Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 179 - Lambda Press

Acquired Tastes XLIII

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 179

Lambda Press

Today, we take a look at Lambda Press from Brandon House.

Lambda Press operated from 1969-1974 and published a total of ten gay male titles. They operated out of an office at 21322 Lassen Street in Chatsworth, CA. 

They published gay titles infrequently, debuting with a single title in 1969, going dark during the years 1971, 1972, and 1973, and then having their most prolific year, their final one, in 1974. Note: Brandon House additionally published 34 gay titles between 1965 and 1970 under its own banner. The distinction between the two imprints remains unclear, though, perhaps, Lambda Press was used for the republishing of existing titles, a sort of 'modern classics' imprint. I use the distinction of 'modern' because most of Brandon Houses' erotic output consisted of 'classic erotica' - translations and reprints of European titles by classic authors.

The cover art was hand-drawn illustrations, sometimes colored with a distinctive line separating the title/author, at the top, from the illustration, below. The illustrations strike me as rather tame, void of the overt sexual nature of later gay pulp fiction. They remind me of the covers of modern hetero romance novels.

Some of their titles were reprints from other imprints and all their books were later republished by other imprints, some multiple times. 

Note: the numbering system makes no sense. I've used the information from Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List and the year published and number assigned the book don't jive. Given that, I'm presenting the covers in the order of the publisher's numbering system.

This imprint made me a bit curious regarding the use of Lambda (the eleventh letter in the Greek alphabet) as a symbol. I found the following:

The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality has the following entry on Lambda:

"In the early 1970s, in the wake of the Stonewall Rebellion, New York City's Gay Activists Alliance selected the Greek letter lambda, which member Tom Doerr suggested from its scientific use to designate kinetic potential, as its emblem. (Curiously, in some ancient Greek graffiti the capital lambda appears with the meaning fellate, representing the first letter of either lambazein or laikazein.) Because of its militant associations, the lambda symbol has spread throughout the world. It sometimes appears in the form of an amulet hung round the neck as a subtle sign of recognition which can pass among unknowing heterosexuals as a mere ornament. Such emblems may reflect a tendency among homosexuals toward tribalization as a distinct segment of society, one conceived as a quasi-ethnic group."

In More Man Than You'll Ever Be by Joseph P. Goodwin (Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 1989) on page 26, Goodwin writes:

"The lowercase Greek letter lambda carries several meanings. First of all, it represents scales, and thus balance. The Greeks considered balance to be the constant adjustment necessary to keep opposing forces from overcoming each other. The hook at the bottom of the right leg of the lambda represents the action required to reach and maintain a balance. To the Spartans, the lambda meant unity. They felt that society should never infringe on anyone's individuality and freedom. The Romans adopted the letter to represent "the light of knowledge shed into the darkness of ignorance." Finally, in physics the symbol designates and energy change. Thus the lambda, with all its meanings, is an especially apt symbol for the gay liberation movement, which energetically seeks a balance in society and which strives through enlightenment to secure equal rights for homosexual people."

And that's all I've discovered regarding this imprint. If you happen to have more information about Lambda Press or Brandon House, please leave it in the comments section. Always curious to learn more. 

Here are the covers of all ten Lambda Press gay titles:

Gay Voyager

 Author: Scott Torey

 1974 

LB-101 

Lambda Press

This title demonstrates exactly how twisted the road traversed became for some of these books.

An 'excerpt' of the book was published in 1969 by 101 Enterprises as101-43, under the title Boy Farm, credited to Peter Zupp.  Then it was published in it's complete form in 1974 by Lambda Press. In 1984, Driveshaft Library published it as DS-141, under the title Young and Willing, credited to Rick Taylor. And, finally, Power Force published it in 1986 as PF-164, under the title Gay Voyage, credited to Scott Bryman.

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The Happy Hustler

Author: Jason Forbes

 1974 

Lambda Press

LB-102

Republished in 1983 by Driveshaft Library as DS-137, under the title Hard at Work, credited to Doug Mason. Then republished in 1985 by Man Power as MP-153, under the title This Man For Hire, credited to Andy Peters.

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  The Prettiest Boy in Dallas

Author: Preston Harriman 

 1974 

Lambda Press

LB-103 

Republished in 1978 by Bathhouse Books as BAB-111, under the title Dallas Pretty Boy, credited to Walter Fortune. Then republished by Driveshaft Books, first, in 1983 as DS-138, under the title Hung on Peter, credited to John Anderson, and then in 1985 as DS-174, under the title Texas Tail, credited to Jake Kane.

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 B.S.O.C. Big Stud on Campus 

Author: Jay Kaye

1974

 Lambda Press 

LB-104

Republished in 1984 by Driveshaft Library as DS-142, under the title Campus Jocks, credited to Don Baxter. Then, republished again by Driveshaft in 1985 as DS-175, under the title College Stud, credited to Harry Pressman. Then, republished in 1986 by Power Force as PF-163, under the title Campus Stud, credited to Jay Kaye.

 

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The Man's Man

Author: Jacques Saison 

 1968

 Lambda Press

LB-105

Also published by Brandon House in 1968 as BH-3040 and Driveshaft Library in 1984 as DS 143, under the title Hung Buddies, credited to Adam Hayes.

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 Apprentice Gay

 Author: Walter Febick

 1974 

Lambda Press

LB-106

Republished in 1985 by Power Force as PF-148, credited to Brad Rowen. And then republished by Gay Library.

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Gay Soldier

 Author: Jonathan Martin 

 1970 

Lambda Press

LB-107

 

Originally published by Brandon House Homophile Fiction in 1970 as BH-6108 under the title Soldiers of Sodom. Later published by Driveshaft Library in 1984 as DS-139 under the title Stud Soldiers, credited to Stu Chadwick.

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His Male Lover

Author: Kym Allyson

 1970 

Lambda Press

LB-108 

Formerly titled The Queer Letters and published by Brandon House in 1970 and later republished by Driveshaft Library, twice: first in 1984 as DS-144, under the title Special Delivery, credited to Mark Richards and then in 1986 as DS-188, under the title Letter Men, credited to Pete McBride.

Kym Allyson was none other than John H. Kimbro, a prolific author who used various pseudonyms to write more than 80 books. He finally hit his commercial stride in a series of 40  popular gothic romance novels starting with Augusta the First and ending with Belinda the Impatient (did he also write Gertrude the Incontinent?)

John H. Kimbro

He wrote under at least eight different names: Ann Ashton, Jean Kimbro, Milt Jaxon, Charlotte Bramwell and Zoltan Lambec, among others. But, his most enduring pen name was Katheryn Kimbrough, author of the gothic series published under the umbrella title, Saga of the Phenwick Women.

John passed away on December 26th, 2005, in San Francisco at the age of 75.

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Honey Boy

 Author: John Maggie

 1969 

Lambda Press

LB-109 

Also published by Barclay Books in 1969 as Barclay-7054, under the title The Honey Horn.

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The Gay Brotherhood

Author: Brad Tempus 

 1974 

Lambda Press 

LB-110 

Republished in 1985 by Power Force as PF-149 , under the title Gay Brotherhood, credited to Norm Peters. Later republished by Gay Library.

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And that's all for now.

Next: more great vintage gay pulp fiction covers from another imprint. 

Until then...

Thanks for reading!

It's A Man's Man's Man's World - Seal