Full Title:

Lud-in-the-Mist

Publication:

New York, Ballantine Books, 1970

Wraps:

Trade paperback, 7 in. x 4¼ in.; pictorial wraps, cover painting by Gervasio Gallardo. Spine: [Ballantine logo ] | [lettered down] LUD-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 345·01880 095. Front cover: [upper left] Ballantine logo [upper right] 95¢ [Adult Fantasy Series unicorn logo] | [centered] LUD-in-the-Mist | Hope Mirrlees| Introduction by Lin Carter. Rear cover: As sturdy as a painting by Brueghel, | as delicate as the breath of a hummingbird's wing, | LUD-IN-THE-MIST | is a delight, | an enchanting discovery for lovers of fantasy. (see image above).

Notes:

It was 1970, and I was at university. I was browsing through the campus bookstore when I spotted a new paperback on the shelf. I had never heard of the author or title, but I saw it was part of Ballantine's new "Adult Fantasy" series. That series had recently introduced to what became a life-long passion for the author James Branch Cabell, so that was recommendation enough for me to buy it. That book was Lud-in-the-Mist, in its first reprinting since the twenties. I bought it, and Lud has been a favorite of mine ever since. A few years later I chased down a copy of the 1927 Knopf printing and gave away my paperback copy (to my disappointment, she didn't like it at all). The copy shown above is one I bought recently.

Certainly my friend's reaction was a common one. Many modern fantasy readers reject Lud out of hand - too slow, and not at all like Tolkein-driven modern fantasy. On the other hand, the 1970 reprint did ignite a slow fire that today has resulted in the title's being reprinted many times. Lud is now taken seriously as a work of literature, and HM has been the subject of a fair amount of critical and scholarly analysis and comment. I think there were two different threads involved in that - one of them was this reprint of Lud-in-the-Mist, and the second was the 1973 reprint of Paris. Lud brought her to the attention of at least the fantasy subsection of the general public, and Paris reignited the interest of academics in her writing.

As they did with most of the titles in the Adult Fantasy series, Ballantine more-or-less simultaneously issued a Canadian printing. I have not seen that issue.