Donald A. Wollheim
| Donald A. Wollheim | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Born | 1 October 1914 |
| Died | 2 November 1990 |
| Location | Unites States |
| Website | Donald A. Wollheim at Wikipedia |
Donald Allen Wollheim (1 October 1914 – 2 November 1990) was an American editor, publisher and writer. He was the editor of Ace Books and published an unauthorized paperback edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in three volumes — the first mass-market paperback edition in America.
Ace Books controversy
In a 2006 interview, his daughter Elizabeth Rosalind Wollheim said:
{{blockquote|He called Professor Tolkien in 1964 and asked if he could publish Lord of the Rings as Ace paperbacks. Tolkien said he would never allow Lord of the Rings, his great work, to appear in 'so degenerate a form’ as the paperback book. Don was one of the fathers of the entire paperback industry. He'd spearheaded the Ace line, he was the originating editor-in-chief of the Avon paperback list in 1945, and I think he was hurt and took it personally. He did a little research and discovered a loophole in the copyright. Houghton Mifflin, Tolkien’s American hardcover publisher, had neglected to protect the work in the United States. So, incensed by Tolkien’s response, he realized that he could legally publish the trilogy and did. [1]
See Also
