In 1935, Allen Lane founded Penguin Books. At this time, the publication of paperbacks was largely associated with poor quality fiction. Allen Lane was determined to bring high-quality paperback fiction and non-fiction to everyone.
Penguin Books deliberately sold each book for the low price of sixpence per book. This made a profit seem unlikely but despite this Woolworths order 63,000 books and revealed that there were, in fact, large audiences for serious literature.
The first 10 Penguin books were as follows: –
- Ariel – Andre Maurois
- A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
- Poet’s Pub – Eric Linklater
- Madame Claire – Susan Ertz
- The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club – Dorothy L. Sayers
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles – Agatha Christie
- Twenty-Five – John Beverly Nichols
- William – E.H. Young
- Gone to Earth – Mary Webb
- Carnival – Compton Mackenzie
The iconic orange and white tri-band from 1935 is not only identified with the Penguin brand but the retro book cover design in general.
The initial Penguin cover designs opted for simplicity, with Lane resisting cover images for several years. The design featured three simple horizontal bands, the top and bottom colour-coded to represent the series to which the title came from. The Penguin logo has been re-imagined 11 times since its launch in 1935 and was originally based off of a drawing from Edward Young when he went to London Zoo.
- Orange – General Fiction
- Green – Crime Fiction
- Cerise – Travel and Adventure
- Red – Plays
- Dark Blue – Biographies
- Yellow – Miscellaneous
- Violet – Essays
- Grey – World Affairs.
In 1946, Penguin launched the Penguin Classics series making classic texts available to everyone.
Penguin paperbacks are a bestseller here at World of Rare Books even to the point where we have them framed! Keep an eye on our store for more Penguin books being framed and put back into stock.
Get a great deal on bestselling vintage Penguins with us.