Ace Books is a New York paperback house founded by A. A. Wyn in 1952, known for Ace Doubles and paperback firsts by Burroughs, Le Guin, Delany and Gibson. It is now part of Penguin Random House.
Ace Books is a publisher based in New York City, founded in 1952. We track 241 editions it published between 1915 and 2026, 195 of them first editions across 238 books. How Ace Books marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Ace Books
Ace Books is an American paperback publisher founded in New York in 1952 by A. A. Wyn. It is best known for the Ace Double, two short books bound back to back and upside down to each other, and for early books by many leading science fiction writers. It is now part of Berkley at Penguin Random House.
Ace began with mysteries and westerns and issued its first science fiction in 1953; by 1961 science fiction outnumbered the other two combined. Its first book, D-01, paired Keith Vining's Too Hot for Hell with Samuel W. Taylor's The Grinning Gismo at 35 cents. In 1953 it brought out William S. Burroughs's Junkie as by William Lee, bound with Maurice Helbrant's 1941 Narcotics Agent. Philip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delany, Ursula K. Le Guin and Roger Zelazny all published early work with Ace: Le Guin's Rocannon's World (1966) was half of an Ace Double, and Delany's Babel-17 (May 1966) shared the Nebula Award for Best Novel. In 1965 Ace issued an unauthorised American paperback of The Lord of the Rings, later paying Tolkien royalties and letting it lapse. Terry Carr started the Ace Science Fiction Specials in 1967, and their 1984 revival included William Gibson's Neuromancer.
After Wyn died in 1967, Ace passed through Charter Communications and Grosset & Dunlap, which G. P. Putnam's Sons bought in 1982. Penguin took over the Putnam Berkley Group in 1996, and Penguin merged with Random House in 2013.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Ace Books's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Ace Books first editions
What to look for
Ace was above all a paperback house. Many Ace books reprint hardbacks from other publishers, but much of its science fiction appeared first as Ace paperbacks, and for those titles the first Ace printing is the true first edition. Junkie (1953), Rocannon's World (1966), Babel-17 (1966) and Neuromancer (July 1984) all came out first as Ace paperbacks; Neuromancer first appeared in hardback from Gollancz in London later in 1984.
1950s to 1968
Ace Doubles are two titles bound back to back under one serial number.
1969 to 1980s
From 1990
Like most publishers since the 1970s, Ace uses a number line on the copyright page. The lowest number showing is the printing, so a first printing must still show 1.
Ace was above all a paperback house. Many Ace books reprint hardbacks from other publishers, but much of its science fiction appeared first as Ace paperbacks, and for those titles the first Ace printing is the true first edition. Junkie (1953), Rocannon's World (1966), Babel-17 (1966) and Neuromancer (July 1984) all came out first as Ace paperbacks; Neuromancer first appeared in hardback from Goll
How many Ace Books books does MyVolumes track?
We track 241 editions published by Ace Books, 195 of them first editions, across 238 books.
