From the Wish List: Ballantine Adult Fantasy

 

“The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which were out of print or dispersed in back issues of pulp magazines (or otherwise not easily available in the United States), in cheap paperback form—including works by authors such as James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, Ernest Bramah, Hope Mirrlees, and William Morris. The series lasted until 1974.

“Envisioned by the husband-and-wife team of Ian and Betty Ballantine, and edited by Lin Carter, it featured cover art by illustrators such as Gervasio Gallardo, Robert LoGrippo, David McCall Johnston, and Bob Pepper. The agreement signed between the Ballantines and Carter on November 22, 1968, launched the project. In addition to the reprints comprising the bulk of the series, some new fantasy works were published as well as a number of original collections and anthologies put together by Carter, and Imaginary Worlds, his general history of the modern fantasy genre.” – Wikipedia.

As it was, this wave of Fantasy was published just a little too early to gain my immediate attention (I was only 10 in 1973, after all), but I benefitted from its fall-out for years to come, snapping up random volumes at used bookstores whenever they grabbed my attention. I’m sure there were many that I passed by over the years, no doubt repelled by their strange and sometimes off-putting appearances to my past sensibilities (often judging a book by its cover). Some volumes in the series I bought in other editions; some I bought and later sold. These are selections in the series I would like to check out; they range from about $10 - $50. I used to have the first volume of The Night Land, and I know I passed by the Orlando Furioso because it was the only volume and therefore incomplete. Not quite sure how or why this whim has overtaken my morning today.