Centaur Press’s Time-Lost Series

A short-lived reprint series that I recently became aware was Centaur Press’s Time-Lost Series. Centaur Press was a small press that existed from the 1960s to 1981.

The press was established by Charles M. Collins and Donald M. Grant. Grant established other publishers, include one named for him that I have known of for years.

Centaur Press put out only a few works each year, from one to three. Most of their works were paperbacks, and the Time-Lost Series was a massmarket paperback series, though used better quality paper. But in looking at the series it appeared that a few planned works didn’t get published, which is unfortunate. Cover artwork was by artists such as Jeff Jones, David Ireland, and others.

The Time-Lost Series consisted of:

• The Moon of Skulls, (Solomon Kane Vol. 1), by Robert E. Howard, November 1969
• The Pathless Trail, by Arthur O. Friel, November 1969
• The Hand of Kane, (Solomon Kane Vol. 2), by Robert E. Howard, October 1970
• The Treasure of Atlantis, by J. Allan Dunn, October 1970, hardcover Sep. 1971
• Solomon Kane, (Solomon Kane Vol. 3), by Robert E. Howard, February 1971
• Tiger River, by Arthur O. Friel, May 1971
• Swordsmen and Supermen, (anthology), February 1972
• Caesar Dies, by Talbot Mundy, November 1973
• The City of Wonder, by E. Charles Vivian, November 1973
• Grey Maiden: The Story of a Sword Through the Ages, by Arthur D. Howden Smith, October 1974
• Dr. Cyclops, by Will Garth, 1976 [not the same work by Henry Kuttner]
• The Werewolf of Ponkert, by H. Warner Munn, 1976

I know a few works were planned, but did not appear. These include:

• The King of No Man’s Land, Arthur O. Friel
• Mountains of Mystery, Arthur O. Friel
• The Bowl of Baal, Robert Ames Bennet

If there were others, I’m not aware of.

Interestingly, The Bowl of Baal was instead published by Donald M. Grant in 1975 in hardback, using what I assume was the planned cover artwork for the paperback. Why they instead did this I have no idea.

While the Robert E. Howard works have since been reprinted, most others have not.  Grey Maiden has been reprinted in a complete collection by Steeger Books.  I really wish someone would reprint the works by Vivian, Dunn, and Friel, as well as Bennet.