Avalon Books (originally Bouregy & Curl) was a small New York-based book publishing imprint owned by Thomas Bouregy & Company.
Established in 1950 by Thomas Bouregy, it would be run by his daughter, Ellen Bouregy Mickelsen, from 1995 to 2012 when it was sold to Amazon. Avalon was an important science fiction imprint in the 1950s and 60s; later its specialty was mystery and romance books.
On June 4, 2012 it was announced that Amazon had purchased the imprint and its back-list of about 3,000 titles. Amazon said it would publish the books through the various imprints of Amazon Publishing.
Science fiction era
In the 1950s and 60s Avalon specialized in science fiction. It issued hardcover material in the genre during the period, particularly in the earlier portion. Avalon issued new titles, reissued out of print titles originally from other publishers, and first editions of material that had previously only seen magazine publication. Frederik Pohl jibed in 1959 that the publisher "seems to be pursuing a policy of printing the worst books by the best writers in science fiction". Its books featured cover art by Ric Binkley, Ed Emshwiller (also known as Emsh), Gray Morrow, and Michael M. Peters. Later, competition with mainstream hardcover and paperback publishers starting their own science fiction lines and the marginal nature of genre publishing in general led to the line being discontinued.
Science fiction authors published by Avalon
Poul Anderson
E. L. Arch
Bruce Ariss
Manly Banister
Eando Binder
James Blish
J. Harvey Bond
Lin Carter
Curtis W. Casewit
A. Bertram Chandler
Adam Chase
Stanton A. Coblentz
Hunt Collins
Ray Cummings
L. Sprague de Camp
Lester del Rey
Diane Detzer
George Allan England
Oscar J. Friend
J. U. Giesy
David Grinnell
J. Hunter Holly
Raymond F. Jones
Ivar Jorgenson
Joseph E. Kelleam
Otis Adelbert Kline
Murray Leinster
Erik Van Lhin
Charles R. Long
Frank Belknap Long
Robert W. Lowndes
Adam Lukens
Fred MacIsaac
Charles Eric Maine
S. P. Meek
Philip Francis Nowlan
David Osborne
Rog Phillips
Fletcher Pratt
Jorge de Reyna
Eric Frank Russell
Robert Sheckley
Lee Sheldon
Robert Silverberg
Evelyn E. Smith
George Henry Smith
George O. Smith
Francis Stevens
Charles B. Stilson
Leslie F. Stone
Jeff Sutton
E. C. Tubb
Jack Vance
Roger Lee Vernon
Manly Wade Wellman
Wallace West
Robert Moore Williams
Russ Winterbotham
Bibliography of Science Fiction books published (by year) 1953 (Bourgey/Curl) Flight Into Yesterday (Charles L. Harness) Sentinels From Space (Eric Frank Russell)
1956
Police Your Planet (Erik Van Lhin) Star Ways (Poul Anderson) The Secret People (Raymond F. Jones) Three to Conquer (Eric Frank Russell) Tomorrow's World (Hunt Collins)
1957
Across Time (David Grinnell) Alien Dust (E. C. Tubb) Big Planet (Jack Vance) City on the Moon (Murray Leinster) Conquest of Earth (Manly Banister) Hidden World (Stanton A. Coblentz) Solomon's Stone (L. Sprague de Camp) The Infinite Brain (Charles R. Long) Troubled Star (George O. Smith) Twice in Time (Manly Wade Wellman) Wasp (Eric Frank Russell)
1958
Aliens From Space (David Osborne) Edge of Time (David Grinnell) Fire in the Heavens (George O. Smith) Immortality Delivered (Robert Sheckley) Invisible Barriers (David Osborne) Out of This World (Murray Leinster) Spaceways Satellite (Charles Eric Maine) Starhaven (Ivar Jorgenson) The Blue Barbarians (Stanton A. Coblentz) The Languages of Pao (Jack Vance) The Space Egg (Russ Winterbotham) The Tower of Zanid (L. Sprague de Camp)
1959
Day of the Giants (Lester del Rey) Encounter (J. Hunter Holly) Giants from Eternity (Manly Wade Wellman) Lost in Space (George O. Smith) Robot Hunt (Roger Lee Vernon) The Dark Destroyers (Manly Wade Wellman) The Duplicated Man (James Blish) and (Robert Lowndes) The Golden Ape (Adam Chase) The Involuntary Immortals (Rog Phillips) The Martian Missile (David Grinnell) The Sea People (Adam Lukens) Virgin Planet (Poul Anderson)