Ace Books: Difference between revisions

From Tolkien Gateway
mNo edit summary
No edit summary
(15 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Ace Books''' is infamous for their unauthorized United States publication of [[The Lord of the Rings]].
'''Ace Books''' is an American publishing company of fantasy and science fiction books that was edited by [[Donald A. Wollheim]]. Ace Books published an unauthorized edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.


In 1965 Ace Books discovered a copyright loophole in the American edition of The Lord of the Rings by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. The [[Houghton Mifflin]] edition had been bound using pages printed in the United Kingdom for the [[George Allen & Unwin]] edition. This placed them outside of U.S. copyright law as it stood at the time. Exploiting this loophole, Ace Books published the first ever paperback edition of Tolkien's work, featuring cover art and hand-drawn title pages by [[Jack Gaughan]] which, startlingly, depicted a lion in (presumably)[[The Shire]]. After considerable controversy and the release of a competitive, authorized (and more complete) edition by [[Ballantine Books]], Ace agreed to pay royalties to Tolkien and let its still-popular edition go out of print.
In [[1965]], Ace Books discovered a copyright loophole regarding the American edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'' by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. The [[Houghton Mifflin]] edition had been bound using pages printed in the United Kingdom for the [[Allen and Unwin|George Allen & Unwin]] edition. This placed them outside of U.S. copyright law as it stood at the time. Exploiting this loophole, Ace Books published the first ever paperback edition of Tolkien's work, for only $0.75,<ref name=rc>{{HM|RC}}, p. xl</ref> featuring cover art and hand-drawn title pages by [[Jack Gaughan]].  


In the meantime Tolkien learned about this and was asked to make revisions in order to renew the copyright; after the release of a competitive, authorized (and more complete) edition by [[Houghton Mifflin]] and [[Ballantine Books]],<ref name=rc/> and a considerable controversy, Ace agreed to pay royalties to Tolkien and let its still-popular edition go out of print.<ref>{{WP|Ace Books#Mid-1960s}}</ref>
{{references}}
[[Category:Publishers]]
[[Category:Publishers]]
[[Category:American businesses]]

Revision as of 16:35, 12 December 2022

Ace Books is an American publishing company of fantasy and science fiction books that was edited by Donald A. Wollheim. Ace Books published an unauthorized edition of The Lord of the Rings.

In 1965, Ace Books discovered a copyright loophole regarding the American edition of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Houghton Mifflin edition had been bound using pages printed in the United Kingdom for the George Allen & Unwin edition. This placed them outside of U.S. copyright law as it stood at the time. Exploiting this loophole, Ace Books published the first ever paperback edition of Tolkien's work, for only $0.75,[1] featuring cover art and hand-drawn title pages by Jack Gaughan.

In the meantime Tolkien learned about this and was asked to make revisions in order to renew the copyright; after the release of a competitive, authorized (and more complete) edition by Houghton Mifflin and Ballantine Books,[1] and a considerable controversy, Ace agreed to pay royalties to Tolkien and let its still-popular edition go out of print.[2]

References