Lancer Books
Status | Defunct (1973) |
---|---|
Founded | 1961 |
Founder | Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius |
Successor | Kensington Books |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | 26 West 47th Street; later 185 Madison Avenue,[1] New York City, New York |
Key people |
|
Publication types | Books |
Fiction genres | Science fiction, fantasy |
Lancer Books was a publisher of
History
The founders: Stein and Zacharius
Walter Zacharius (1923–2011) was a Brooklyn native who served in the Army in
After working for a Chicago newspaper, in 1949 Irwin Stein returned to New York, where he wrote comic book scripts for
Foundation of Lancer
As various genre magazines became less common, Stein decided to close down Royal Publications and begin publishing
Lancer Books imprints include: Domino (adults-only), Oracle Books (soft-porn), and Valentine Books (romance).[5][6][7]
Bankruptcy and Kensington Books
The company filed for bankruptcy in September 1973. In 1974, Zacharius and
Genres
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/eb/Phoenix_Prime_%28Ted_White_novel_-_book_cover%29.jpg/200px-Phoenix_Prime_%28Ted_White_novel_-_book_cover%29.jpg)
Lancer's science fiction and science-fantasy[8] books were noted for the frequent use of cover art by Frank Frazetta. Frazetta began doing covers for Lancer with John Benyon Harris's The Secret People (1964) and Ted White's Phoenix Prime (1966),[8] and later did several covers for Lancer's Conan series.
In addition to science fiction and heroic fantasy, Lancer published private detective adventures with sexual themes,
Lancer Books published paperback editions of classic novels, reprinting
. Besides the complete and unabridged text, each book included a brief, unsigned biographical article about the author. Because the works were in the public domain, Lancer included a copyright notice for the special contents (i.e., the biographical information) for each book.Lancer also published books of social commentary, such as The Angry Black, edited by John Williams. Lancer's popular culture titles included The Beatle Book (1964). Comic strips were collected in Broom-Hilda (1971).
References
- ^ a b c d Grimes, William. "Walter Zacharius, Romance Publisher, Dies at 87", The New York Times (March 7, 2011).
- ^ Fowle, Farnsworth. "Two Publishers Vie for Rights To 'Candy' Paperback Edition," New York Times (January 08, 1965).
- ^ Benson, John. "Interview with Irwin Stein", Confessions, Romances, Secrets, & Temptations: Archer St. John and the St. John Romance Comics. Fantagraphics Books, 2007.
- ^ Ashley, Mike. Gateway to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines, 1970-1980, Liverpool University Press, 2007.
- ^ "Lancer Books". AustLit. University of Queensland. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ "The Young Lusters by Sharon, Sylvia [pseudonym used by Paul Little]: Paperback (1969)". abebooks. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ "Sex Cultists by TRAUBE, Ruy: Near Fine Softcover (1969)". abebooks. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ a b c White, Ted (1966). Phoenix Prime. Lancer Books. pp. 190, 194.
- ^ Mount Saint Vincent University: Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection Archived 2007-10-10 at the Wayback Machine