The Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library was a series of trade paperback books published in the United States by the Newcastle Publishing Company between 1973 and 1980. Presumably under the inspiration of the earlier example set by the

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...

, the series reissued a number of works of

fantasy literature Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fan ...

that had largely been forgotten, being out of print or otherwise not easily available in the United States, in durable, illustrated trade paperback form with new introductions. For a number of works the Library’s editions constituted the first U.S. or first paperback edition. Together with the earlier series from

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

, it contributed to the renaissance of interest in the fantasy genre of the 1970s. The Library was produced under the editorship of

Robert Reginald The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

and Douglas Menville, editors of '' Forgotten Fantasy'' magazine, who were also responsible for several other similar series from other publishers. It included works by authors such as

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, H. Rider Haggard, Lord Dunsany, and Leslie Barringer, among others. Projected to include a total of twenty-six fantasy classics, the Library ultimately released only twenty-four. Possibly the remaining two are represented by two non-fantasy books Newcastle published without the series designation, the first two Dr. Nikola novels by

Guy Boothby Guy Newell Boothby (13 October 1867 – 26 February 1905) was a prolific Australian novelist and writer, noted for sensational fiction in variety magazines around the end of the nineteenth century. He lived mainly in England. He is best known fo ...

: '' Enter, Dr. Nikola'' (September 1975), and '' Dr. Nikola Returns'' (March 1976). The covers for the first eight books were generic and described by their designer Douglas Menville as "rather crude". With the fourth book in the series, artists such as George Barr were engaged to produce more attractive covers at a discount, under an arrangement whereby the artist was able to retain the original paintings for private sale after the books were published. The ninth book onward featured more imaginative, wrap around art, and two of the first eight (''She and Allan'' and ''Gerfalcon'') were later reissued in this style.

Books

# '' The Glittering Plain'',

(September 1973) # '' The Saga of Eric Brighteyes'', H. Rider Haggard (March 1974) # '' The Food of Death: Fifty-One Tales'', Lord Dunsany (September 1974) # ''

The Haunted Woman ''The Haunted Woman'' is a dark, metaphysical fantasy novel by British writer David Lindsay. It was first published, somewhat cut, as a serial in '' The Daily News'' in 1921. It was first published in book form by Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, i ...

'', David Lindsay (March 1975) # '' Aladore'', Sir Henry Newbolt (September 1975) # '' She and Allan'', H. Rider Haggard (September 1975) # '' Gerfalcon'', Leslie Barringer (March 1976) # '' Golden Wings and Other Stories'', William Morris (March 1976) # '' Joris of the Rock'', Leslie Barringer (September 1976) # '' Heart of the World'', H. Rider Haggard (September 1976) # '' The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician'', Edwin Lester Arnold (April 1977) # '' Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair'', William Morris (April 1977) # '' Shy Leopardess'', Leslie Barringer (October 1977) # '' Ayesha: the Return of She'', H. Rider Haggard (October 1977) # '' The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed'', Kenneth Morris (April 1978) # '' The House of the Wolfings'', William Morris (April 1978) # '' Under the Sunset'',

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

(October 1978) # '' Allan Quatermain'', H. Rider Haggard (October 1978) # '' The Roots of the Mountains'', William Morris (April 1979) # '' Nada the Lily'', H. Rider Haggard (April 1979) # '' Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende'', translated by Alfred Elwes (October 1979) # '' The Spirit of Bambatse'', H. Rider Haggard (October 1979) # '' When the Birds Fly South'', Stanton A. Coblentz (April 1980) # '' Allan's Wife'', H. Rider Haggard (October 1980)

Notes

External links

The Haunted Bibliophile's page on the Forgotten Fantasy Library
{{Fantasy fiction Book series introduced in 1973 Fantasy books by series Lists of fantasy books