Donald and Katharine Foley Collection of Penguin Books, 1935-1965

by Donald L. Foley
September 1998

Penguin Books as a publishing firm was the brainchild of Allen Lane, who in 1935 was the Managing Director of The Bodley Head. The Bodley Head was a reputable publishing house, well known in the 1890s for its avant-garde publishing of Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, et al. Lane, faced with slumping sales and a serious financial squeeze was familiar with successful paperback publishing on the Continent (notably Tauchnitz Books and the attractive, color-coded Albatross Books). He dreamed up the idea of carefully-selected, well-designed, low-priced paperbacks for British readers and, as it turned out, for export to the world.

The first 10 books were issued in July 1935 and were immediately successful, despite dire prophecies by others and considerable resistance by some hardback publishers. Groups of 10 followed every three months or so. Lane was joined by two of his brothers, Richard and John, and a small staff. By the end of 1936 The Bodley Head was in danger of bankruptcy. Therefore, Lane converted Penguin Books to a personal venture to avoid its being caught by creditors.

In 1937 two significant series were added: Pelican Books (non-fiction titles) and Penguin and Pelican Specials (devoted mainly to current issues, and especially the rising threat of fascism in Spain, Germany and Italy). Other series followed. By the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Penguin was well established. Its large paper usage entitled it to a sufficiently large paper ration, which put it in the forefront of paperback publishing during the war. This led to special series and arrangements for getting books to the troops. Other series aimed at providing the civilian population recreational and educational reading matter were ambitiously added or beefed up. Penguin Books was hard hit by the loss of key senior personnel to military service and had its new quarters west of London commandeered by the Air Force. But the firm managed to maintain a remarkable wartime output. This, in turn, fed back to the benefit of sales after the War, since so many new readers had become exposed to and often addicted to Penguins during these momentous years.

The post-war period naturally saw fresh expansion. The number of first editions increased as well. Several influential series prospered. Pivotal to these series were a group of notable senior managers/editors, some of whom are briefly identified here:

• Allen Lane. The dominant entrepreneurial director until his death in 1970. Lacking a university education, Lane had a feel for what would sell and had a knack for hiring able lieutenants. In later years in particular he would let most of the decisions be made by his senior staff and would often be absent for extended periods. But he kept his finger on critical developments and dominated the broad policies by which the firm operated. In the end he became a very wealthy man, but in earlier years he and his brothers scrambled to stay solvent.
• Richard and John Lane. These two younger brothers were vital managers in the 1930s. Richard functioned as a sort of finance officer. He served as a naval officer in WWII. In 1955 he took over the Penguin operation in Australia. In the 1960s he sold his shares in Penguin to Allen and pulled out of further management. John, the youngest brother, specialized in sales and exports. He, too, was a naval officer who was killed during the North African landings.
• William Emrys Williams. Became a close friend of Allen's. Served as advising editor for the Pelican series. With key government posts, Williams engineered several wartime arrangements for books for servicemen. Williams retired as editor-in-chief in 1965.
• Eunice Frost. From a sort of office manager she evolved into the fiction editor and handled a wide range of editorial matters relating to various series.
• A. S. B. Glover. With an encyclopedic mind, Glover became the overall fact-checking editor. There are many anecdotes about his queries to authors on matters presumably within the authors' competencies--with Glover proving to be right.
• John Lehmann. Lehmann had been involved in a variety of roles before agreeing to edit Penguin New Writing series in 1940. He had been manager of the Hogarth Press, had edited earlier versions of New Writing, and had wide literary connections. The 40th and last issue was published in 1950.
• E. V. Rieu. Rieu became the long-time editor of the Penguin Classics series, featuring fresh translations. Rieu himself translated the first title in the series, The Odyssey, which has reportedly sold 3 million copies at last count.
• Nikolaus Pevsner. Pevsner served as the indefatigable editor of three Penguin series. In 1943 he picked up the editorship of the King Penguin series after Elizabeth Senior was killed in a London bombing. In 1951 his first volume in the Buildings of England series was published. There were to follow 45 volumes, the last in 1974, almost all of which were in fact written by Pevsner. It was a prodigious feat of field work/scholarship/writing. In 1953 he launched the Pelican History of Art series, a distinguished hard-cover series somewhat unusual for Penguin. The series continued until 1992 when it was taken over by the Yale University Press.
• Eleanor Graham and Kaye Webb. These two women edited the Puffin Story Books, Graham from 1941 to 1961 and Webb from 1961 to 1979. Webb in particular was responsible for rejuvenating the series and promoting the Puffin Book Club among young readers.
• Tony Godwin. A highly successful bookseller, Godwin joined the senior editorial group in 1960 with a focus on strengthening Penguin's contemporary fiction offerings. He was responsible for establishing the Penguin Modern Classics subseries in 1961 and The English Library series in 1965. After differences with Lane, he was fired in 1967.

The wide publishing scope and the attempts by new senior staff to update editorial and design policies inevitably led to considerable internal differences and friction. Lane and the old-timers wanted to maintain traditional standards of content and taste, while newer editors, led by Tony Godwin, wanted Penguin to catch up with contemporary literary developments. Lane was still insistent on what had by now become fairly traditional covers--which, indeed, helped make Penguins distinctive. The 10 or 15 years up to 1965 witnessed a certain duality: most books continued to follow a traditional but evolving design, while some bore clear marks of experimentation.

During its first 30 years, Penguin published more than 5,000 titles in Britain. An additional 300 or so appeared in special World War II series for the armed forces, mainly duplicating titles published in regular Penguin series. Another 265 titles were published as American Penguins in the United States.

In the beginning Penguin Books merely secured reprint rights to titles already published elsewhere. But starting in 1937 with the Pelican series, the Penguin Specials series and the Shakespeare series, a few first editions emerged. This number increased year by year. A rough estimate for the 30-year period suggests about 45% of the titles were first edition and 55% were first Penguin printings of books first published elsewhere.

Once underway, Penguin Books produced a very large number of separate series. Indeed, in the 30-year period there were:

• 80 different series
• 9 different color codes in the main series (for types of literature--e.g. fiction, mystery & crime, biography & memoirs, etc.).
• 11 different color codes in Penguin Classics (for countries of origin--e.g. Greece, Rome, France, Scandinavia).
• 4 different color codes and, following, 4 different cover symbols in American Penguin series (for types of literature).
• 29 subseries (within regular series, usually identified on cover and/or short-title page--e.g., Penguin Modern Classics, Pelican History of England, Penguin Modern Poets).

This amounts to a total of some 133 identifiable book sequences published by Penguin Books during the period 1935-1965.

The first and main Penguin series, consisting mainly of fiction but also serving as an omnibus series, includes an estimated 2,400 titles. The successive series with the most titles published between 1935 and 1965 follow:

• Pelican Books (mainly non-fiction). 763 titles.
• Puffin Story Books (for children & teenagers). 249 titles.
• Penguin & Pelican Specials (non-fiction, current issues). 247 titles.
• Penguin Classics (fresh translations). 165 titles.
• American Penguin Books (publ. in U. S.). 159 titles.
• Forces Book Club (12 installments, 10 titles each). 120 titles.
• Puffin Picture Books (larger format, for children). 119 titles.
• Penguin Handbooks (on wide range of subjects). 118 titles.
• Prisoners of War Book Service (number estimated). 100 titles.

Additional notable series include:

• King Penguins. 76 hardbound titles 1939-1959. Originally sold for 1 shilling, each volume included at least 16 color plates. Became very collectible.
• Penguin Poets. 88 titles 1941-1965. Almost completely first-edition groupings.
• Penguin Plays. 61 titles 1946-1965. A mix of first editions and reprintings.
• Pelican History of Art. 24 hardbound titles 1953-1965. (Series continued, with introduction of paperback editions in 1970.)
• Buildings of England. 28 titles 1952-1965, both paperback and hardbound. (18 additional titles published after 1965.)
• Penguin Modern Painters. 23 titles 1944-1959.
• Penguin Music Scores. 30 titles 1949-1956.
• Penguin Reference Books. 28 titles 1943-1965. (Continued after 1965.)

Nine of the Penguin series were distinctive in being periodicals including:

• Penguin New Writing. 40 issues 1940-1950.
• Transatlantic. 34 issues 1943-1946. A monthly magazine seeking to interpret the United States as a wartime ally to British readers.
• New Biology. 31 issues 1945-1960.
• Science News. 54 issues 1946-1960.

The series and subseries are fully listed in Tables 1A, 1B and 2.

On the design and production side, two notable designers deserve special mention during this period:

• Jan Tschichold. Tschichold, an eminent typographer and book designer, was brought in from Switzerland by Lane in 1946. During his tenure, through 1948, Tschichold tightened up design standards and simultaneously created options within these standards through which the large numbers of designers and printers involved in the huge Penguin production could operate.
• Hans Schmoller. Schmoller picked up as chief designer and production manager in subsequent years. Design changes and experimentation marked the latter 1950s and the 1960s as Schmoller brought in a range of talented young designers.

In very broad terms, the following time periods may be identified, roughly characterizing the evolution of design categories in all of the series:

• 1935-1936. Penguin main series only. Three horizontal bands (color-white-color) and "Bodley Head" vertically on front cover.
• 1937-1947. Penguin main series and Pelican. Three bands (continued). "Bodley Head" dropped. Other series with distinctive styles. Heavy type on covers. Pre-Tschichold.
• 1947-circa 1952. Impact of Tschichold's 2 1/2-year consultancy. At first, experimental changes and then a settling into new styles. For all series, lighter type, generally cleaner design, and with time fresh covers and redesigned inside forematter. For Pelican Books, new cover with white vertical rectangle in middle (1949). Penguin Specials a new cover (1951). Penguin Classics a new cover and spine design (1949).
• circa 1952-1957. Consolidation of new style under Schmoller's direction. Penguin main series, a bit later than the other series, shifted to vertical three-band design (1954). Up to 1957 all spine printing read up (a British publishing pattern).
• 1957. Change in all Penguin books' spines--from reading up to reading down (which brought them into line with standard American practice). All other design features remained.
• 1957-1965. A great deal of design experimentation for a substantial minority of Penguin titles. Many young designers brought in or contracted with. Included an outstanding (and very collectible) set of some 40 covers by Abram Games. This pattern of mixed covers was evident in several series.
• 1962-1965. Spines were standardized in distinctive solid colors while permitting considerable leeway in cover design (although generally within a modular frame). This affected Penguin main series (orange spines), Pelican Books (blue spines), Penguin Specials (red spines), Penguin Classics (black spines), Penguin Handbooks (white and yellow spines). and Penguin Poetry (black spines). This was an unusual show of clean, recognizable designs with a considerable sense of commonality among the series. This was never to be repeated in subsequent Penguin publishing. The Classic Period was drawing to a close.

Within a given design category, the front and back covers and the spines tend to be uniform in style. So, too, are the typographic formats of the short title page and the title page. Table 6 provides a summary listing of these design categories as developed for use with the Foley Collection and its database. The design category of each book is identified in the database as uppercase letters.

Supplementing the design categories, which represent regularities during a production period, are what we have termed design variations--distinctive features by which individual books vary from the overall pattern for a design category. Examples include books with unusual self-wrappers (WWII), advertising on back cover (WWII), part of a boxed set, hard cover, private binding, etc. Table 7 lists all of the design variations found in the Foley Collection. The database also identifies these detailed variations book by book. These are shown in the database either as lowercase letters or as "v" numbers, in either case following the design category.

In addition to Jan Tschichold and Hans Schmoller, several hundred designers and illustrators--mostly of covers but some of text illustrations--have been identified. Of these a few deserve special mention.

• Edward Young. As a young member of the Penguin staff, in 1935 designed the first Penguin device, the cover and spine and the text typography for the main series. In 1937 designed the Pelican and Penguin Specials covers. During the war became a submarine commander, celebrated in Young's One of Our Submarines, published as number 1000 in the Penguin main series.
• Robert Gibbings. Art Editor for the 10-book series, Penguin Illustrated Classics (1938), and illustrator for additional books.
• Robert Jonas. A prolific illustrator of striking American Penguin covers, especially in the 1945-1948 period.
• George Salter. Cover illustrator for both American and British, titles from 1946-1956.
• Abram Games. Consulting art director with Penguin, 1956-1958. Responsible for what have become known as the Games covers on 43 Penguin titles. These have become very collectible.
• Stephen Russ. Cover designer and illustrator, 1956-1964, including a number of D. H. Lawrence titles.
• David Gentleman. A well-known and versatile designer of British postage stamps among other things. He designed or illustrated several Penguin books 1957-1963.
• Ronald Searle. Illustrated covers and in some instances texts, 1957-1963.
• Germano Facetti. Served as Penguin Art Director from 1960 to 1972 and contributed a few cover illustrations.
• Romak Marber. An influential member of the Penguin design group from 1961-1965. He is particularly credited with designing the so-termed Marber grid, used effectively in design category P of the Penguin main series.
• Paul Hogarth. From 1961-1965, designed or illustrated Penguin covers.
• Alan Aldridge. Headed the Penguin fiction art department from 1963 to 1967.

Penguin Books, like any publisher, has had its favorite authors. Presumably this was by mutual agreement, with Penguin seeking additional titles and authors welcoming further publication by Penguin. As time went on many authors came to welcome Penguin publication as prestigious. Penguin fell into a pattern of recognizing some of its most distinguished authors by simultaneously publishing 10 different titles by a given author, with 100,000 copies of each title, amounting to a run of a million copies. These came to be known as the "million" sets. Our listing here of these sets serves to identify a number of Penguin's most distinguished and popular authors. (The listings and discussion that follow reflect the British Penguin publishing and do not take into account the American Penguin series.)

Below are listed additional popular Penguin authors. An author qualifies for this list by either having the simultaneous publication of a set of 5 of his titles or, arbitrarily, by having at least 8 entries in the Collection's database. This list is in alphabetic order:

• Hillaire Belloc
• Arnold Bennett
• Louis Bromfield
• John Dickson Carr
• Raymond Chandler
• Peter Cheyney
• Freeman Wills Crofts
• E. M. Forster
• Erle Stanley Gardner
• Robert Graves
• Compton McKenzie
• Nikolaus Pevsner
• Ellery Queen
• William Shakespeare
• C. P. Snow

In the two lists above the popularity of the "mystery and crime" authors is abundantly clear. Most of the titles of these authors were reprints of hardcover books previously issued by other publishers. In this respect, Penguin was being the paperback reprinter. Nikolaus Pevsner's titles, in contrast, were Penguin originals.

It remains for individual users of the collection to serve as their own literary critics of the merits of the large and varied output of Penguin Books. The Penguin mission was wide ranging--from making inexpensive reprints of widely selling titles to publishing more specialized books with lower sales volumes.

Allen Lane died in 1970 without identifying a permanent successor. By prearrangement, Penguin was almost immediately absorbed by the Longmans Group. In 1975, Penguin and Longmans bought out The Viking Press in the United States as a means of entering the American market. There have been numerous further acquisitions and consolidations over the years. A few developments are noted here.

In 1967 Lane, with Godwin's aid, embarked on a new deluxe hardback series entitled Allen Lane The Penguin Press. This fulfilled a dream of Lane's and became his own successor to the earlier firm, John Lane The Bodley Head. And to top things off, Lane succeeded in repurchasing the very building that had earlier housed the former firm. The series had only mediocre success.

It was also decided in the late 1960s to create a very strong presence in textbooks and teaching materials. An ambitious Education series was established. And this, over time, spawned numerous subseries. The books were produced for the full range of educational use. While the Education series was formally abandoned in the l980s, Penguin Books continued to be a strong supplier of books used by university students and by students at lower levels. The widespread dependence upon Penguin Classics is a notable example.

It has been reported that Penguin published over 30,000 titles in its first 50 years. This suggests that nearly 25,000 titles were published in the 1966-85 period, a prodigious output. Many of these titles, while carrying some of the former design symbols and designated formally as Penguin products, gradually lost much of their distinctiveness. Viking and other paperbacks were mixed in.

As a global publishing venture, Penguin has continued to do well. An Australian branch has had a healthy output of its own titles as well as distributing books from Britain and the United States. Penguin is well integrated into the American publishing scene.

In 1985 Penguin celebrated its 50th anniversary. In cooperation with the Penguin Collectors' Society (founded in 1974), a special exhibition was displayed at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Facsimile volumes of the first ten Penguins were produced in a boxed edition. In subsequent years several of the separate series' 50th anniversaries have been duly commemorated. To celebrate Penguin's 60th anniversary in 1995, Penguin produced sets of miniature volumes, The Penguin 60s, excerpting earlier texts.

For a more detailed account, "Post-1965 Evolution of Penguin Books", see A27 Finding Aid

by Donald L. Foley
September 1998

This portion of the Foley Collection of Penguin Books focuses on the 1935-1965 period, the first thirty years of Penguin Books' publishing. It is donated by Katharine and me in memory of our son, William Ross Foley. Started as my hobby in the early 1980s (following retirement), the collection will be referred to as mine in this essay. I took advantage of a summer in Britain and two further visits to Britain and Ireland where I picked up titles that interested me, particularly in the "first thousand" of the main series. My collecting was less active from 1986 to 1995. During the past four years I developed a full-blown working collection for exploring and documenting the wide variety of Penguin series and the design evolution within each series. I also refined the accompanying database, added reference items and built a detailed index to these reference materials.

The Collection is by no means complete, containing less than half of the 5,000 or so Penguin titles published from 1935 through 1965. The main series and the Pelican series are particularly strong for the 1946 to 1955 period. The King Penguin series and several shorter series are complete. Most of the series have at least some representation. The most serious deficiencies are for titles (some special issues for the services) published during World War II.

The bulk of the items were procured from Britain, with some from Ireland, Canada and, of course, the United States. The earlier books have not been readily available in the United States. In particular, titles in the main series (nearly half of the total Penguin output 1935-1965) were generally not for sale in the United States for copyright reasons. Penguins, particularly first-edition titles such as Penguin Classics, came to be sold more commonly in the United States from about 1950 on. And second-hand Penguins for the 1950-1965 period also found their way to our bookstores.

There are, in effect, two separable aspects of the Collection:

• The Penguin books as such and that part of the database specifically describing these books.
• A broader description of the series and subseries coupled with the indexed reference materials that cover all aspects of Penguin publishing. This second part of the collection provides a more rounded picture of Penguin publishing than would be evident only from the collected books.

In brief summary, the Collection comprises:

• About 2500 Penguin titles, mainly paperback, published 1935-1965.
• About 100 reference items: books, reports, special catalogs, Penguin Collectors' Society periodicals, etc., accompanied by a comprehensive index.
• Some ephemera: advertising material, special binders, etc.
• A computerized database describing (a) each book in the collection and (b) each series, whether or not represented in the collection.
• A computer searchable finding aid to the collection.
• The present essays

The Collection contains about 2500 titles published between July 1935 and December 1965. (Technically, the first 30 years would have ended June 1965, but because Penguin reprints do not state the month published, I opted to collect through the end of 1965.)

A central feature of my Collection when it was shelved at home was its physical organization. The books were shelved by series. Within each series, the books were shelved by design category and the viewer could readily sense the evolution of design categories. Unfortunately, the Bancroft Library user will no longer be able to view the collection in its entirety. Happily, the books in the Collection all have their original covers, so that the books' designs can be examined (in contrast, many of the Penguins in other parts of the UC Library system have been rebound and have lost their original covers).

A comment may be in order about the condition of the books in the Collection. It is a working collection. Paperbacks by their nature are unlikely to have been set aside by fastidious collectors. Wartime paperbacks in particular were passed from reader to reader and are often worn. Some Penguin books published before World War II and for a brief period after (but not during the war because of paper rationing) were issued with dust wrappers. But wrappers on these early paperbacks have characteristically been lost along the way.

Tables 1A and 1B list the Penguin series. For each series, the table shows the inclusive publication dates, the number of first editions held, the number of first Penguin printings held, the number of reprints of Penguin printings held, and the total number of titles published.

Table 2 shows similar information for the color-codings and subseries that were also created in the course of Penguin's publishing during the first 30 years. The color-codings refer to cover colors indicating the character of the contents. For the main series, orange denoted fiction, green denoted mystery and crime, etc. For the Penguin Classics series, the color denoted the country from which the work was drawn. Subseries were usually indicated on the cover and/or on the short-title page.

The listings in Tables 1A and 1B and the counts of books published in each series represent an understandable simplification. In fact, the starts of some series were rather confusing. One pattern was for the Penguin main series to serve an omnibus role in early years. And then as other series were conceived, books already published and numbered in the main series were also given fresh serial numbers in new series. For example, the first dozen or so Penguin Plays serial numbers are for titles already published in the main series. Early titles in the Penguin Handbook series had already been published and given serial numbers in the Penguin Specials series.

Similarly, the World War II series for the armed services and for prisoners of war involved cases of double numbering--one number for regular series publications and another number for the armed services series. And the sequence in which such paired publications were issued varied. In many cases the armed services versions followed earlier regular publication. But in some instances, this was reversed.

A few titles in the American Penguin series were published in Britain and given new, but similarly designed covers. A number appear to be reprints of British Penguins printed in the United States. And then, finally, came the larger run of independently produced American Penguins and Pelicans.

One-third of the books in the Collection are first editions, two-fifths are Penguin first printings but not first editions, and one quarter are reprints of Penguin printings. Most collectors, particularly in Britain, seek only first editions or first Penguin printings (where the first edition was another publisher's). But a strong case can be made (and has been made by a few active "researchers" in the Penguin Collectors' Society) for including reprints. The reprints provide direct evidence of the continued sales of titles and show the evolution of cover design, and, of course, the reprints fill in where first editions or first printings are not available.

Table 3 lists Penguin first editions, year by year, from 1937 through 1950 in the Collection. The Collection contains no first editions published July 1935 through December 1936. The first original titles (or, in some cases, revisions or fresh introductions making the titles technically first editions) came in 1937 with two Pelican titles, five Penguin Shakespeare titles, one Penguin main series title, one Penguin Specials title and the first periodical title, Penguin Parade 1. As Table 3 shows, the number of first edition titles increased year by year. Remarkably, even the war years (1939-1945) saw an output of first editions, including the Penguin New Writing series, a steady flow of Penguin Specials, a slowly increasing number of Penguin main series, the start of American Penguin Specials, the initiation of the Penguin Painters series, and after a lapse in 1942, a pickup in King Penguin series. The Penguin Classics series, launched in 1946, published only first edition translations. Puffin Picture Books were entirely first edition, as were Penguin Guides. Penguin Handbooks were mainly first edition. And of course the various periodical series were essentially first edition. Penguin New Writing contained reprinted material along with fresh contributions. Pelicans, while mixed, came to have a preponderance of first editions.

Every title published by Penguin Books is in a series, so identifying the series is an essential part of describing the book. Over half of the titles are also in subseries or color-codings, within their respective series.

The titles in the initial Penguin main series (comprising nearly half of the first 30 years' titles) were merely assigned serial numbers, starting with 1. These appeared on the spine and starting in 1944, also appeared on the short-title page. Each of the other series was assigned a letter or a combination of letters that preceded the serial number. Thus Pelican Books carried an "A" preceding the serial number, Penguin Specials an "S", Poetry a "D" and Classics an "L". The letters were partly assigned alphabetically and partly (as with Specials) to match the distinctive word or words in the series name. These letters are sometimes referred to as prefix letters. I have termed them preletters.

In developing the database, I generally followed the Penguin designations of preletters. But to avoid ambiguity, I assigned "P" (unused by Penguin Books) to the main series. Thus, serial number 947 is treated in the database as P947. I made a few other minor preletter modifications for database clarity.

When the Collection was at home, I depended primarily on the preletter for identifying a particular series. Now that the Collection is at The Bancroft Library and a series library identification has been added as part of the call number, each series can conveniently be identified by this library identification. For example, the Penguin main series with its database preletter, "P", can be identified by "A1", its library identification for series numbers up to 9999. And the Pelican series, with its preletter, "A", can be identified by "B1". The preletter is commonly used among Penguin collectors. The library designation helps one to keep track of the series and books within The Bancroft Library system.

Titles that are also in subseries or that have color-coded covers carry the library designation, the preletter, and the serial numbers of the main series in which they are located. The subseries titles are physically identified by the name of the subseries on the cover and/or the short-title page or, in same instances, by a distinctive cover design. The color-coded titles are physically identified by the colors of their covers.

The Collection's reference holdings are listed in Table 4. Items are grouped as books, short monographs, Penguin Collectors' Society serials, checklists, etc.

The few main works dealing with Penguin Books' publishing history and with Allen Lane's pivotal role provide broad-brush accounts and, selectively, some information about the creation and evolution of individual series. But providing definitive accounts of specific series and probing the details of individual books remained for a number of diligent collector-and dealer-members of the Penguin Collectors' Society. Their reports are more elusive and not commonly available in libraries, particularly American libraries.

The Penguin Collectors' Society was founded in 1974, with Tanya and Hans Schmoller taking the lead. The Society has provided a social and intellectual base for Penguin book collectors. Many of these have been avid in their interest and some, at least, diligent in their researching and reporting. A PCS Newsletter has published short articles and news notes and encouraged members to share their findings. In 1993, the newsletter became the semiannual Penguin Collector. From 1986 on, the Society has published Miscellany annually, with definitive articles and, usually, a sharp focus to each issue. In addition, the Society has published a few other short monographs and checklists. My holdings of PCS publications are virtually complete, lacking only Newsletter issues 1-2 and 4-11. The earliest newsletters were fairly short. And some of their articles have been reprinted in later years in some of the Miscellany issues. In the judgment of at least one present PCS editor, the gaps in my holdings of these earliest newsletters are of no great consequence.

Several dealers have periodically issued catalogs listing Penguin books for sale. Richard Williams (who is also the proprietor-editor of Dragonby Press) has produced excellent specialized checklists. And there have been occasional articles about Penguin books and Penguin Books publishing history in journals devoted to the book trade.

A few files are also included. One file in particular deals with the Weber Penguin Collection at the University of Notre Dame. This superb collection of Penguin books is virtually complete for the 1935-1965 period. It is undoubtedly the single strongest American collection of early Penguin books. It was purchased from a British book dealer in 1989, financed by a generous donation from Theodore Weber, currently residing in El Cerrito, here in the East Bay.

As a guide for persons desiring to learn about the Penguin story and about Penguin books, the following are suggested for starters. All of the suggested materials are available in the Collection. The relevant section of Table 4 is shown in brackets following each item.

For a general introduction to Penguin Books publishing history:

• Jones & Aynsley, Fifty Penguin Years. [Books]
• Hare, Penguin Portrait. [Books]
• Edwards, Twenty-One Years. [Short Monographs]

For an alphabetized, encyclopedic coverage of Penguin books and publishing:

• Edwards, Penguin Collector's Companion, A (1997 rev. single-vol. edit.) [Short Monographs]

For bibliographies of Allen Lane, Penguin's founder and dominant leader:

• Morpurgo, Allen Lane King Penguin: A Biography. [Books]
• Williams, Allen Lane: A Personal Portrait. [Books]

For listings of all of Penguin books:

• Williams, The Penguin Story, includes a full listing, by series, of Penguin books published 1935-1956. [Checklists . . . ]
• Penguin Collectors' Society, Supplementary Catalogue of Penguin Books 1956-1971. [Checklists . . . ]

For information about specific series of Penguin books:

• Various titles [Short Monographs]
• Various checklists [Checklists . . . ]

For information about the design of Penguin books and their covers:

• Aynsley, "Fifty Years of Penguin Design," part 2 of Jones & Aynsley, Fifty Penguin Years. [Books]
• McLean, Jan Tschichold: Typographer, esp. Chap. 5 on Tschichold's 1947-1949 consulting mission at Penguin Books. [Books]
• Green, Penguin Books: The Pictorial Cover 1960-1980. [Short Monographs]

For information about the Penguin Collectors' Society and its continuing production of materials about Penguin books:

• Penguin Collectors' Society Newsletter, 1974-1993. [Penguin Collectors' Society]
• Penguin Collector, The, 1993-present. [Penguin Collectors' Society]
• Miscellany, 1986-present. [Penguin Collectors' Society]

It may prove helpful to tap the checklists as listed in the "Checklists . . . " section of Table 4. While my database provides convenient access to titles actually in the Collection, these checklists offer a comprehensive view of all Penguin titles whether or not in the Collection.

In particular the checklists published by Williams and his Dragonby Press are a fine resource. They are in a British Paperback Checklist series. They include the following Penguin series and dates:

• Main Penguin series 1-1000 (1935-1954) Checklist No. 11
• Main Penguin series 1001-2000 (1954-1964) Checklist No. 32
  Note: The numbers above match the actual books. In the Foley database the preletter "P" is used (e.g., P1-P1000; P1001-P2000).
• Pelican Books A1-A507 (1937-1960) Checklist No. 10
• Penguin Specials S1-S393 (1937-1987) Checklist No. 9
  Includes Pelican Specials and early Penguin Handbooks in the Specials series.
• Puffin Story Books PS1-PS148 (1941-1960) Checklist No. 33
• Puffin Picture Books PP1-PP120 (1940-1965) Checklist No. 19
  Includes Baby Puffins, Puffin Cut-Out, Porpoise and certain other non-Penguin imprints that reprinted Puffin books or were related to them. (The Collection includes 2nd rev. ed (1985) and 3rd rev. ed. (1996).

The main portion of each of the above checklists lists titles in series-number order. For each title the following information is provided:

• Series number
• Author
• Title
• Translator (if any)
• Whether first edition
• Month and year published
• Number of pages
• Printer
• Cover price
• Cover color code (if any) and cover format
• Whether published with dust wrapper
• Contents of back cover
• Estimated retail price for very good copy with dust wrapper (if thus issued)
  Note: In the basic listing only first printings are included, although, where identified, subsequent "issues" of the first printing are given separate listings. (See also below re the separate listing of Penguin reprint printings.)

In addition to the above basic information for each book, some of the checklists offer additional information or features.

Other checklists can be helpful for titles not covered by the British Paperback Checklists just described. The most convenient are:

• Williams and Schmoller, The Penguin Story (1956), pp.60-124, providing a comprehensive listing, by series, for Penguin publications 1935 to 1956.
• Penguin Collectors' Society, Supplemental Catalog of the Publications of Penguin Books 1956-71 (1981), 5 sections totaling 90 pages.

These two checklists follow a uniform pattern. Series by series, they list titles in series-number order, showing this information:

• Series number
• Title
• Subseries code for main series, 1068-3311 (By this point cover color coding had been discontinued.)
• Author
• Month and year of publication

The main books about Allen Lane and Penguin publishing have generally been well indexed. But the materials published by the Penguin Collectors' Society have been given only scant and infrequent indexing. I built a comprehensive, computerized index that is very complete for the PCS publications, for the dealers' checklists and for a handful of other articles. It deals only selectively with already-indexed books. The index is presented in full as Table 5.

The index often groups more precise topics or specific persons within broader categories. Until one gets used to the index this may be a bit troublesome. There are, however, numerous cross-references from the more precise listings to the group listing actually used. The advantage of the group listings for some one not familiar with, say, individual names is that one can grasp the context--whether the person was an editor, a designer, a writer, etc.

A few comments about the middle "Source" column: my format for this column reflects the operating pattern employed in PCS publications. Because the early PCS newsletters have been out of print and difficult to find and because some of the articles in these early newsletters needed updating in subsequent years as fresh information became available, the Miscellany series in particular and in some cases, the Penguin Collector or later issue of PCS newsletters took to reprinting early newsletter articles--sometimes in full, sometimes abridged, and often updated. When this was done, the exact early source would be cited. My index seeks to preserve the earlier source where room in the "Source" column permits. Features of the "Source" column format include:

• The source within brackets following the current source is the original source on which the main source was based. E.g., the item, "American Penguin Specials" lists "Miscellany 2:16-19" as the current source, but "[PCSN17]" as the original source.
• A name in parentheses following the current source shows the author. E.g., for the same item as above, the author of the main source is "(Edwards)".
• In certain cases some additional information may be added following the current source.

Where the item being indexed is in a series, there may sometimes be listed the series and the specific serial number of a book within that series. E.g., the item "Main series--683" refers to serial number 683, and in this case the "(Hiroshima)" that follows gives the title. (In indexing the "Main series," I used the actual serial numbers without any preletter as Penguin Books did, and did not add the preletter "P" which I used in the database.)

Identical entries (e.g., nine entries for "Publ. hist.") are ordered by Source Date (the publication date of each item, in this example ranging from 1956 to 1995) so that the user may either start with the most recent sources and work backwards or follow the sources in their chronological order.

As the Collection grew, it became clear that an accompanying computerized database would permit ready updating of a perpetual inventory of what was held. And, of course, it would permit the very rapid retrieval of information.

This short subsection offers a brief sketch of the main elements of the database as it is available to the library user. There are two main facets of the database, representing two levels at which Penguin books can be viewed:

• The description of each book held in the collection. This part is analogous to a library's computerized catalog. For each book, there are appropriate "fields" in which the traditional characteristics--author, title, publisher, date of publication, etc.--are reported. Additions and adaptations have been made to report features that seem particularly significant for the Penguin titles in this collection. Thus, the series, the series number, the subseries (if any), color-coding (if any), information as to the printing (whether a first printing or a reprint) and certain design features have also been included.
• The description of each series, subseries or color-coded group whether or not held in the collection. This part is probably given greater emphasis than one might expect in a library's computerized catalog. But series are so integral to the publishing pattern of Penguin Books that this part of the database helps us to understand what Penguin Books really produced.

Other portions of the database list and index reference materials.

In the present case, where the books and reference materials are "archived" in The Bancroft Library and where the potential user cannot walk in and physically browse the collection (as I was able to do), the database becomes a particularly important tool for learning what the collection contains and, thus, what the user may expect to find in it.

The Bancroft Library also holds a second portion of the Foley Collection of Penguin Books covering the period from 1966 on. For more information about the contents of that collection and for an essay, "The Post-1965 Evolution of Penguin Books," see A27 Finding Aid.

Some series carried on after 1965 with no great changes. But Penguin's publishing history during these more recent years also encompassed new ventures and great change:

• An Education series and associated subseries were introduced and vigorously promoted in the latter 1960s and the early 1970s.
• ISBN codes came into use in about 1971, replacing the earlier preletters.
• Penguin Books underwent successive reorganizations as part of a growing conglomerate.
• Series and subseries emerged and dissolved. Titles were transferred, reissued, and in miraculous ways slipped from one series to another and from one serial number to another. (This seems to have been abetted by reliance on ISBN codes which are not normally "decoded" by book handlers.)
• The volume of book production increased enormously. An estimated 25,000 titles were published between 1966 and 1985. And production into the 1990s continued to soar.

A collector can develop a manageable collection for the earlier Classic Period. In contrast, a collector approaches the most recent 30+ years of Penguin output at his own peril.

Note: Call numbers below are for The Bancroft Library unless otherwise noted.

Dutton, Geoffrey
RARE BIRD, A: PENGUIN BOOKS IN AUSTRALIA 1946-96
Ringwood, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Books Australia
Z533.3.P46.D88 1996
Description: Paperb. xiii, 298p. With illustrations.
To commemorate 50 years of Australian Penguin publishing.

Hare, Steve (editor)
PENGUIN PORTRAIT: ALLEN LANE AND THE PENGUIN EDITORS 1935-1970
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1995
Z325.P42.P46 1995
Description: Paperb. xvi, 368p. + unpaged plates.
Draws particularly on the Penguin Books archives, University of Bristol Library. The best account yet of the roles and operating styles of some two dozen senior Penguin editors and managers.

Jones, Linda Lloyd and Aynsley, Jeremy
FIFTY PENGUIN YEARS
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1985
Z473.F531 1985
Description: Cloth. 142p. Many illustrations.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Penguin books. Foreward by Malcolm Bradbury.

Lehmann, John (editor)
PLEASURES OF NEW WRITING
London: John Lehmann, 1952
PR1149.L35 1952
Description: Cloth. 430p.
A confusing anthology of writings from Penguin New Writing and from other New Writing series (not Penguin) also edited by Lehmann. This is sorted out in Whitehead, Ella (compiler), JOHN LEHMANN'S 'NEW WRITING': AN AUTHOR-INDEX 1936-1950 (UCB main libr AP4 F68 1990 Supp).

Lehmann, John and Fuller, Ron (editors)
PENGUIN NEW WRITING 1940-1950, THE
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1985
PN6014.P441 1985
Description: Paperb. 496p. In Penguin main series, #7484.
An anthology of stories, essays, memoirs and poems from Penguin New Writing.

McLean, Ruari
JAN TSCHICHOLD: TYPOGRAPHER
Boston: David R. Godine, 1975 1st U.S. edition.
Z232.T863.M3 1975b
Description: Cloth. Dj. 160p.
Chap. 5, pp. 87-104, reports on Tschichold's 2 1/2 year design work at Penguin. McLean had also been at Penguin.

Morpurgo, J. E.
ALLEN LANE KING PENGUIN: A BIOGRAPHY
London: Hutchinson, 1979
Z325.L247.M67 1979
Description: Cloth. Dj. 406p. 15 illustrtions.
Morpurgo, an historian, worked for Penguin after the war. Morpurgo's son married Lane's daughter.

Rolph, C. H.
TRIAL OF LADY CHATTERLEY, THE: REGINA V. PENGUIN BOOKS
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1961
PR6023.A93 L23
Description: Paperb., 249p.
The story of the trial, won by Penguin Books, in which the government sought to prevent Penguin from publishing its unexpurgated version of Lady Chatterley's Lover. Also in the collection as A26 C1 No 192.

Whitehead, Ella (compiler) and Whitehead, John
JOHN LEHMANN'S 'NEW WRITING': AN AUTHOR-INDEX 1936-1950
Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990
AP4.F68 1980 suppl.
Description: Cloth. x, 107p. [UC Berkeley libr.: AP4.F68 1990 Suppl.]
Studies in Comparative Literature Vol. 13. Provides index to writings in six different "New Writing" series all edited by John Lehmann. Contains John Whitehead's Introductory Essay, pp. 1-29, esp. pp.13 ff for the story on Penguin New Writing. [In UC Berkeley libr. & not in DF collection.]

Williams, W. E.
ALLEN LANE: A PERSONAL PORTRAIT
London: The Bodley Head, 1973
Z325.P42.W49 1973
Description: Cloth. Dj. 96p. Several plates.
Williams a close colleague and friend.

Cherry, Bridget
BUILDINGS OF ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES, THE: A SHORT ...
[no place stated]: Penguin Collectors' Society, March 1998
pNA961.C49 1998
Description: Wraps. 68p. 23cm x 12cm.
This is an expanded edition. Includes "An Appreciation of Sir Nikolous Pevsner" by John Newman, pp. 51-67.

Cherry, Bridget
BUILDINGS OF ENGLAND, THE: A SHORT HISTORY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cambridge: Andrew Dalby for Penguin Collectors' Society, March 1983
pZ5944.G7 C48 1983
Description: Wraps. 27p.
"Historical Survey", pp.4-10; "Design & Format, pp.11-17; "Bibliography", pp.18-26.

Dalby, Andrew
SF[SCIENCE FICTION] PAPERBACKS OF THE SIXTIES
Linton: Andrew Dalby, [1979]
pZ2014.S33 D34 1980
Description: Wraps. Unbound. Unpaged.
Deals with range of paperback publishers. Includes some Penguin titles, mainly 1st published elsewhere.

Edinburgh University Library
'PICK UP A PENGUIN': PENGUIN BOOKS 1935-1960
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Library, 1986
pZ121.P52 1986
Description: Paperb. 26p.
This was the catalog accompanying an exhibit at the Library 27 Nov. 1985 - 30 Sept. 1986, shortly after the 50th anniversary of the 1st Penguins. Following a 1-page Preface by John Hall, Marjorie Robertson and Sally Wood, there is an annotated list of the 183 books exhibited.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 4 (1989)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 4
Description: Wraps. Pp.28-56
The second part of this 2-part MISCELLANY provides an illustrated checklist of the Christmas books and cards that Allen Lane distributed from 1928 to 1965.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
COLLECTOR'S COMPANION, A
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 7-8 (1992-93)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 7-8
Description: Wraps. 39p. 49p.
These two issues of MISCELLANY comprise an alphabetized mini-encyclopedia dealing with series, topics and persons related to Penguin Books and their publication.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
FOR THE FORCES
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 2 (1987)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 2
Description: Wraps. 24p.
Notes and articles on various wartime series. Includes reprints from early PCS NEWSLETTERS.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUFFIN
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 6 (1991)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 6
Description: Wraps. 44p.
Commemorating the anniversaries of Puffin Picture Books (from 1940) and Puffin Story Books (from 1941), this issue of MISCELLANY also deals with Baby Puffins and two or three other related series.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
PENGUIN CLASSICS, THE
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 9 (1994)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 9
Description: Wraps. 53p.
This issue of MISCELLANY focuses on E. V. Rieu and Betty Radice and the impressive Penguin Classics series. Checklist of books includes translators, color codes, medallion artists.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
PENGUIN COLLECTOR'S COMPANION, A
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 7-8 (1997) 1-vol., rev. ed.
Z991.P45.M5 no. 7-8 (1997)
Description: Wraps. 116p.
This single-vol. revision of MISCELLANY 7-8 comprises an alphabetized mini-encyclopedia dealing with series, topics and persons related to Penguin Books and their publication. This edition is not separately indexed in DF's computerized index, for it is alphabetically arranged.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
PENGUIN ILLUSTRATED CLASSICS
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 5 (1990)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 5
Description: Wraps. 41p.
Focuses on the 10-book series published in May 1938. Includes examples of illustrations. Describes the 2nd group the publication of which was aborted.

Edwards, Russell (editor)
YANKEE DOODLE PENGUIN
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 4 (1989)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 4
Description: Wraps. Pp.1-27
The first part of this 2-part MISCELLANY deals with American Penguins and their history. Checklist included.

Edwards, Russell and Hare, Steve (eds.)
PELICAN BOOKS: A SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 12 (1997)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 12
Description: Wraps. 88p.
Focuses on the Pelican Books series, first issued May 1937.

Edwards, Russell and Hare, Steve editors)
TWENTY ONE YEARS
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY, 10 (1995)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 10
Description: Wraps. 60p.
This pulls together about a dozen recollections by Penguin personnel providing personalized glimpses of Penguing publishing history.

Green, Evelyne
PENGUIN BOOKS: THE PICTORIAL COVER 1960-1980
Manchester: Manchester Polytechnic Central Library, 1981
Z121.G726 1981
Description: Paperb. 40p. + unpaged listing of 219 titles.
This was a catalog accompanying an exhibit at the Library, May-June 1981 emhasizing the evolution in the design of Penguin covers over the 20-year period, 1960-80.

Hall, David J.
KING PENGUIN SERIES, THE
Cambridge: Andrew Dalby for Penguin Collectors' Society, May 1980.
pZ325.P42 H34 1980
Description: Wraps. 28p.
Introduction, pp. 3-8. Detailed check list, pp. 9-27.

Hare, Steve
LIFE HISTORY OF "LIFE HISTORIES", THE
[no fixed address]: Penguin Collectors' Society, 1995
Z235.P42.H37 1995
Description: Wraps. 12p.
This accompanied the publication by the PCS of Chatwick's LIFE HISTORIES, Picture Puffin 116 (in collection as A26 K2 No. 116). This is an extended version of an article publ. in July 1995 Antiquarian Book Monthly.

Hare, Steve (editor)
FATHER AND SON
[no place:] Penguin Collectors' Society, 1999
pZ991.P45.F37 1999
Description: Paperb. 67p.
Privately printed for members to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Penguin Collectors' Society. Essays by literary children about their literary parents who produced works published by Penguin Books. Cover illustration by David Gentleman.

Hare, Steve (editor)
LOST CAUSES
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 13 (1998)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 13
Description: Wraps. 18cm. high x 23cm. wide. 65p.
Essays about Penguin undertakings that failed or were dropped.

Pearson, Joe
PENGUINS MARCH ON: BOOKS FOR THE FORCES DURING WORLD WAR II
Penguin Collectors' Society, MISCELLANY 11 (1996)
Z991.P45.M5 no. 11
Description: Wraps. 97p.
Provides fresh and thorough accounts of the various series and special editions during WWII. Includes a number of checklists. Full-page bibliography and list of sources, p.96.

Penguin Collectors' Society
MISCELLANY 1 (1986) - 13 (1998)
[no stated place] Penguin Collectors' Society, 1986-1998
Z991.P45.M5
Description: Wraps. Various pagings: 1 15p. to 11 96p.
An annual compendium of information, sometimes on a given series or theme. Issues 7 & 8 comprise a small encyclopedia, covering many terms & topics, alphabetically. Several of these MISCELLANY issues are listed separately in the section on Short Monographs above.

Penguin Collectors' Society
PENGUIN COLLECTOR, THE 41 (Dec. 1993) - 52 (July 1999)
[no fixed address] Penguin Collectors' Society, 1993-1999
Z991.P45.P4
Description: Wraps. Paging varies from 52 to 64p. each issue.
Continues Penguin Collectors' Society Newsletter, but now on a twice-a-year basis with a more professional look. DF's index to reference materials offers a helpful way to find information.

Penguin Collectors' Society
PENGUIN COLLECTORS' SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 3(1975), 12(1979)-40(1993)
[no fixed address] Penguin Collectors' Society, 1975-1993
Z990.P45
Description: Wraps. Paging varies 3 pp.33-48 40 50p.
Combines Society news with notes or articles about books or series. Since contents so mixed, DF's index to reference materials is recommended.

Baker, John F.
"Penguin Dreams: How the Future Looks, After 50 Years"
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY Aug.2, l985
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Cutting of article. Pp. 26-27.
Stapled together with Davis article.

Davis, Kenneth C.
"Penguin Then"
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY Aug.2, l985
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Cutting of article. Pp. 28-30.
Stapled together with Baker article.

Hedges, David
"Priceless Penguins: The First Ten Years"
ABMR [ANTIQUARIAN BOOK MONTHLY REV.], v12,no.7,issue135 (July 1985)
Z232.P42.H4 1985
Description: Complete issue. 3 penguins on cover. Article pp.256-263. Illlustrat.
Hedges worked for Penguin Books for a number of years, probably after this first period.

McLean, Ruari
"Collecting Books for Their Design; I Cheap Edits. Before Penguin"
ABMR [ANTIQUARIAN BOOK MONTHLY REVIEW]. v8,no.6,issue86 (June 1981)
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Stapled cutting of article pp.224-27.
A look at Everyman, Tauchnitz, Albatross, etc.

McLean, Ruari
"Collecting Books for Their Design; II Penguins .. by Tschichold"
ABMR [ANTIQUARIAN BOOK MONTHLY REVIEW]. v8,no.8,issue88 (Aug. 1981)
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Stapled cutting of article cover + pp.292-95.
Brief summary of what Tschichold did for Penguin, suggesting the books are collectible for their design.

Swift, Ken
"Taste & Technique in Penguin Collecting"
ABMR [ANTIQUARIAN BOOK MONTHLY REV.], v12,no.11,issue139 (Nov.1985)
Z987.S85 1985
Description: Complete issue. Article pp. 416-19, 421. Illustrated.
Swift a knowledgeable collector and bookdealer.

Date, Bob and Williams, Richard
PUFFIN PICTURE BOOKS [& OTHER SERIES] A BIBLIOGRAPHIC CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, June 1987. 2nd revised edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 19 (1996)
Description: Stapled sheets. 18p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 19. Also includes Baby Puffins, Puffin Cut-Outs & Porpoise.

Penguin Books
PENGUIN BOOK AVAILABILITY 5/5/81
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1981
MICROFICHE 748
Description: Microfiche Set of six.
List of all Penguin Books publ. 1935-1981 in three listings: (1) by author; (2) by title; (3) by ISBN number.

Penguin Collectors' Society
SUPPLEMENTARY CATALOGUE OF THE PUBLICATIONS OF PENGUIN BOOKS 1956-71
Linton: Andrew Dalby for Penguin Collectors' Society, 1981
Z325.P4.S9 1981
Description: Wraps. 5 sections totalling 90p.
This supplements the 1935-1956 catalogue listing in Williams, THE PENGUIN STORY (1956).

Williams, Richard
FIRST THOUSAND PENGUINS, THE: ... A BIBLIOGRAPHIC CHECKLIST ...
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Jan. 1999. Third edition Revised.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 11 (1999)
Description: Stapled sheets. 42p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. Author index. British Paperback Checklists: No. 11. Dragonby Bibliographies: No. 2.

Williams, Richard
FIRST THOUSAND PENGUINS, THE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC CHECKLIST ...
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Feb. 1991. Revised edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 11 (1991)
Description: Stapled sheets. 47p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 11. Dragonby Bibliographies: No. 2.

Williams, Richard
PELICAN BOOKS A1-A507 (1937-1960) A CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Jan. 1990. 2nd edition. Revised.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 10 (1990)
Description: Stapled sheets. 26p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 10.

Williams, Richard
PELICAN BOOKS A1-A507 (1937-60) WITH A GUIDE TO THEIR VALUE
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Jan. 1999. 3rd edition. Revised.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 10 (1999)
Description: Stapled sheets. 22p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. Author index. British Paperback Checklists: No. 10.

Williams, Richard
PENGUIN CRIME FICTION 1935-1990: A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Feb. 1991 Revised edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 22
Description: Stapled sheets. 66p.
Detailed. Includes a few reprints and some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 22.

Williams, Richard
PENGUIN SPECIALS, PELICAN SPECIALS, EARLY PENG. HANDBOOKS: CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Jan. 1990. 3rd revised edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 9 (1990)
Description: Stapled sheets. 23p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 9.

Williams, Richard
PUFFIN STORY BOOKS PS1-PS148 (1941-1960): A CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Sept. 1996. 2nd revised edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 33 (1996)
Description: Stapled sheets. 12p.
Detailed. Includes reprints, variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 33.

Williams, Richard (ed.)
PUFFIN PICTURE BOOKS AND OTHERS: A CHECKLIST . . .
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Sept. 1996. 3rd revised edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 19 (1987)
Description: Stapled sheets. 22p.
Detailed. Includes reprints, variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 19. Also includes Baby Puffins, Puffin Cut-Outs, Porpoise Books, and other related non-Penguin series.

Williams, Richard and Barling, Chris
SECOND THOUSAND PENGUINS: MAIN SERIES 1001-2000: BIBLIOGR. CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Jan. 1999. 2nd edition. Revised.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 32 (1999)
Description: Stapled sheets. 35p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. Author index. British Paperback Checklists: No. 32.

Williams, Richard and Barling, Chris
SECOND THOUSAND PENGUINS: MAIN SERIES 1001-2000: BIBLIOGR. CHECKLIST
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Feb. 1991. 1st edition.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 32 (1991)
Description: Stapled sheets. 44p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. British Paperback Checklists: No. 32.

Williams, Richard and Homan, J. C.
PENGUIN SPECIALS AND EARLY PENGUIN HANDBOOKS S1-S396 (1937-1987) ...
Scunthorpe: Dragonby Press, Jan. 1999. 4th Edition. Revised.
fZ286.P35.B7 no. 9 (1999)
Description: Stapled sheets. 19p.
Detailed. Includes some variations. Also printer, cover price, whether DW, retail value. Author index. British Paperback Checklists: No. 9.

Williams, W. E.
THE PENGUIN STORY MCMXXXV - MCMLVI
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1956
Z325.P4.W5
Description: Paperb. 124p.
Actually Q21 in Miscellaneous Series. In collection as A26 L1 No.21. Text, pp.9-59 + separate pages of plates. Complete catalog of Penguin books published to 1956, pp.60-124. [See also Supplemental Catalog covering 1956-71.]

Penguin Books
Catalogs of Penguin Books [8 different from 1980 to 1984]
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1980-84
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. Varying paging.

Penguin Books
GIFT BOOKS FROM PENGUIN BOOKS
Rutherford, NJ: Penguin Books, [Nov. 1988]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Single 8.5" x 11" glossy sheet
Front: colored photomontage of about 45 Penguin books. Back: list these books, with space for ordering.

Penguin Books
PENGUIN CLASSICS CATALOGUE 1996
Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1996
pZ1217.P392 1996
Description: Paperb. 157p. + index.
A catalog commemorating 50 years of Penguin Classics. 6-p. Introduction by Steve Hare, also editor, PENGUIN COLLECTOR, newsletter of the Penguin Collectors' Society.

Penguin Books
PENGUIN CLASSICS QUIZ
Baltimore: Penguin Books, ca. 1961
pPN6014.P43 1961
Description: Small pamphlet, ca. 30pp.
A list of inprint Penguin Classics as middle-fold.

Penguin Books
PENGUINS IN PRINT: SUBJECT LISTING
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1975
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. 100 numbered columns = 50pp.
Including books published to September 1975. List of series and index to subjects on front cover.

Penguin Books
PENGUINS PROGRESS [2nd series] 4 issues: 7, 8, 10 & 11
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1949-50
A26.R8 nos. 7, 8, 10, 11
Description: Wraps. 7 16p.; 8 18p.; 11 32p.
A little "magazine" sent free to large mailing list with information about new series or new titles. In collection as A26 R8 Nos. 7, 8, 10, 11.

Penguin Books
PENGUINS PROGRESS 1935-1960
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1960
Z325.P38
Description: Paperb. 87p. Fancy cover's title reads: Twentyfive Years.
Publ. for Penguin's silver jubilee. Various authors, including a "Forward" by Allen Lane. In collection as A26 L1 No. 25. Published in Q Series, Miscellaneous.

Penguin Books
PENGUINS: A RETROSPECT 1935-1951
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 1951
pZ325.P43
Description: Wraps. 18p.
A small pamphlet updating TEN YEARS OF PENGUINS which had reprinted three articles from THE BOOKSELLER.

Penguin Books
Publicity packet for Joyce, ULYSSES, publ. by Penguin 23 Apr. 1969.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1969
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Poster; booklet by Ellman; letter from Penguin Education; misc.
(1) 30" x 20" poster printed on both sides; (2) 19p. pamphlet: Richard Ellman, JAMES JOYCE ULYSSES: A SHORT HISTORY; (3) covering publicity letter from Penguin Education; (4) brochure about "Voices" series, Penguin Education; (5) reply order card. All in the original envelope as mailed in UK by Penguin 15 May 1969.

Penguin Books
TEN YEARS OF PENGUINS 1935-1945
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 1945
pZ325.P4
Description: Wraps. 21p.
A small pamphlet reprinting three articles from THE BOOKSELLER (Aug-Sept. 1945).

Penguin Books
WORLD OF PENGUIN, THE: THE PUBLISHER'S COMPLETE CATALOGUE
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1984
pfZ1217.P394 1984
Description: Wraps. 21cm high x 30cm wide. 209p.
Adult Section and Children's Section: In each, titles listed alphabetically by author. Separate subject and title indexes for each section.

Penguin USA
COMPLETE LIST OF TITLES THROUGH APRIL 1997, BY CATEGORY AND SERIES
New York: Penguin USA, [April 1997?]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. 79p. [+1 unpaged order form]
15 imprints listed, p. 2. This comprises a trade paperback backlist.

Penguin USA
COMPLETE LIST OF TITLES THROUGH DECEMBER 1996, ALPHABETICAL BY TITLE
New York: Penguin USA, [Dec. 1996?]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. 40p. [+8 unpaged order forms]
15 imprints listed, p. 2. This comprises a trade paperback backlist.

Penguin USA
PENGUIN BOOKS 3 4-month catalogs (Jan-Apr.'97 - Sept.-Dec.'97)
New York: Penguin USA, 1997
Z1217.P39
Description: Wraps. Each ca 110p.
Display new titles, usually 1 or 2 per page. Also reprints with new covers. Author and title index.

Penguin USA
PENGUIN BOOKS 6 bi-monthly catalogs (Jan-Feb.'95 - Nov.-Dec.'95)
New York: Penguin USA, 1995
Z1217.P39
Description: Wraps. Paging varies.
Display new titles, usually 1 per page. Also reprints with new covers. Author and title index.

Penguin USA
READING GROUP GUIDE TO LEO TOLSTOY, ANNA KARENIN
New York: Penguin USA [Feb. 1997]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. 9p.
This is to supplement (and advertise) Penguin Classics.

Penguin/Plume
TRADE PAPERBACK BACKLIST ORDER FORM THROUGH Dec. 1998
New York : Penguin Putnam Inc.
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 121 p.

Penguin/Plume
TRADE PAPERBACK BACKLIST ORDER FORM THROUGH Apr. 1999
New York : Penguin Putnam Inc.
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 121 p.

Dale-Jones, Don
PAPAGENO (Penguin cats.) List 9(Spring 1996)-List 15(Spring 1998)
Carmarthen: Don Dale-Jones, 1996-98
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps.
Good listings. Prices generally slightly lower than most other Penguin specialists.

Hedges, David
CATALOG NO. 2 OF COLLECTABLE PENGUINS
Windsor: Marbeck Books,1985
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. 50p.

Kesterton, Brian
EARLY PENGUIN FIRST EDITIONS Catalogs 44(Nov.1995)-54(Oct.1997)
Charmouth: Brian Kesterton, 1995-1997
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. Variable paging.
Reliable catalogs.

Pearson, Joe
PEARSON'S PENGUINS PELICANS PUFFINS
London: Joe Pearson, Nov. 1997
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. 22p.
Pearson mainly a Penguin collector.

Phillips [Auctioneers]
BOOKS SOLD IN CELEBRATION OF 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF PENGUIN BOOKS
London: Phillips, 1985
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 4p. auction listing + 1p. covering memo.
Sale organized jointly by Phillips and Penguin Books. The prices realized are not included.

Quay Books
PENGUIN FIRST EDITIONS 1997
Exeter: Nick Allen
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 2 v.

Swift, Ken
Penguin Catalogs 6 different catalogs, July 1982-Sept. 1986
Oxford: K. W. Swift Bookseller, 1982-86
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps. Varying paging.

Williams, Richard
Book catalogs Cats 54(Spr.'96)-57(Dec.'96), 60(July'97)-67(Aut.'99)
Scunthorpe: Richard Williams Bookdealer, 1996-99
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Wraps.
Usually about 3-4pp. of Penguin titles.

Williams, Richard
STOCKLIST 1993
Sconthorpe: Richard Williams Bookdealer, Autumn 1993
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Stapled xerox copy of catalog. 39p.
A remarkably complete listing of Penguins in all series available from Williams. Lacks the details in his bibliographic checklists, but updates his retail prices.

Williams, Richard
STOCKLIST P1998.02
Scunthorpe: Richard Williams Bookdealer, [Sept.] 1998
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: unpaged [18pp.]
A complete listing of Penguins in all series available from Williams.

Williams, Richard
STOCKLIST P98
Scunthorpe: Richard Williams Bookdealer, Jan. 1998
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 44p.
A remarkably complete listing of Penguins in all series available from Williams. Lacks the details in his bibliographic checklists, but updates his retail prices. p.3 has series list with preltrs and ISBNcodes.

Misc. Catalogs
BANC MSS 99/45 z

File on: EDWARDS - FOLEY CORRESPONDENCE

BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: June 1996 -
Russell Edwards edited the annual MISCELLANY monographs published by the PCS. He is currently Secretary of the PCS.

File on: HARE - FOLEY CORRESPONDENCE

Jan. 1996 -
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Steve Hare also Editor of PENGUIN COLLECTOR (the PCS Newsletter-Journal). And author of PENGUIN PORTRAITS.

File on: MISCELLANEOUS CLIPPINGS RE PENGUIN BOOKS

March 1995 -
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Obituaries of Ian Ballantine, Abram Games.,etc.

File on: MISCELLANEOUS FOLEY CORRESPONDENCE RE PENGUINS

June 1985 -
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Scattered letters that happened to be saved. Excludes direct correspondence with dealers where seeking or purchasing Penguins.

File on: PENGUIN COLLECTORS' SOCIETY

June 1985 -
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Misc. correspondence. Publications available. Membership lists.

File on: WEBER PENGUIN COLLECTION, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

July 1996 -
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description of collection. Correspondence with Theodore Weber, the donor; with the Librarian; with Thomas Bonn.

File on: EVOLUTION OF PENGUIN BOOKS IN RECENT YEARS; PEARSON GROUP

June 1997 -
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Clippings, internet printouts, some Foley notes. Focuses on the organizational and publishing evolution of Penguin Books in the context of its parent Pearson Group.

Box for Penguin 60s Classics boxed set

London: Penguin Books, 1995
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 13.5" x 5.5" x 4.25". Black paper covering.
Designed to hold set of 60 books. Labels on both outside ends of box. Alphabetic list of titles on outside back of box. On bottom of box: ISBNcode: 0-14-095272-1. Box damaged at top of one end.

Display rack for Penguin paperbacks.

[No information, except "Printed in the U.S.A." Est. ca 1985.]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 7" high, 9.25" wide, 6" deep.
Durable cardboard. Outside black. Printing and Penguin logos in white. Ends are triangular.

Large clear plastic pouchlike case

Penguin Books, date unknown
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 26cm. high x 33cm. wide. With embossed penguin.
Like the large red plastic case, this must have been intended for customer's or dealer's storage of catalogs or releases re new titles.

Large red plastic case

Penguin Books, date unknown
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: 22cm x 31cm. NEW FROM PENGUINS and penguin in oval, both in black.
This large case must have been intended for catalogs, release information or other lists issued by Penguin.

Penguin T-Shirt

[Source unknown, perhaps part of 60th anniversary, 1995]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: In 12.5" x 12.5" clear plastic envelope with Penguin label
Front of T-shirt: Replica of green-white-green front book cover with FAREWELL, MY LOVELY / RAYMOND CHANDLER. Envelope label reads: "100% COTTON T-SHIRT/SHORT SLEEVE/One size". On back of envelope: ISBNcode reads: 0-14-088292-8.

Printer's type with penguin designs

Four examples.
To BART collection
Description: Two wooden with metal faces; two all-metal.
The penguin designs appeared in different places--on spines, on covers, on short-title pages, etc. These examples of printer's type date from period when such type being relied upon, roughly up to the late 1950s.

Publicity material of various sorts

Mostly Penguin Books, various dates (mainly unknown).
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: About 18 different examples
Various cards or slips with advertising for Penguin series or titles, special bookplates used by Penguin for complimentary copies, and a few odds and ends,

Small blue stiff case

Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, ca. 1937-38
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Dull blue, with silver penguin in middle front cover.
These cases were for sale from Penguin. The covers of a Penguin paperback could be slipped into the case so that one had a more durable book. At the bottom of back flap of dustwrapper was a rectangular label with author and title that could be cut out and affixed to the case's spine.

Small clear plastic case

Penguin Books? Two identical exmples
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Clear plastic with embossed penguin.
This clear plastic case is of the same design as the red one, but has no bookmark.

Small red plastic case

Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, (date unknown)
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Red plastic with embossed penguin in oval on front cover.
Like the blue stiff case this could enclose a Penguin book. Unlike the blue stiff one, this case has no firm spine and may not have taken any label. This case includes a long, flexible, attached book mark.

Penguin Books
Lapel pin
[Source not known. Perhaps part of 60th anniversary, 1995.]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Oval enameled pin, ca 1" high.
Traditional black and white penguin on orange background, with black boarder.

Penguin Books
Miscellaneous ephemera
[Varied]
BANC MSS 99/45 z
Description: Various.
Paper or plastic bags with Penguin identification, bookmarks or small display items.

Note: "A PENGUIN COLLECTOR'S COMPANION", 1997 revised edition, offers authoritative encyclopedic entries and deserves to be an active adjunct of the present index. Since its entries are alphabetically arranged, it has not been indexed here. This may be asked for at The Bancroft Library as Edwards (ed.), "A Penguin Collector's Companion," MISCELLANY, 7-8 (1997 revised 1-vol. edit.)

The section, "Index to Reference Materials", in Part II of the above essay provides a fuller account of the Index and the structure of the entries in the "Source" column.