How to collect the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

One of the most famous and collectible of the early genre series is the renowned Fantasy series for adults published by Ballantine Books between 1969 and 1974. The series grew out of the popularity of Ballantine’s paperbacks from the now-famous JRR Tolkien quartet, as well as several other fantasy classics seen in paperbacks for the first time. Building on the success of the first set of books and seeing a growing desire for fantasy literature, Ian and Betty Ballantine enlisted author and publisher Lin Carter to produce a series of fantasy paperbacks. Carter produced a seminal fantasy series that included many works that had been out of print and unavailable for some time.

The series is identifiable by a distinctive “Unicorn Head” colophon in the upper right corner and / or the phrase “A Ballantine Adult Fantasy” in the upper left corner of the cover. The colophon was redesigned in December 1969 and appears first in that month’s publication, Hannes Bok’s. The Sorcerer’s Ship. Each post also featured an introduction by Carter.

Most of the BAF series collectors include the sixteen books published by Ballantine prior to the start of the series, beginning with Tolkien’s The Hobbit, as precursors of the official series. Also usually included are two non-fiction books by Lin Carter himself on the works of JRR Tolkien and HP Lovecraft.

Additionally, two other books are commonly considered part of the BAF series, although they were published after the series’ colophon was removed. The first, published in June 1974, is that of H. Warner Munn. Merlin’s Ring which includes the introduction of Carter and the second, that of Evangeline Walton Prince of Annwn, which lacks the Carter logo and introduction, but completes the Mabinogi cycle initiated by Walton’s three books published under the Unicorn Head colophon.

Because it is a pocket-size series, has a well-defined checklist, a finite number of books, and the generally inexpensive cost of most BAF titles, collecting the series is easy and satisfying. Copies of many of the books appear frequently at yard sales and used bookstores. Dealers at conventions often have several titles available and much of the series is available online. It is an excellent series for the beginning collector.

All books in the series had a distinctive Unicorn’s Head colophon on the cover and included an introduction by Carter.

Series Precursors (August 1965 – April 1969)

Ballantine’s initial fantasy line, published before Carter was hired as editor and considered the inspiration for the series.

1. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien (August 1965)
2. The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien (October 1965)
3. The two Towers, JRR Tolkien (October 1965)
4. The return of the King, JRR Tolkien (December 1965)
5. Tolkien’s reader, JRR Tolkien (September 1966)
6. The Ouroboros worm, ER Eddison (April 1967 – later reprinted with colophon)
7. Lover of lovers, ER Eddison (August 1967)
8. Fish dinner in Memison, ER Eddison (February 1968)
9. The road goes on, JRR Tolkien and Donald Swann (October 1968)
10. Titus groan, Mervyn Peake (October 1968 – later reprinted with colophon)
11. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake (October 1968 – later reprinted with colophon)
12. Titus alone, Mervyn Peake (October 1968 – later reprinted with colophon)
13. A trip to Arcturus, David Lindsay (November 1968 – later reprinted with colophon)
14. The last unicorn, Peter S. Beagle (February 1969 – later reprinted with colophon)
15. Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham, JRR Tolkien (March 1969)
16. The Mezentian Gate, ER Eddison (April 1969)

The BAF series proper (May 1969 – April 1974)

Based on a listing by Lin Carter in Imaginary worlds (June 1973), with the inclusion of additional volumes published up to the end of the series in 1974.

1. The blue star, Fletcher Pratt (May 1969)
2. The daughter of the king of the land of the elves, Lord Dunsany (June 1969)
3. Wood beyond the world, William Morris (July 1969)
4. The silver stallion, James Branch Cabell (August 1969)
5. Lilith, George Macdonald (September 1969)
6. Dragons, Elves and Heroes, Lin Carter, ed. (October 1969)
7. The young magicians, Lin Carter, ed. (October 1969)
8. Figures of the Earth, James Branch Cabell (November 1969)
9. The Sorcerer’s Ship, Hannes Bok (December 1969)
10. Land of unreason, Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp (January 1970)
11. The high place, James Branch Cabell (February 1970)
12. Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees (March 1970)
13. On the edge of the world, Lord Dunsany (March 1970)
14. Phantastes, George Macdonald (April 1970)
15. The search for the dream of the unknown Kadath, HP Lovecraft (May 1970)
16. Zothique, Clark Ashton Smith (June 1970)
17. Shagpat’s shave, George Meredith (July 1970)
18. The island of the mighty, Evangeline Walton (July 1970)
19. Deryni Rising, Katherine Kurtz (August 1970)
20. The Well at the End of the World, Vol. 1, William Morris (August 1970)
21. The Well at the End of the World, Vol. 2, William Morris (September 1970)
22. Golden Cities, Far, Lin Carter, ed. (October 1970)
23. Beyond the golden staircase, Hannes Bok (November 1970)
24. The broken sword, Poul Anderson (January 1971)
25. The ships of the ‘Glen Carrig’, William Hope Hodgson (February 1971)
26. The doom that came to Sarnath, HP Lovecraft (February 1971)
27. Something about eva, James Branch Cabell (March 1971)
28. Red Moon and Black Mountain, Joy Chant (March 1971)
29. Hyperborea, Clark Ashton Smith (April 1971)
30. Don Rodríguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley, Lord Dunsany (May 1971)
31. Vathek, William Beckford (June 1971)
32. The man who was Thursday, GK Chesterton (July 1971)
33. The children of Llyr, Evangeline Walton (August 1971)
34. The cream of the joke, James Branch Cabell (September 1971)
35. New worlds for old, Lin Carter, ed. (September 1971)
36. The Spawn of Cthulhu, Lin Carter, ed. (October 1971)
37. Double phoenix, Edmund Cooper and Roger Lancelyn Green (November 1971)
38. The water of the wonderful islands, William Morris (November 1971)
39. Khaled, F. Marion Crawford (December 1971)
40. The world’s desire, H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang (January 1972)
41. Xiccarph, Clark Ashton Smith (February 1972)
42. The lost continent, CJ Cutcliffe-Hyne (February 1972)
43. Discoveries in fantasy, Lin Carter, ed. (March 1972)
44. Domnei, James Branch Cabell (March 1972)
45. The Golden Hours of Kai Lung, Ernest Bramah (April 1972)
46. Deryni’s checkmate, Katherine Kurtz (May 1972)
47. Beyond the fields we know, Lord Dunsany (May 1972)
48. The three impostors, Arthur Machen (June 1972)
49. The land of the night, vol. 1, William Hope Hodgson (July 1972)
50. The land of the night, vol. 2, William Hope Hodgson (July 1972)
51. Rhiannon’s song, Evangeline Walton (August 1972)
52. Great Adult Fantasy Short Novels # 1, Lin Carter, ed. (September 1972)
53. Evenor, George Macdonald (November 1972)
54. Orlando Furioso: Angelica’s Ring, Volume 1, Ludovico Ariosto, translated by Richard Hodgens (January 1973)
55. The shadow of the maid, Lord Dunsany (February 1973)
56. Great Adult Fantasy Short Novels No. 2, Lin Carter, ed. (March 1973)
57. The crumbling flood, William Morris (May 1973)
58. Imaginary worlds, Lin Carter (June 1973)
59. Poseidonis, Clark Ashton Smith (July 1973)
60. Excalibur, Sanders Anne Laubenthal (August 1973)
61. Upper Deryni, Katherine Kurtz (September 1973)
62. The saga of Hrolf Kraki, Poul Anderson (October 1973)
63. The fog people, H. Rider Haggard (December 1973)
64. Kai Lung unrolls his mat, Ernest Bramah (February 1974)
65. Over the hills and far away, Lord Dunsany (April 1974)

Additional books associated with the series

Released after the Unicorn Head colophon was removed, these are generally included with the series. The first has an introduction by Carter and the second lacks an introduction by Carter, but completes a set that began under his editorial direction. Neither has the series’ colophon on the cover.

1. Merlin’s Ring, H. Warner Munn (June 1974)
2. Prince of annwn, Evangeline Walton (November 1974)

Supplementary books associated with the series

1. Tolkien: a look behind the lord of the rings, Lin Carter (March 1969)
2. Lovecraft: a look behind the myths of Cthulhu, Lin Carter (February 1972)