Ace Books (A. A. Wyn 1952)
Ace Double Novels (1954)
Star Books (1960)
The American Library (David McKay Co. 1942-1944)
Ann Arbor Paperbacks (University of Michigan Press)
Ann Arbor Science Paperbacks (University of Michigan Press)
Apex Books (Abingdon Press)
Arcturus Books (Southern Illinois University Press)
Avon Books (1941)
Eton Books (1951)
Bard Books (1956)
Ballantine Books (Ballantine 1952)
Bantam Books (Bantam 1945)
Bantam Giants (1950)
Battlebooks (Sierra Club Books)
Belmont (?)
Berkley Books (Berkley 1955)
Bison Books (University of Nebraska Press)
Black Cat Books (Grove Press 1961)
Book-Sized Paperbacks (Random House / Pantheon / Knopf 1964)
California Paperbacks (University of California Press)
Capricorn Books (Putnam)
ChapelBooks (Harper & Row)
Chapel Hill Books (University of North Carolina Press)
Charter Books (Bobbs-Merrill)
Checkerbooks (1949-1950)
Chicago History of American Civilization (University of Chicago Press)
Columbia Paperbacks (Columbia University Press)
Comstock Editions (Ballantine 1971)
Cornell Paperbacks (Cornell University Press)
Crest Books (Fawcett 1955)
Critical Essays in English and American Literature (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Critical Essays in Modern Literature (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Crofts Classics (F.S. Crofts & Co., unnumbered 1946)
Dell Books (1943)
Dell First Editions (1953)
Laurel Editions (1958)
Delta Books (Dell 1962)
Docket Series (Oceana)
Documents of Modern Art (George Wittenborn 1944?)
Galaxy Books (Oxford University Press - NY)
Gold Medal Books (Fawcett 1950)
Gold Medal Specials
Gold Medal Giants
Red Seal Books
Graphic Books (1949-1957)
Great Seal Books (Cornell University Press)
Harrow Books (Harper & Row 1970)
Hesperides Books (Oxford University Press - NY)
Hillman (?)
Illini Books (University of Illinois Press)
Inner Sanctum Paper/Dollar Novels (Simon & Schuster 1930)
International Library of Psychology, Philosophy, and Scientific Method
Jewish Publication Society Series
Jubilee Books
Jubilee Giants
Library of Japanese Art (Charles E. Tuttle Co. 1954)
Lion Books (1949)
Louisiana Paperbacks (Louisiana State University Press)
Lumen Books (J. S. Paluch Co. 1951)
Midland Books (Indiana University Press)
M.I.T. Press Paperbacks (M.I.T. Press)
Mockingbird Books (Ballantine 1973)
Modern Library
Monarch
New College Outline Series (Littlefield, Adams 1949)
New Jersey Paperback Series (Rutgers University Press)
Paper Books & Bonibooks (Boni 1929)
Paper Borzoi Books (Knopf 1935)
Pelican Books & Mentor Books
Pelican Shakespeare
Permabooks (Doubleday, merged with Pocket Books in 1954)
Phoenix Books (University of Chicago Press)
Phoenix Poets (University of Chicago Press)
Phoenix Science Series (University of Chicago Press)
Pioneer Books (Citadel Press, unnumbered, 1961)
Pitt Paperbacks (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Cardinal Editions (1950)
Giant Cardinal Editions
Pocket Library (1954)
Pocket Library of Great Art (w/ Harry N. Abrams 1953)
Popular Library (Pines Publications 1942)
Premier Books (Fawcett 1955)
Princeton Aeronautical Paperbacks (Princeton University Press)
Princeton Paperbacks (Princeton University Press)
Problems of Contemporary Art (George Wittenborn 1944?)
Pyramid Books (Almat Publishing Co. 1949)
Readers Editions (Simon & Schuster, unnumbered, 1950)
Red Arrow Books (Columbia Arts Work, Inc. 1939)
Reviewers Selections (Grosset & Dunlap 1950)
Science Editions (Basic Books / Wiley, unnumbered, 1961)
Scientific American Books (Simon & Schuster, unnumbered, 1955)
Seal Books (Modern Age Books 1937)
Spectrum American Assembly Books
Spectrum Classics in History
Spectrum Great Lives Observed
Spectrum Modern Nations in Historical Perspective
Spectrum Science and Technology Books
Spectrum Twentieth Century Interpretations
Spectrum Twentieth Century Views
Stanford Paperbacks (Stanford University Press)
Star Dollar Books (Doubleday 1925)
Triangle Books (Blue Ribbon Books 1938-)
United States Authors
Visual Books (Dell, Mar. 29, 1962)
Washington Square Press
Wayne Books (Wayne State University Press)
Wisconsin Books (University of Wisconsin Press)
Yale English Poets (Yale University Press)
Yale Paperbounds (Yale University Press)
Yale Western Americana Paperbounds (Yale University Press)
Zebra Books (Grove 1966)
Paperback Predecessors
Early paperback series that mostly failed. Subscription models, magazine models, lapses back into hardcover publishing. Also inexpensive hardcover reprint series like the Modern Library, Triangle Books (Doubelday during WWII), which were at the price point of early trade paperbacks.
Mass Market Series
Early series from firms primarily devoted to paperback publishing. Usually inexpensive and in the smaller, mass-market size. Only series that published mostly quality titles, even if a few had alluring covers early on.
Trade Series
Series from trade publishers who mostly issued hardcover books for retail markets. Typically (but certainly not always) books in these series were larger than those from the paperback-oriented firms and were accordingly more expensive. These publishers occasionally issued classroom series, usually after diversifying their interests by acquiring textbook publishers. Those series will be listed under the Classroom Series section.
Classroom Series
Paperback series directed at the secondary or university market. These series are marked by supplementary materials, outlines, study guides, and so on, but the line between them and trade series can be blurry.
Library Series
Series that were marketed to institutional purchasers like libraries, which may have been offered a library discount. Their materials were usually more durable.
University Press Series
Series issued by university presses.
Specialty Series
Some publishers historically operated in discrete sectors that had their own apparatus of distributors, bookstores, trade associations, and so forth. Some of these areas include religious, art, medical, legal, and technical publishing. Trade publishers occasionally branched out into these fields as well, so their more specialized series are listed here as well.
Jesse Ephron, Fear and Loathing on the Discount Trail, PW, June 17, 1974, at 52-53 (incredible article about trade vs text (trade discounts vs short discounts). Mentions tons of publishers & series and how hard it is to tell the difference between trade and classroom books).
Jean Peters, ed., THE BOOKMAN'S GLOSSARY 71-72 (Bowker 6th ed. 1983):
discount A percentage deducted from the list (retail) price of a book, thereby determining the cost of the book to the dealer purchasing it from the publisher or wholesaler. Thus, a $10 book sold to a dealer at 40 percent discount costs $6 and from this 40 percent difference, the store's operating costs and profit must be derived. Trade discounts (also called long discounts), which are established for selling general books to retailers, scale from 30-45 percent and upward (depending on the individual publisher and quantities purchased). A trade discount schedule is printed by a publisher to announce the variations in discounts dictated by the number of books ordered. Legally, a publisher must offer the same discount schedule to all booksellers.
Short discounts are lower discounts, offered on the relatively few retail sales of books ordinarily sold directly to professional persons or institutions. Library discounts are special discounts offered to library purchasers. Professional, or courtesy discounts are those offered to individuals. Cash discounts (e.g., 2 percent off the total of a bill if it is paid in thirty days or less) are those offered for prompt payment of an invoice. See also markup; net pricing.