The first is The World of Lovecraft (SBN 345-01300-X, $3.80). It contained four books, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Survivor and Others, The Fungi from Yuggoth and Other Poems, and The Doom That Came to Sarnath. I understand it contains (though I don't have this set myself) the Second Printing, July 1971, of Dream-Quest; the First Printing, February 1971, of Doom; the Second Printing, February 1971, of The Survivor; and the Second Printing, February 1971, of Fungi. I suspect that the boxed set came out in July 1971, with the new printing of Dream-Quest.
The second is The Gormenghast Trilogy (SBN 345-23525-8, $3.75). This came out in September 1973, containing Fourth Printings of all three volumes.
The third is the Evangeline Walton set (SBN 345-24208-4, $6.00). This came out in November 1974, when Prince of Annwn was first published. It contains a Second Printing of The Island of the Mighty, a Second Printing of The Children of Llyr, a Third U.S. Printing of The Sword of Rhiannon, and a First Printing of Prince of Annwn, all dated November 1974. Technically, this boxed set post-dates the series proper.
Interestingly, Ballantine published three posters related to the series. These all showcase artwork by Gervasio Gallardo, but his illustrations for the Lovecraft covers are not really his best work. I have somewhat shabby copies of all three posters, and have (with difficulty) photographed them. All three were issued in the Spring of 1971, priced $2.50 each.
An another front, my copy of Excalibur by Sanders Anne Laubenthal has a review slip in it:
And finally, some of the file copies owned by Betty and Ian Ballantine were sold in the past, and my Cabellian friend Bill Lloyd (see The Silver Stallion website) sent me this scan:
Does anyone know of further Ballantine Adult Fantasy series ephemera? I'd be glad to hear of any such items.
Interesting! I knew of the Peake boxed set, but that's about it. I wonder how widely Ballantine distributed those boxed sets and posters. I'd have thought there was a good chance I'd have seen them in Oregon or California.
ReplyDeleteDale Nelson
Thanks for posting this. I have review copies of Poseidonis and Merlin's Ring. I would send pics, but Heaven knows what box they are in.
ReplyDeleteBob McCune
I know that feeling about the problems of finding stuff one knows one has!
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