Penguin paperbacks

Bristol-born Sir Allen Lane (1902-70) was the genius with the driving force to create a revolution in the publishing industry with his Penguin paperbacks, bringing cheap but high-quality literature to the masses for the first time. Finding no such material for sale whilst waiting for a train in 1934, Lane had a ‘light-bulb moment’ and put the idea of producing biographies and fiction novels in softback format to the publishers Bodley Head, where he was Chairman. Their rejection resulted in the establishment of Penguin Books Ltd in 1935, founded by Allen, Richard and John Lane.

‘Penguin’ was suggested by Allen Lane’s secretary and he described it as having “a certain dignified flippancy”. Another young employee was sent off to London Zoo to sketch the bird; hence the charming logo. Puffins and Pelicans later joined the output (and a rival publisher cheekily called itself Toucan). In 1967 the ‘Allen Lane’ range was added, ironically consisting of comparatively expensive hardbacks.

Lane’s vision of widespread reading caused him to seek alternatives to bookshops and his first customer was the popular department store, Woolworth’s. His idea for a paperback vending machine did not take off, but the public have nevertheless enjoyed thousands of Penguin titles over the years.

(Images LtoR: vintage Penguin books by the justified sinner at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Penguin logo by gnomonics at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0, Sir Allen Lane reading a Penguin by the Lane family at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)