# Ace Books - House: Publisher - Date: Founded 1952 - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/ace-books/ > The New York paperback house of back-to-back Ace Doubles whose unauthorized 1965 Lord of the Rings lit the Tolkien boom, and which later launched Thieves' World and, in 2024, Dungeon Crawler Carl in print. **Why it matters:** Ace was one of the two great American science fiction and fantasy paperback lines of the 1950s–60s; its 1965 Tolkien edition, however dubious, turned The Lord of the Rings into a mass-market phenomenon. ## Quick answers **What is Ace Books?** The New York paperback house of back-to-back Ace Doubles whose unauthorized 1965 Lord of the Rings lit the Tolkien boom, and which later launched Thieves' World and, in 2024, Dungeon Crawler Carl in print. **When was Ace Books founded?** Ace Books was founded in 1952 and is based in New York City. **Who founded Ace Books?** Aaron A. Wyn, publisher of Ace pulp magazines, with founding editor Donald A. Wollheim. **What is Ace Books known for?** The Lord of the Rings, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Thieves' World and Dungeon Crawler Carl. **What happened to Ace Books?** Sold to Charter Communications (1969), then passed through Grosset & Dunlap and Putnam; since 1996 part of Penguin, now an imprint of Berkley at Penguin Random House. ## History Ace began because [Donald A. Wollheim](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/donald-a-wollheim/) disliked his job at Avon. In 1952 he persuaded Aaron A. Wyn, who published pulp magazines such as *Ace Mystery* and *Ace Sports*, to start a paperback line, and Wyn hired him as editor. The first book was a pair of mysteries bound *tête-bêche*: back to back and upside down, with a cover on each side, for 35 cents. The format was not new, but Ace made it its signature, issuing hundreds of "Ace Doubles" over twenty-one years and often pairing a known author with a newcomer. Westerns and mysteries came first. In 1953 Ace published A. E. van Vogt's *The World of Null-A* backed with *The Universe Maker*, and science fiction soon took over, outnumbering both mysteries and westerns within a few years. Ace published early work by Philip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delany, [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/ursula-k-le-guin/) and [Roger Zelazny](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/roger-zelazny/), and fantasy by [Robert E. Howard](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/robert-e-howard/) and Leigh Brackett. It also had a reputation for cutting texts to fit its formats. With [Ballantine](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/ballantine-books/), Ace dominated American science fiction paperbacks. Wollheim's taste for bold moves produced the episode Ace is best remembered for. Believing that [Tolkien](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/j-r-r-tolkien/)'s American copyright was invalid because Houghton Mifflin's edition had been bound from British sheets, he published *[The Lord of the Rings](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-lord-of-the-rings/)* in paperback between May and July 1965 at 75 cents a volume, without paying the author. The edition reportedly sold some 100,000 copies, and the public outcry, stoked by Tolkien's own letters and Ballantine's authorized edition, made the book famous. In 1966 Ace agreed to pay royalties and let its edition go out of print (see [The Ace Paperback Affair](https://www.lanternhall.org/culture/the-ace-paperback-affair/)). Wyn's death in 1967 left Ace overextended and slow to pay authors. Wollheim left in 1971 to found DAW Books. Ace was sold to Charter Communications, then passed with Charter to Grosset & Dunlap and Putnam, and in 1996 to Penguin. In the 1970s and 1980s the list still found winners. It collected [Fritz Leiber](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/fritz-leiber/)'s [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/fafhrd-and-the-gray-mouser/) from 1968, published [Robert Asprin](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/robert-asprin/)'s [Thieves' World](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/thieves-world/) shared-world anthologies from 1979, which soon spawned a tabletop supplement, and gave fantasy editor Terri Windling a platform from 1979 to 1987. Terry Carr's 1984 Ace Specials of first novels included William Gibson's *Neuromancer*. Tom Doherty and Jim Baen both worked at Ace before founding [Tor](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/tor-books/). ## Notable work The Ace Doubles, the 1965 *Lord of the Rings*, Leiber's sword-and-sorcery series, *Thieves' World*, the Ace Science Fiction Specials and, most recently, [Matt Dinniman](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/matt-dinniman/)'s [Dungeon Crawler Carl](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dungeon-crawler-carl/), whose print rights Ace acquired in 2024 while the author kept digital and audio rights. ## Legacy Ace's influence is out of proportion to its budgets. The 1965 edition, pirated or not, put Tolkien in the hands of American students and helped create the demand that Ballantine, Del Rey and the games of the 1970s fed. *Thieves' World* invented the shared world as a publishing form and fed directly into roleplaying supplements. And the house that once cut novels to fit its Doubles now prints a [LitRPG & Progression Fantasy](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/litrpg/) bestseller that began as a self-published web serial, a neat symbol of how far the genre has traveled. ## Facts - Ace's first book, in 1952, was two mysteries bound tête-bêche, back to back and upside down, priced at 35 cents. - The last original-format Ace Double appeared in August 1973 after twenty-one years of the format. - Ace published William S. Burroughs's first novel, Junkie, in 1953 under the pseudonym William Lee. - Its 1965 Lord of the Rings rested on Wollheim's belief that the U.S. copyright was invalid; Ace reportedly sold some 100,000 copies before agreeing to pay Tolkien royalties. - Ace collected Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories from 1968 into a seven-book series. - Terry Carr's 1984 Ace Specials debuted William Gibson's Neuromancer. - In 2024 Ace acquired print rights to Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl, while the author kept digital and audio rights. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Books) - [Wikipedia: List of Ace double titles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ace_double_titles) - [Ace (Penguin Random House / Berkley)](https://www.penguin.com/ace-overview/) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.