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Jove Books, formerly known asPyramid Books, is an Americanpaperback andeBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (also known as Almat Publishing Corporation)^[1][2] (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to theWalter Reade Organization in the late 1960s. It was acquired in 1974 byHarcourt Brace (which became Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) which renamed it toJove in 1977 and continued the line as animprint. In 1979, they sold it to The Putnam Berkley Group, which is now part of thePenguin Group.

Phil Hirsch was vice president of Pyramid Books from 1955 to 1975 and had his name as author or editor on many of Pyramid's books, many of them anthologies of jokes, cartoons and humor, or concerned with the military and warfare, including some which combined those interests.^[3] While not the most prolific publisher of science fiction and fantasy during its years as Pyramid, it did offer some notable original titles in book form, such asAlgis Budrys's novelWho? (1958),Theodore Sturgeon's novelVenus Plus X (1960) and several collections of Sturgeon's short fiction, as well as collections, novels and anthologies byHarlan Ellison andJudith Merril. Pyramid speculative fiction editor (1957–67)Donald R. Bensen edited two notable and popular anthologies drawn from the fantasy-fiction magazineUnknown,The Unknown (1963) andThe Unknown 5 (1964), the latter including an introduction by and a previously unpublished story byIsaac Asimov, the story having been slated for publication by the magazine, which folded before it could appear. Pyramid in the 1960s also published several notable anthologies edited byL. Sprague de Camp, which helped create a sense of a tradition ofsword & sorcery fantasy, and a series of four anthologies drawn from the magazineWeird Tales, attributed to magazine publisher and editorLeo Margulies, though the latter two apparently "ghost-edited" bySam Moskowitz (Margulies and Moskowitz would in the 1970s launch a short-lived revival of the magazine). Among the notable paperback reprint editions Pyramid published in the 1950s and '60s were several collections byRobert Heinlein,Hal Clement's novelMission of Gravity, and de Camp andFletcher Pratt'sThe Incompleat Enchanter. Pyramid also publishedEvan Hunter's science fiction novelTomorrow and Tomorrow (1956 as by Hunt Collins), and a paperback reprint ofShirley Jackson's novelThe Road through the Wall (1956) in two editions with the variant titleThe Other Side of the Street (the first in 1958). Notable among the original publications in crime fiction wereDeath is My Dancing Partner (1959), a late novel byCornell Woolrich, and such anthologies asThe Young Punks (also 1959) attributed to Leo Margulies as editor.

In the 1960s Pyramid published two of the first three books attributed toCordwainer Smith, one of the fiction-writing pseudonyms ofPaul Linebarger, and began reprintingFu Manchu novels bySax Rohmer and pulp sf adventure novels byE. E. Smith, as well as severalnovelizations ofIrwin Allen television shows and films, including one forLost in Space and two others forThe Time Tunnel, and Sturgeon's movie novelization forVoyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Other original book publications in the 1960s included the first ofHarry Harrison'sStainless Steel Rat novels (1961),Avram Davidson'sMasters of the Maze (1965) andChester Anderson's cult novelThe Butterfly Kid (1967). Asimov and the biologistJohn C. Lilly were among those who published popular-science books with Pyramid in the 1960s. They have also the simplified English edition books published by their division Ladder Edition, example is “Battle Hymn” by Dean Hess (1956).

Among the notable projects at Pyramid in the 1970s was a series of reprints of the pulp magazine novels and novellas aboutthe Shadow, published as byMaxwell Grant; Ellison in 1975 and '76 saw an eleven-volume set of his books reprinted or, in the cases ofThe Other Glass Teat andNo Doors, No Windows (both 1975), published for the first time, in matching cover format featuring the art ofLeo and Diane Dillon. Also, a brief "Harlan Ellison Discovery" series of books, as edited for Pyramid (and, for the last volume, Jove) by Ellison, featuredBruce Sterling's first novelInvolution Ocean (1977) andTerry Carr's collectionThe Light at the End of the Universe (1976). But the most prominent and best-selling books Pyramid published in the 1970s were the series of historical novels written byJohn Jakes, theKent Family Chronicles, beginning withThe Bastard (1974), which were well-timed for popular interest in the U.S.Revolutionary War and the bicentennial celebration of independence. More modest or more critical than commercial successes published in the decade includedMan on Fire: A Novel of Revolution by Bruce Douglas Reeves (1971) and several novels byBarry N. Malzberg.

A series of "crossover" books, bridging prose fiction andcomics, was the eight-volumeWeird Heroes series of anthologies and novels (1975–77), where new superheroes and pulp-magazine-style adventure heroes were featured, as edited for Pyramid byByron Preiss, and featuring contributions from, among others, Ellison,Philip José Farmer,Jeff Jones,Archie Goodwin,Michael Moorcock,Beth Meacham,Jim Steranko,Ted White and novels as well as short fiction byRon Goulart. Another Preiss project with Pyramid was in more-traditional, if early,graphic novel format, theFiction Illustrated series.

The Jove branding was refocused not long after the purchase by the Putnam Berkeley Group, away from fantastic fiction generally and more toward crime fiction, further publication of John Jakes's and similar historical fiction, romance novels (including some with fantasy elements), and western series novels, such as theLongarm (book series) franchise; among the last notable fantasy-fiction titles as an HBJ/Jove Book was the 1979 variant edition ofRobert Bloch's collectionPleasant Dreams, which varies in content from all previous editions (but like them, includes Bloch's fleshing out of an unfinished short story byEdgar Allan Poe, originally published as "The Light-House" in 1953).

• Hyde Park Books: Paperback Publishers: Pyramid Books
• Penguin Group (USA): About Us: Jove Books
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• RTL Group
• Book publishing companies based in New York (state)
• Publishing companies established in 1949

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