, low-priced edition for mass market sale."[5]
When the first Ballantine Book,
On the heels of that kind of sales and publicity, other Ballantine titles were seen in
Science fiction and fantasy books
During the early 1950s, Ballantine attracted attention as one of the leading publishers of paperback
Ballantine's science fiction line also included the unusual Star Science Fiction Stories. With cover paintings by Richard Powers, this innovative anthology series offered new fiction rather than reprints. Edited by Frederik Pohl, it attracted readers by successfully combining the formats of both magazines and paperbacks.
In the early 1960s, the company engaged in a well-known rivalry with Ace Books for the rights to reprint the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Edgar Rice Burroughs in paperback form. Ballantine prevailed in the struggle for the Tolkien work, with their editions of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings including a message on the back cover from Tolkien himself urging consumers to buy Ballantine's version and boycott "unauthorized editions" (i.e. the version from Ace Books). A separate Canadian edition of the books was published with different front cover art work. Tolkien asked for (and received) permission to add the back cover message. Betty Ballantine recalled: "And we did put a little statement on the back covers saying that Ace was not paying royalties to Professor Tolkien, and everybody who admired Lord of the Rings should only buy our paperback edition. Well, everybody got behind us. There was literally no publication that did not carry some kind of outraged article. And of course, the whole science fiction fraternity got behind the book; this was their meat and drink."[4]
In 1969, Lin Carter edited the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which brought a number of rare titles back into print, as well as launching Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series. During the mid-1970s, Ballantine published the Star Trek Logs, a ten-volume series of Alan Dean Foster adaptations of the animated Star Trek. In 1968, Ballantine published a non-fiction book related to Star Trek, The Making of Star Trek by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry.
In 1976, Ballantine published the novelization of a forthcoming science fiction film, Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas (ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster). The book, like the film Star Wars released the following year, was an enormous success and sold out its initial print run. In the first three months, Ballantine sold 3.5 million copies.[8][9]
Cartoons, comics and humor books
After publishing The World of Li'l Abner, Ballantine introduced
As an editor at Ballantine during the 1950s and 1960s, Bernard Shir-Cliff handled the
Another contributor to both Ballantine and the Kurtzman magazines was the cartoonist-author
Ballantine has also been the publisher of books featuring Jim Davis' comic strip Garfield since 1980.
Ballantine authors
- Steve Berry
- Allison Brennan
- Suzanne Brockmann
- Terry Brooks
- Harriet Brown
- Jack L Chalker
- Meg Waite Clayton
- Bill Dedman
- Carol S. Dweck
- Julie Garwood
- Tess Gerritsen
- Emily Giffin
- Tommy Hilfiger
- Linda Howard
- Charlie Huston
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Demetria Martinez
- C. Wright Mills
- Anne Perry
- Elizabeth Rosner
- Jeff Shaara
- Angus Wells
Book series
- Ballantine Adult Fantasy series
- Ballantine Books[11]
- Ballantine's Classic Library of Science Fiction[12]
- Ballantine's Illustrated History of the Car[13][14]
- Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II (published in U.K. as: The Pan/Ballantine Illustrated History of World War II); later retitled as: Ballantine's Illustrated History of the Violent Century
- Ballantine Walden Edition[15][16]
- Beagle Books
- Comstock Editions[17]
- Mockingbird Books[18][19]
- The Pan/Ballantine Illustrated History of the First World War[20][21]
Imprints
- Ballantine Books
- Ballantine Reader's Circle
- Comstock Editions
- Del Rey
- Del Rey/LucasBooks
- Fawcett
- Ivy
- Mockingbird Books
- One World
- Presidio Press[22]
- Wellspring
Footnotes
References
- ^ "Imprints - Random House Books". www.randomhousebooks.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
- ^ "Random House in Deal For Ballantine Books". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ "Random House Books". www.randomhousebooks.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9781429989213. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
- ^ a b "Crider, Bill. "Paperback Originals," Paperback Forum #1". Miskatonic.org. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
- ^ a b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
- Empire of Dreams(DVD). US: Lucasfilm.
- ISBN 9781136830631. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
- ^ Eney, Dick. Fancyclopedia II. Bladensburg, Maryland: Operation Crifanac, 1959.
- ^ Ballantine Books (Ballantine Books, Inc.) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Ballantine's Classic Library of Science Fiction, isfdb.org. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Ballantine's Illustrated History of the Car, librarything.com, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Ballantines Illustrated History of the Car, doftw.com. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ se:Ballantine Walden Edition, worldcat.org. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Ballantine Walden Edition (Ballantine Books, Inc.) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Comstock Editions (Ballantine Books) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Mockingbird Books, qpbseries.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Mockingbird Books (Ballantine Books) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Illustrated History of the First World War, librarything.com, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Covers from the Ballantine; Pan/Ballantine; and Purnell illustrated history of series of books, doftw.com. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
Further reading
- J. Grant Thiessen in Science-Fiction Collector #6 offered a detailed listing of all Ballantine science fiction, fantasy and horror titles from 1953 to 1976, including later printings.
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database documents all science fiction, fantasy, and horror publications of specific authors and titles by Ballantine-Del Rey Books. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database