Gollancz Yellow Jackets

[gully_foyle]

I was just reminiscing about my high school library and the fine SF selection they had in the very late 70s. A lot were Gollancz hard covers in a distinctive plain yellow dust jacket, with (if my memory serves me correctly) purple titles. I haven't seen one in years. Does anyone have any of these haunting their bookshelves? I'd love to know the titles.

 

[iansales]

Gollancz re-issued several classic titles in trade paperbacks based on the old yellow jacket design.

AFAIK, all sf titles published by Gollancz were in yellow jackets up until the late 1980s / early 1990s. I have examples by Phillp Mann, Ian Watson, Paul J McAuley, and Philip K Dick.

 

[The Ace]

I remember the old library had shelves full of them. The new soulless monstrosity won't entertain them.

 

[Ragnar]

I've got a couple of the re-issues - Williams Tenn's Of Men & Monsters & Poul Anderson's Tau Zero.

A quick Google turned up this list;

Victor Gollancz Science Fiction Collectors' Editions

 

[Ian Whates]

Thanks for a great link, Ragnar, although not even that list is complete. There were five Silverberg titles in the whole run, for example -- Son of Man and The Masks of Time in addition to the three that appear here.

I managed to build up a near-complete collection of them, missing only Le Guin's City of Illusions, which I never could get hold of.

 

[iansales]

Is it me or is that selection a bit... random? A couple of titles are now in the SF Masterworks series, and some of the others aren't actually that memorable.

 

[Ian Whates]

I wouldn't undervalue them, Ian. You're right, after Gollancz bought out Millennium, they transfered some of the titles from this series across to the Masterworks, but initially this was their rival to the Masterworks, and while you could argue that one or two in the series don't quite make the grade, you could argue that of the Masterworks as well.

Besides, do you really believe that titles such as this don't merit reissue in such a series?

Poul Anderson -- Tau Zero,
Isaac Asimov -- The End of Eternity,
Roger Zelazny -- Isle of the Dead,
Strugatsky Brothers -- Roadside Picnic,
Robert Silverberg -- Thorns,
Octavia Butler -- Wild Seed,
John Brunner -- The Jagged Orbit
Jack Vance -- Big Planet
Ian Watson -- The Embedding
Robert Heinlein -- The Door into Summer
Hal Clement -- Mission of Gravity
Eric Frank Russell -- Wasp
Clifford D. Simak -- Way Station
John Varley -- The Ophiuchi Hotline
Walter M. Miller Jr -- The Best of (renamed Dark Benediction in the Masterworks series).
Roger Zelazny -- Damnation Alley
Ian Watson -- Miracle Visitors
Pohl & Kornbluth -- Wolfbane
Cecilia Holland -- Floating Worlds
Harry Harrison -- A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!
Pat Cadigan -- Mindplayers

... to name but a few.

As I say, the Gollancz Collectors' Series wasn't perfect, but nor is the Masterworks (too much Dick, no Asimov and no Heinlein, for starters), but both brought some wonderful, wonderful SF back into print, for which I for one am extremely grateful.

 

[The Wanderer]

Yes, I read 'The Wanderer' by Fritz Leiber, this year, it as a Gollancz Yellow Jacket, I gave it to my Library

I read it shortly before joined here, hence the title

 

[iansales]

Ian, I agree with you about the Masterworks - way too much Dick And possibly too much Silverberg (and none are his best, A Time of Changes). There's no Frank Herbert, either. Or van Vogt. ERB. Only one Aldiss. No KSR. No George Turner... Ah well, at least that means they've no excuse to stop the series for shortage of material

As for the Yellowjackets... yes, there's some good stuff in there - but there are quite a few I'd not bother reading. I think the Masterworks series has more "hits" in that respect.

(The Fantasy Masterworks series is entirely different - that's republished some old classic fantasy I've never come across before.)

 

[Ian Whates]

(The Fantasy Masterworks series is entirely different - that's republished some old classic fantasy I've never come across before.)

I agree with you entirely there, Ian -- I'd never have discovered Hope Mirrlees' wonderful Lud-in-the-Mist if not for this series. Also, they've managed to include just about every fantasy classic I really wanted to be in there (LOTR aside) -- Leiber's Faffhrd & Gray Mouser stories, Zelazny's Amber, McKillip's Riddle Master, Vance's Dying Earth, Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, as well as the obvious ones like Dunsany, Edisson, and Howard... Not to mention some things I've been wanting to get hold of for years, such as Walton's Mabinogian...

All in all, the most reliable of all these series, I reckon.

 

[Omphalos]

Ive got a bunch of those Masterworks yellowjackets. The only place I was able to find an in print copy of the Ophiuchi Hotline recently was Gollancz's yellowjacket copy. But does anyone in the States remember the Gregg Press from Boston? David G. Hartwell was the editor. Most of those were yellow hardbacks too, but some were green, and some later ones, like the Piers Anthony books that they did, actually had jackets. They had no cover, and just a small badge on the spine.

BTW, Hi Tanz!

 

[iansales]

BTW, Hi Tanz!

Dear God, is nowhere safe?

Welcome aboard, Omphalos.

 

[Omphalos]

Dear God, is nowhere safe?

Welcome aboard, Omphalos.

My noodly appendage shall reach you wherever you land!

 

[Connavar]

I wouldn't undervalue them, Ian. You're right, after Gollancz bought out Millennium, they transfered some of the titles from this series across to the Masterworks, but initially this was their rival to the Masterworks, and while you could argue that one or two in the series don't quite make the grade, you could argue that of the Masterworks as well.

Besides, do you really believe that titles such as this don't merit reissue in such a series?

Poul Anderson -- Tau Zero,
Isaac Asimov -- The End of Eternity,
Roger Zelazny -- Isle of the Dead,
Strugatsky Brothers -- Roadside Picnic,
Robert Silverberg -- Thorns,
Octavia Butler -- Wild Seed,
John Brunner -- The Jagged Orbit
Jack Vance -- Big Planet
Ian Watson -- The Embedding
Robert Heinlein -- The Door into Summer
Hal Clement -- Mission of Gravity
Eric Frank Russell -- Wasp
Clifford D. Simak -- Way Station
John Varley -- The Ophiuchi Hotline
Walter M. Miller Jr -- The Best of (renamed Dark Benediction in the Masterworks series).
Roger Zelazny -- Damnation Alley
Ian Watson -- Miracle Visitors
Pohl & Kornbluth -- Wolfbane
Cecilia Holland -- Floating Worlds
Harry Harrison -- A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!
Pat Cadigan -- Mindplayers

... to name but a few.

As I say, the Gollancz Collectors' Series wasn't perfect, but nor is the Masterworks (too much Dick, no Asimov and no Heinlein, for starters), but both brought some wonderful, wonderful SF back into print, for which I for one am extremely grateful.

I dont think Heinlein and Asimov belong in SF masterworks. Arent the list for out of print classics and not the hugely famous classics?

Whats the point of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress being in the list? I have a totaly new version of it that isnt SF masterworks series version. That isnt a out of print book to me.

I think the series should focus on authors like Vance,PDK that have several of their work only in print in SF and Fantasy masterwork series. Thats much more important than worriying about RAH,Asimov staying in print to me atleast.


By the way anyone know of other collections like SF/Fantasy mastwork series that focus on rare classics? Do they have a site like sfsite.com?

 

[iansales]

Whats the point of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress being in the list? I have a totaly new version of it that isnt SF masterworks series version. That isnt a out of print book to me.

The Gollancz SF Masterworks are published in the UK. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was out of print in the UK until it was published as one of the Masterworks hardback series. Publishers in one country don't look at what's in print in other countries, unless rights are an issue.

 

[Connavar]

I understand that.
Still it is in print in UK atleast in paperback version since 2005. Which is how old my copy is.


What do Gollancz do then? Let Moon be in the list even though its in print in UK for years now? If they are UK based then they shouldnt reprint what you can find in print in UK . What is in print in UK or US only doesnt really matter for a modern reader. When i order my books from bookshop, it cost as much getting UK or US version.

 

[iansales]

I understand that.
Still it is in print in UK atleast in paperback version since 2005. Which is how old my copy is.

I stand corrected. I checked Amazon, and the book was in print in the UK - published by Hodder & Stoughton.

What do Gollancz do then? Let Moon be in the list even though its in print in UK for years now? If they are UK based then they shouldnt reprint what you can find in print in UK . What is in print in UK or US only doesnt really matter for a modern reader. When i order my books from bookshop, it cost as much getting UK or US version.

Well, they picked the books they believe are masterworks. In the case of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, they published it in the hardback Masterworks series because they didn't have the paperback rights - which were obviously held by Hodder & Stoughton. It's not unusual for several editions of a book to be available. I've seen half a dozen different editions of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep on the shelves of my local Waterstone's.

I'd think you'd surprised at the low numbers of people who routinely buy books from both the UK and US. Most books these days are sold through supermarkets, or at airports and railway stations...

 

[Connavar]

Then they should put it correctly in their site and the books that they publish books in that series cause of publisher rights and not cause they are classics that are out of print.



I envy those people, i have it difficult in my home town finding places to buy used and old books specially SF/F. I can buy old books when they are in print but what do you do when you want a book that the fans rave about but it isnt in print. Not sucks more than buying a old book that isnt in print anymore from the internet for price that are three times the usuall price for a new book.

I saw an outdoor sale having L. Sprague de Camp, and several others from his era. Heh i would have bought the lot of them if i wasnt low on cash at that day cause of how rare you find old books like that.

 

[K. Riehl]

Omphalos- "But does anyone in the States remember the Gregg Press from Boston? David G. Hartwell was the editor."

Yes I have a few of the Gregg Press editions. I think there is a complete collection, with about 1/3 of the copies signed, for sale on Ebay at a mere pittance of $40,000. They include many pictures in the listing.

Who wants to buy it for me? (-:

 

[GOLLUM]

I envy those people, i have it difficult in my home town finding places to buy used and old books specially SF/F. I can buy old books when they are in print but what do you do when you want a book that the fans rave about but it isnt in print. Not sucks more than buying a old book that isnt in print anymore from the internet for price that are three times the usuall price for a new book.

I think they call that supply and demand.

I've got the entire VG Fantasy Masterwork series, very affordable reissues of old classics.