The iconic list (or at least the starting point) for a
definitive bibliography of all of the titles in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy
series is the one by Lin Carter which appears as “Bibliography II” in his book Imaginary Worlds, published in June
1973, itself a volume of the series. Carter lists 57 numbered volumes of the
series, as published from May 1969 through May 1973. The series would officially last one further
year, bringing the official total to 65 volumes.
But Carter’s list, even when extended with the further
official titles, doesn’t cover outliers that, for one reason or another, seem
like they should be considered as part of the series. There are three main
types of potential outliers—fantasies published by Ballantine 1) before the
series; 2) during the series, and 3) after the end of the series. Carter began
his Bibliography in Imaginary Worlds
by listing sixteen such precursors, noting “they are all books I would certainly
have urged Ballantine to publish.”
I will consider these sixteen titles first, and list them
here with Carter’s numbering.
1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The
Hobbit [published August 1965]
2. J.R.R. Tolkien, The
Fellowship of the Ring
3. J.R.R. Tolkien, The
Two Towers
4. J.R.R. Tolkien, The
Return of the King
5. J.R.R. Tolkien, The
Tolkien Reader
6. E.R. Eddison, The
Worm Ouroboros
7. E.R. Eddison, Mistress
of Mistresses
8. E.R. Eddison, A
Fish Dinner in Memison
9. J.R.R. Tolkien and Donald Swann, The Road Goes Ever On
10. Mervyn Peake, Titus
Groan
11. Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast
12. Mervyn Peake, Titus
Alone
13. David Lindsay, A
Voyage to Arcturus
14. Peter S. Beagle, The
Last Unicorn
15. J.R.R. Tolkien. Smith
of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham
16. E.R. Eddison, The
Mezentian Gate [published April 1969]
The J.R.R. Tolkien books (nos. 1-5, 9 and 15) were never
published under the imprint of the unicorn’s head logo, but some of the others
were.
 |
| Seventh Printing: September 1973 |
Of the E.R. Eddison books (nos. 6-8, and 16), the U.S. “Seventh
Printing (September 1973) of The Worm
Ouroboros is the only printing of any of the titles with the unicorn’s head
logo. The first U.S. printing of The Mezentian Gate, however, is marked
“A Ballantine Adult Fantasy” in small print running up the spine on the upper
cover (it appeared in April 1969, the month before the series proper started). All four Eddison titles were advertised and sold
in their Pan/Ballantine editions as part of the Pan/Ballantine Adult Fantasy
series, though they did not have the unicorn’s head logo.
 |
| Fourth Printing: September 1973 |
Mervyn Peake’s books (nos. 10-12) have the unicorn’s head
logo only on two U.S. printings of each of the three books: the “Fourth Printing: September, 1973” and
the “Fifth Printing: January, 1974”. The
Peake titles were not published in the Pan/Ballantine Adult Fantasy series,
because the U.K. rights were held by another publisher, Penguin Books, who
published editions of all three books in 1968, 1969 and 1970, respectively. The
Penguin editions were reprinted a number of times over the next several years.
 |
| Second Printing: April 1973 |
Two U.S. printings of David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus have the unicorn’s head logo on the cover, the
“Second Printing: April, 1973 (SBN 345-03208-X) and the “Third U.S. Printing:
September, 1973” (SBN 345-23208-9). The
Pan/Ballantine edition of March 1972 (SBN 345-09708-4) has the unicorn’s head
logo on the front cover; the second U.K. printing from 1974 (330-24057-9) has
not been seen.
 |
| Fourth Printing: October 1972 |
As for Peter S. Beagle’s The
Last Unicorn, the unicorn’s head logo appeared on the “Fourth Printing:
October, 1972”, probably on the “Fifth Printing: February 1973” [not seen], and
definitely on the “Sixth Printing: September, 1973” and “Seventh Printing:
February, 1974.” Also, the phrase “A
Ballantine Adult Fantasy” appears in small print running up the spine on the
upper cover, on the first printing (February 1969) through the third printing
(November 1970).
 |
| First Printing: February 1969 |
The Ballantine edition of Peter S. Beagle’s novel A Fine and Private Place also preceded
the series proper. It came out in February 1969, but that the author was Beagle
and that the cover art is by Gervasio Gallardo make it of interest to fans of
the series. Also, as with The Last
Unicorn and Eddison’s Mezentian Gate,
the words “A Ballantine Adult Fantasy” appear in small print running up the
spine on the upper cover.
 |
| First Printing: March 1969 |
Carter’s list excluded his own Tolkien: A Look Behind “The Lord of the Rings,” “First Printing:
March, 1969,” which came out just before the series started. It is not usually
considered to be part of the series, but it is probably of interest to most
fans of the series.
Next come the various titles published by Ballantine while
the series proper was ongoing (May 1969 through April 1974) that have some
elements in common with the Ballantine
Adult Fantasy series, but which were never considered as officially part
of the series.
 |
| First Printing: February 1971 |
H.P. Lovecraft. Fungi
from Yuggoth and Other Poems. “First Printing: February, 1971”
This is a retitling of Lovecraft’s Collected Poems (1963), as edited by August Derleth and published
by Arkham House. The Ballantine Adult
Fantasy series published other Lovecraft title, with cover art (as here) by
Gervasio Gallardo.
 |
| Second Printing: February 1971 |
H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth. The Survivor and Others. “Second Printing: February 1971” This title was first published by Arkham House
in 1957, and Ballantine published a first printing in mass market paperback in
August 1962. For this Second Printing, a new cover was commissioned from
Gervasio Gallardo. That these stories are bylined as “by H.P. Lovecraft and
August Derleth” is a fraud. They were
entirely written by Derleth, who claimed them to be “posthumous collaborations”
based on notes by Lovecraft, but these notes were (when discernable) minor idea
fragments that barely resemble the stories Derleth wrote.
 |
| Fourth Printing: November 1971 |
Sometime, Never (“Fourth Printing: November, 1971”) was
originally published by Ballantine in June 1957. It consists of three tales of “science
Fantasy” by William Golding, John Wyndham, and Mervyn Peake. It was reprinted
in September 1957, November 1962, and in November 1971 when it was given a new
cover by Gervasio Gallardo. The classic
Peake story, “Boy in Darkness,” and the Gervasio Gallardo cover make it of
special interest to fans of the series.
 |
| First Printing: November 1971 |
Isidore Haiblum. The
Tsaddik of the Seven Wonders. “First Printing: December, 1971”. This title is occasionally erroneously
included in lists of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, but it had only one
printing, and it never had the unicorn’s head logo on it. It is called by the
publisher on the cover a Science Fantasy Novel.
The cover art is by David McCall Johnston, who did other covers in the
Ballantine Adult Fantasy series proper.
 |
| First Printing: February 1972 |
Lin Carter. Lovecraft:
A Look Behind the “Cthulhu Mythos.”
“First Printing: February, 1972” Of
Carter’s three works of nonfiction published by Ballantine, his Tolkien book preceded the Adult Fantasy
series proper, and his Imaginary Worlds
book was included as part of the series. Why his book on Lovecraft was not
included in the series is unknown, but beside Carter’s authorship, and the subject,
the cover art is by Gervasio Gallardo, and these three points make it of
interest to fans of the series.
Finally, the last of the outliers come from June to November
1974, and comprise two books published after retirement of the unicorn's head logo. These were originally intended for the series
before it was cancelled. The first has a Carter introduction and the second
completes a set of four begun during the series proper.
 |
| First Printing: June 1974 |
H. Warner Munn. Merlin's
Ring. “First Printing: June, 1974” Munn’s book was clearly intended for the
series, as it has the usual Lin Carter introduction proclaiming it to be in the
series, and the wraparound cover art is by Gervasio Gallardo. It is among Gallardo’s
very best. There remains a small white
circle on the front cover, here filled with the words “First Time in Print” but
which was likely intended to house the usual unicorn’s head logo. A volume of
associational interest, Merlin’s Godson
by H. Warner Munn, came out as a “Ballantine Fantasy” with a gryphon logo on
the cover in September 1976. It contains two prequel novellas, “King of the
World’s Edge” and “The Ship from Atlantis,” originally published in 1939 and
1967 respectively.
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| First Printing: November 1974 |
Evangeline Walton. Prince
of Annwn. “First Printing: November, 1974” This is the final volume of
Walton’s reworkings of the four branches of the Mabinogion. The first three
were published as part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series proper, and
doubtless the fourth volume would have been too, if the series hadn’t ended
some six months earlier. And instead of
an introduction by Lin Carter, Prince of
Annwn has a puff piece from an article by Patrick Merla published in a
November 1972 issue of The Saturday
Review, that was also used to replace Carter’s introductions in the other
three volumes as they had been reprinted.
The cover art is by David McCall Johnston, who also did the cover art
for the second and third volumes of Walton’s series.
 |
| First Printing: July 1975 |
Also of interest to readers and collectors of the series is
the one-volume edition of William Morris’s The
Well at the World’s End which was published in July 1975 (345244826 $2.95), and reprinted in May 1977 (now labelled
a “Ballantine Fantasy Classic,” 0345272390
$2.95), which uses two panels of Gervasio Gallardo’s art from covers of
the two volume edition.
Any one care to suggest other possibilities?
Please do so in the comments below.
Update (8/26/18): Per the second comment below, I add here the cover of
Tales of a Dalai Lama by Pierre Delattre, published by Ballantine in January 1973 (345030486 $1.25), cover art by Philippe Gravesz.
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| First Printing: January 1973 |
Update (9/29/18): Here's another outlier of interest. For the sixth printing (June 1969), the seventh (January 1971), and the eighth (July 1971), Ballantine used a Bob Pepper cover on the classic Ray Bradbury collection
The October Country (first published in mass market paperback by Ballantine in April 1956):
Update (2/2/2026). Another Bob Pepper cover from the July 1971 printing of
Fahrenheit 451.
