BALLANTINE BOOKS

   US publishing company founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine (1916-1995), who had previously helped found BANTAM BOOKS, and Betty Ballantine; for the first six months BB operated from their apartment. Although it was a general publisher, an important priority was the prestigious sf list, the first of its kind in paperback, with many original works, many of which were - until 1958 - published simultaneously as hardbacks. BB's first sf novel was THE SPACE MERCHANTS (1953) by Frederik POHL and C.M.KORNBLUTH; Pohl also edited BB's Star series of ANTHOLOGIES. By the end of 1953, BB had also published Ray BRADBURY's FAHRENHEIT 451, Arthur C.CLARKE's CHILDHOOD'S END, Ward MOORE's BRING THE JUBILEE, Theodore STURGEON's MORE THAN HUMAN, and others. The list of regular authors resembles an sf roll of honour: figures in later years included James BLISH, Fritz LEIBER, Larry NIVEN and many others. Almost 100 early Ballantine covers featured artwork by Richard POWERS, much of it semi-abstract; meant to emphasize the modernity and innovative quality of the fiction, the effect was wider than that: it was as if sf had suddenly grown up. The Powers covers were one of the symbols of sf's growth to maturity. Ballantine became a division of Random House in 1973, and the two Ballantines left in 1974. Judy-Lynn DEL REY became sf editor, and in 1976 her husband Lester DEL REY took over the fantasy list initiated by Lin CARTER. In 1977 the sf/fantasy imprint was renamed DEL REY BOOKS. Since that time some sf has been published under the original Ballantine imprint, but this has mostly been borderline sf or sometimes, as with novels by Michael CRICHTON, sf books for which a substantial mainstream sale is expected. In 1990 the combined imprints of Ballantine, Del Rey and Fawcett, all under the same ownership, were running fifth in the USA in terms of the number of sf/fantasy/horror titles published. Further reading: Ballantine Books: The First Decade: A Bibliographical History \& Guide of the Publisher's Early Years (1987) by David Aronovitz. See also: HUGO.