Philosophy
Well remember them for obscure texts and they were cheap too.
Everyone had a favourite Penguin tale: the time a collection of Jacobean plays fell apart because an electric fire melted the glue binding it together; the pride felt when a collection of essays was bought with a school book voucher prize; the comfort of Dad's old, crumpled edition of the Vegetable Grower's Handbook.
Fans of Penguin Books – academics, collectors, readers – gathered at a conference in Bristol today to mark the 75th birthday of the publishing house, and to ponder its future.
The event was organised by Bristol University, home to the Penguin archive which holds most, if not all, of the books published by the company and a wealth of material relating to its work – from accounts to letters between writers and editors and hundreds of legal documents relating to the Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial.
John Lyon, the principal investigator of the archive, said that the idea was to celebrate a great British institution, to remind the people of Bristol of their Penguin heritage (the founder, Allen Lane, was born in the city) and to make sure that it is kept alive for a new generation of readers.
"I think that the younger generation is not so familiar with Penguin. We grew up with the books. They were such a familiar, instantly recognisable sight on bookshelves everywhere. I don't think younger people feel as strongly about them as we used to," he said.
Lane is said to have dreamed up the idea of making good quality contemporary fiction available in paperback form at a reasonable price after becoming frustrated by the lack of choice on offer at Exeter train station. The first Penguin paperbacks appeared in the summer of 1935.
Simon Eliot, professor of the history of the book at the University of London, said that the idea had been to produce cheap, portable and disposable books. The books were "flimsy", but in a good way. It encouraged literate people of modest means to experiment in their reading.
Andrew Sanders, author of the Short Oxford History of English Literature, recalled how the glue holding his edition of a collection of Jacobean plays together melted, causing the cover to fall off. "But I've kept the volume, and still use it."
Inevitably the classic design of the books was discussed in minute detail. Again, everyone had a favourite. Jim Stoddart, the art director of Penguin Press, mentioned the "cog-eyed" bowler-hatted figure on A Clockwork Orange, the iconic creation of David Pelham, who had to come up with the design overnight when the designer he had commissioned let him down.
John Lyon accepted that the electronic age made the future of the book less clear. "But in Penguin we've got a great British institution that we ought to cherish and celebrate," he said.
Penguin Books [Wikipedia]
Penguin Group
- More On Book Publisher Mergers
"A New Era for Books: The Random House-Penguin Merger Is Just the Start" by Peter Osnos November 8th, 2012 The Atlantic The merger of Random House and Penguin unquestionably represents an enormous change in the scale of publishing...
- Penguin Books And Random House Books Merge
Someday there will be just one book publisher. Will this merger bring a change in name...Penguin House, Random Penguin, Penguin/Random House Books? "Random House and Penguin merge to take on retailers" by Kate Holton October 29th, 2012 Reuters Britain's...
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- A Backfire In The E-book Biz?
"2 E-Books Cost More Than Amazon Hardcovers" by Julie Bosman October 4th, 2010 The New York Times Readers of e-books may not be able to turn paper pages, lend their copies to friends or file them away on living room bookshelves. But they do have the...
- Paperback Books--sci-fi
Ace, Avon, Ballantine, Bantam, Berkley, Dell, Fawcett Gold Medal, Gold Eagle, Lancer, Panther, Penguin, Perma, Pocket Books, Pyramid, Signet--just a few trade publishers of science fiction paperbacks. They featured the giants of science fiction: Isaac...
Philosophy
A Penguin @ 75
Well remember them for obscure texts and they were cheap too.
"Penguin Books celebrates its 75th birthday"
Publisher holds its birthday in Bristol, the home of its founder, Allen Lane
by
Steven Morris
June 30th, 2010
guardian.co.uk
Publisher holds its birthday in Bristol, the home of its founder, Allen Lane
by
Steven Morris
June 30th, 2010
guardian.co.uk
Everyone had a favourite Penguin tale: the time a collection of Jacobean plays fell apart because an electric fire melted the glue binding it together; the pride felt when a collection of essays was bought with a school book voucher prize; the comfort of Dad's old, crumpled edition of the Vegetable Grower's Handbook.
Fans of Penguin Books – academics, collectors, readers – gathered at a conference in Bristol today to mark the 75th birthday of the publishing house, and to ponder its future.
The event was organised by Bristol University, home to the Penguin archive which holds most, if not all, of the books published by the company and a wealth of material relating to its work – from accounts to letters between writers and editors and hundreds of legal documents relating to the Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial.
John Lyon, the principal investigator of the archive, said that the idea was to celebrate a great British institution, to remind the people of Bristol of their Penguin heritage (the founder, Allen Lane, was born in the city) and to make sure that it is kept alive for a new generation of readers.
"I think that the younger generation is not so familiar with Penguin. We grew up with the books. They were such a familiar, instantly recognisable sight on bookshelves everywhere. I don't think younger people feel as strongly about them as we used to," he said.
Lane is said to have dreamed up the idea of making good quality contemporary fiction available in paperback form at a reasonable price after becoming frustrated by the lack of choice on offer at Exeter train station. The first Penguin paperbacks appeared in the summer of 1935.
Simon Eliot, professor of the history of the book at the University of London, said that the idea had been to produce cheap, portable and disposable books. The books were "flimsy", but in a good way. It encouraged literate people of modest means to experiment in their reading.
Andrew Sanders, author of the Short Oxford History of English Literature, recalled how the glue holding his edition of a collection of Jacobean plays together melted, causing the cover to fall off. "But I've kept the volume, and still use it."
Inevitably the classic design of the books was discussed in minute detail. Again, everyone had a favourite. Jim Stoddart, the art director of Penguin Press, mentioned the "cog-eyed" bowler-hatted figure on A Clockwork Orange, the iconic creation of David Pelham, who had to come up with the design overnight when the designer he had commissioned let him down.
John Lyon accepted that the electronic age made the future of the book less clear. "But in Penguin we've got a great British institution that we ought to cherish and celebrate," he said.
Penguin Books [Wikipedia]
Penguin Group
- More On Book Publisher Mergers
"A New Era for Books: The Random House-Penguin Merger Is Just the Start" by Peter Osnos November 8th, 2012 The Atlantic The merger of Random House and Penguin unquestionably represents an enormous change in the scale of publishing...
- Penguin Books And Random House Books Merge
Someday there will be just one book publisher. Will this merger bring a change in name...Penguin House, Random Penguin, Penguin/Random House Books? "Random House and Penguin merge to take on retailers" by Kate Holton October 29th, 2012 Reuters Britain's...
- A Quaint Bookstore And Cafe In Midwest Wales
From colleague A. B.'s blog... "The forgotten charms of rummaging in a second hand bookshop" I am currently in mid west Wales. I ordered a book from an Amazon marketplace seller on Old Kingdom art to be delivered to the house here, and was...
- A Backfire In The E-book Biz?
"2 E-Books Cost More Than Amazon Hardcovers" by Julie Bosman October 4th, 2010 The New York Times Readers of e-books may not be able to turn paper pages, lend their copies to friends or file them away on living room bookshelves. But they do have the...
- Paperback Books--sci-fi
Ace, Avon, Ballantine, Bantam, Berkley, Dell, Fawcett Gold Medal, Gold Eagle, Lancer, Panther, Penguin, Perma, Pocket Books, Pyramid, Signet--just a few trade publishers of science fiction paperbacks. They featured the giants of science fiction: Isaac...