Fawcett Crest
Fawcett Crest was Fawcett Publications' paperback reprint imprint, launched in 1955, known for Peanuts collections and the first dollar mass-market paperback, later owned by Ballantine.
- Editions tracked
- 27
- First editions
- 18
- Books
- 27
- Years
- 1960 to 1997
Fawcett Crest was founded in 1955. We track 27 editions it published between 1960 and 1997, 18 of them first editions across 27 books. Each book lists its first edition and the points that identify it.
About Fawcett Crest
Fawcett Crest (Crest Books) was the American mass-market paperback reprint imprint launched by Fawcett Publications in September 1955, and part of Ballantine Books from 1982 until it fell out of use around 2000.
A 1945 contract to distribute New American Library's Signet and Mentor paperbacks had barred Fawcett from issuing competing reprints; in 1950 it had started Gold Medal Books for paperback originals. Once that restriction lapsed, Crest was introduced to reprint hardback titles. Its books shared Gold Medal's tall format and looked very similar, and some Crest titles were reissues of earlier Gold Medal originals; over time it also published originals.
Numbering began at 114 and ran on continuously, with lettered numbers used for thicker, higher-priced books. Standard volumes sold for 25 cents, and Crest is credited with the first one-dollar mass-market paperback, William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The line covered most genres, with early emphasis on westerns and humour; it issued a film tie-in of Robert Bloch's Psycho, and in the 1960s and 1970s it was well known for paperback collections of Peanuts strips.
CBS bought Fawcett Publications in 1977, and in 1982 Ballantine Books, then a division of Random House, acquired most of the Fawcett book lines, keeping the Crest name in use for some years.
We have not yet written the guide to Fawcett Crest's first-edition conventions. Until we do, check each book's own page: we list its points where we know them. Know how Fawcett Crest marked its firsts? Tell us.
Published by Fawcett Crest
Frequently asked questions
How many Fawcett Crest books does MyVolumes track?
We track 27 editions published by Fawcett Crest, 18 of them first editions, across 27 books.
Where these facts come from
- Fawcett Publications, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Crest, Bookscans, 2022 (bookscans.com)
- Fawcett Crest, Romance Wiki (University of Birmingham) (romancewiki.bham.ac.uk)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 19 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.