ACE Single Title Paperbacks

Series -A 

The A letter-number series of ACE paperbacks were published from 1967 to 1968 and priced at 75¢. There are 30 numbers in this series. However, there is one oddball volume - ACE number A-130 is actually part of the K letter-number series and bears the A prefix because it was priced at 75¢.

NUMBER	TITLE	FRONT COVER	COVER BY	BACK COVER	EXTRA IMAGE/S	AUTHOR	GENRE	DATE	PRICE	EDITION	NOTES
A-001	The Shame and The Glory					Brigitte Von Tessin	Historical Fiction	1966	$0.75		Original cover art for The Shame and The Glory. Acrylic on board.  15" x 20." Close up of figures.  Publisher notes and ACE letter-number on verso.  No signature.
A-002	Sex and the Law					Morris Ploscowe	Non-Fiction	1962	$0.75	(c.1951; 1962; 1st ACE print)	ACE Star Edition Listed as "newly revised & enlarged."
A-003	Limbo		Jack Gaughan			Bernard Wolfe	Sci-Fi	1966	$0.75	(c.1952; 1966; 1st ACE print)	Bernard Wolfe (b. 1915; Yale graduate) was a psychologist and newsman. Although he has written a number of short stories, this is his only novel. Renamed "Limbo 90" (1953) when released in the UK.
A-004	The Fellowship of the Ring		Jack Gaughan			J. R. R. Tolkien	Sci-Fi	1966	$0.75		listed as "Complete & Unabridged" Cover and title page illustration by Jack Gaughan See Note.
A-005	The Two Towers		Jack Gaughan			J. R. R. Tolkien	Sci-Fi	1966	$0.75		listed as "Complete & Unabridged" Note: A-005 according to Peters (1966) is The Return of the King, however you will see that my cover is listed as A-006. According to Peters (1966) A-006 is The Two Towers. Holroyd (2003) has the same information as my listing. See Note.
A-006	The Return of the King		Jack Gaughan			J. R. R. Tolkien	Sci-Fi	1966	$0.75		listed as "Complete & Unabridged" See Note.
A-007	World's Best Contemporary Short Stories					Anonymous (Ed.)	Fiction	1966	$0.75	1st ACE printing and PBO
A-008	Silverlock		Jack Gaughan			John Myers Myers	Sci-Fi	1966	$0.75	(c.1949; 1966; 1st ACE print)	listed as "Complete & Unabridged"
A-009	Gold in California!					Todhunter Ballard (aka W. T. Ballard)	Historical /Western	1966	$0.75	1st thus
A-010	The World's Best SF: 1967		Jack Gaughan			Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr (Eds.)	Sci-Fi	1967	$0.75	1st ACE printing and PBO	Cover and interior title page illustrations by Jack Gaughan Short story collection (12) including Michael Moorcock Behold the Man (winner of 1968 Nebula Award for Best Novella), Philip K. Dick We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Frederik Pohl Day Million, Roger Zelazny The Keys to December (Nebula Award nominee), and Brian W. Aldis Amen and Out.
A-011	Flying Saucers On The Attack					Harold T. Wilkins	Non-Fiction	1967	$0.75	(c.1954; revised 1967)	ACE Star Edition U.F.O.'s and alien contact.  Originally published in hard cover by Citadel Press (New York; 1954).
A-012	New Worlds of Fantasy		Kelly Freas			Terry Carr (Ed.)	Sci-Fi	1967	$0.75	1st ACE printing	This volume was also released under the title Step Outside Your Mind. Short story collection including Terry Carr Introduction and Stanley Toothbrush, Roger Zelazny Divine Madness, John Brunner Break the Door of Hell, Jorge Luis Borges The Immortal, R. A. Lafferty Narrow Valley, Ray Russell Comet Wine, Katherine McLean The Other, Mildred Clingerman A Red Heart and Blue Roses, Thomas M. Disch The Squirrel Cage, Peter S. Beagle Come Lady Death, Curt Clark Nackles, J. G. Ballard The Lost Leonardo, Keith Roberts Timothy, Avram Davidson Basilisk, and Alfred Gillespie The Evil Eye.
A-013	The Witches of Karres		Leo and Diane Dillon			James A. Schmitz	Sci-Fi	1968	$0.75	(c.1966, 1968; 1st ACE print)	This is one of the ACE Science Fiction Specials (1st series).
A-014	Yellow Is For Fear and Other Stories		Lou Marchetti			Dorothy Eden	Romance	1968	$0.75	1st ACE printing	ACE Star Edition
A-015	World's Best SF: 1968		photo			Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr (Eds.)	Sci-Fi	1968	$0.75	1st ACE printing and PBO This collection of short stories was later reprinted under the titles World's Best Science Fiction. No. 1 and World's Best Science Fiction, Fourth Series (ACE 91356).	Interior illustrations and title page by Jack Gaughan Contains Richard Wilson See Me Not, Samuel R Delany Driftglass ( a Nebula nominee), Colin Kapp Ambassador to Verdammt, R A Lafferty The Man Who Never Was, Isaac Asimov The Billard Ball, Robert Silverberg Hawksbill Station (later expanded to novel size; Hugo and Nebula Awards nominee), Thomas M Disch The Number You Have Reached, Roger Zelazny The Man Who Loved The Faiolli, Andrew J Offutt Population Implosion, Harlan Ellison I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (winner of the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Short Story) , Ron Goulart The Sword Swallower (later expanded to novel size), Keith Roberts Coranda, R A Lafferty Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne, Larry Niven Handicap, Brian W Aldiss Full Sun, and D G Compton It's Smart To Have An English Address.
A-016	Rite of Passage		Leo and Diane Dillon			Alexei Panshin	Sci-Fi	1968	$0.75	1st ACE printing and PBO	1968 Nebula Award winner and one of the ACE Science Fiction Specials (1st series).
A-017	The Best From Fantasy & Science Fiction, 14th Series		Jack Gaughan			Avram Davidson (Ed.)	Sci-Fi	1968	$0.75	1st ACE printing	Cover and interior illustration by Jack Gaughan Short story collection including Avram Davidson Introduction, Jack Sharkey Trade-In, J. G. Ballard The Illuminated Man, Wilma Shore A Bulletin From the Trustees, Kit Reed Automatic Tiger, T. P. Caravan The Court of Tartary, Terry Carr Touchstone, Allen Kim Lang Thaw and Serve, Thomas M. Disch Nada, Ron Goulart Into the Shop, Roger Zelazny A Rose for Ecclesiastes, Eric St. Clair Olsen and the Gull, Louis J. A. Adams Dark Conception, Alan E. Nourse The Compleat Consummators, S. S. Johnson The House By the Crab Apple Tree, Ron Webb The Girl With the Hundred Proof Eyes, and James Ransom Fred One.
A-018	A Killing For the Hawks		Ed Valigursky			Frederick E. Smith	Historical	1968	$0.75		listed as "Complete & Unabridged"
A-019	The Ring		Leo and Diane Dillon			Piers Anthony and Robert E. Margroff	Sci-Fi	1968	$0.75	1st ACE printing and PBO	Piers Anthony (aka Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob) This is one of the ACE Science Fiction Specials (1st series).
A-020	Cookbook For Beginners					Dorothy Malone	Cookbook	1968	$0.75	(c.1947, 1968)	ACE Star Edition
A-021	Eggs I have Known					Corinne Griffith	Cookbook	1968	$0.75		ACE Star Edition Eggs I Have Known was originally published by Farrar, Straus & Cudhay in hardback (1955).
A-022	Cooking By The Clock					Jean And Clarke Mattimore	Cookbook	1968	$0.75	(c.1948; 1968)	Cooking By The Clock had the subtitle of "Step By Step Preparation of Meals" in its 1948 Farrar, Straus & Co., hardcover edition.
A-023	The Wayward Wife*					Alberto Moravia	Adult?	1968	$0.75	(c.1960; 1968)	ACE Star Edition Contains stories published previously in Esquire, Nugget, Partisan Review and Playboy. Crime at the Tennis Club (1927), End of a Relationship (1933), The Wayward Wife (1937), A Bad Winter (1940), Home is a Sacred Place (1942), Contact with the Working Class (1944), The Woman from Mexico (1948), and The Negro and the Old Man with the Bill-hook (1948). The Wayward Wife had a subtitle of "and Other Stories" in the 1960 edition. This edition has an asterisk after the title with a note at the bottom *And other stories, by "one of the most skilled of Italy's literary craftsman."
A-024	Winged Warfare					William A. Bishop (Lt. Col.)	Historical	1968	$0.75		Accounts of the Canadian Ace with 72 kills in the European airwar during WWI
A-025	The Outlaw of Torn		Roy Krenkel Jr.			Edgar Rice Burroughs	Sci-Fi Sword and Chivalry	1968	$0.75	(c.1914; November 1968; 1st ACE print)	Cover and title page illustration by Roy Krenkel Jr.
A-026	How To Get A Good Night's Sleep					Peter J. Steincrohn	Self Help	1968	$0.75		Peter Joseph Steincrohn is an M.D and author of a number of medical self-help volumes.
A-027	The Great Radio Heroes					Jim Harmon	Historical	1968	$0.75	(c.1976; 1968)	The Great Radio Heroes was originally published by Doubleday & Co., in hardcover (1967).
A-028	Ace of Aces - Capt. Rene Fonck		Ed Valigursky			Stanley M. Ulanoff	Historical	1968	$0.75		One of the ACE "Air Combat Classics" editions.
A-029	Torrent of Faces					James Blish and Norman L. Knight	Sci-Fi	1968	$0.75	1st ACE printing	This is one of the ACE Science Fiction Specials (1st series).
A-130	The Hundred Stories					Robert B. Douglas (Translator)	Adult	No Date	$0.75		Original title: Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles ACE Star Edition
A-004 005 & 006 Historical note: This printing is the reason why the Ballantine editions carried the statement that they were the only authorized editions. These three books made up the infamous pirated edition of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR). There is still considerable controversy surrounding the publication of this edition. At the time they were published, there was no paperback edition of LOTR. ACE apparently requested a license for publication of a paperback but never received a response from the publishers in the United States (U.S.), Houghton-Mifflin, or Great Britain, Allen & Unwin. ACE published an edition without permission and sold thousands of copies in the U.S. ACE apparently made some settlement with all involved, including Tolkien, but the details of this have never been clear. An authorized edition was published by Ballantine. The Ballantine editions carry an authorization statement by Tolkien on the cover. As a result of the controversy, the ACE paperbacks are collectible. Unfortunately, they were made from poor quality paper and will consequently turn to dust in the near future. It appears that the story was slightly different than what I had previously found. From book description by The Other Change of Hobbit (El Cerrito, CA, U.S.A.) bookstore (thank you Bill for finding this) "The Ace edition of The Lord of the Rings was published because the British publisher failed to print copies in the United States (the Houghton Mifflin hardbacks all say "Printed in Great Britain"). Because US copyright law required the printing of an edition in the US to secure copyright, the books were not covered by US copyright law. Don Wollheim of Ace noticed this and brought out an edition, perfectly legally. Tolkien had refused to allow any paperback editions to this point. Once Ace brought these out, Tolkien revised them for Ballantine who then published an "Authorized edition" in 1965. Eventually Tolkien and Wollheim reached an agreement, and royalties were paid. Tolkien's comment on "courtesy to living authors" on the Ballantine edition is an indication that he knew there was in fact nothing he could really do to stop Ace's publication. But think of this -- it's quite possible that there would have been no paperback edition in Tolkien's lifetime if Wollheim hadn't found that loophole." ~ Dr. Smith