Welcome...
The Penguin Collectors Society was founded in 1974 by a small group of enthusiasts meeting in Richmond, Surrey; today there are over 500 members worldwide.
We study twentieth-century book design, particularly Penguin Books, and help to preserve and conserve Penguin Books and material relating to Penguin, and ensure the ready availability of that material for present and future research.
Actually collecting Penguin Books is not, of course, a prerequisite for membership. Any enthusiast for the good book design, typography, illustration and writing with which Penguin Books have been associated since 1935 will find something of interest here.
Latest News
Penguin Collector 74 and Drawn Direct to the Plate
The Penguin Archive Project at the University of Bristol hosted a three-day International Multidisciplinary Conference from 29 June-1 July. The Principal Investigator of the Project has very kindly agreed that the PCS may reprint a selection of papers from the conference in the Penguin Collector. In order to incorporate two such papers in Penguin Collector 74, the publication of this issue has been delayed from its normal June date until mid August. Further papers will be included in future issues.
Joe Pearson’s lavishly illustrated new book, Drawn Direct to the Plate: Noel Carrington and the Puffin Picture Books, will be mailed separately; we hope this will be by the end of September. It will be accompanied by A Checklist of the Puffin Picture Books and Related Series, a completely updated checklist with colour illustrations throughout.
Members will automatically receive copies of these publications as soon as they are available.
New Publication
In 2005, as a contribution to Penguin Books’ 70th anniversary, the Society organised a study day at the V&A to which some of the great names in Penguin design were invited to speak. The day’s events were published in book form, Penguin by Designers, in 2007, and copies arrived on the very day that we held our second study day at the V&A, this time featuring Penguin illustrators.
Penguin by Illustrators is a celebration of that event, featuring in Part One the five presentations of Dennis Bailey, Romek Marber, Jan Pieńkowski, Tony Lyons and Jon Gray, and supplemented by Phil Baines’s introduction, and two further chapters by Quentin Blake and David Gentleman. In Part Two a further 27 artists were invited to write short essays about particular books or short series that they had illustrated for Penguin.
For a longer description of this major new work by the Society, click here.
Recent News
Spring Meeting 2010
The regular Spring Meeting was held at the Christ the Saviour Church Hall in Ealing on May 8th. The event was well-attended with a good number of rare Penguins available so that those attending could fill some of the gaps in their collections.
Annual General Meeting 2009
The 2009 AGM took place at the Museum of Design and Domestic Architecture, Cat Hill, Barnet. Along with the usual opportunities to try to find that elusive rarity, attendees were treated to a fascinating talk by Professor Phil Baines entitled “The development of the pictoral cover in Penguin in the ’40s and ’50s”.
Bristol University Receives Grant
Bristol University has recently received a substantial grant from the Arts and Humanities Reseach Council to upgade, catalogue and make available online the Allen Lane special collection of Penguin editorial files and books. A full-time archivist, Rachael Hassall, has been appointed and a team of seven academics assembled. A range of events is planned over the next three years ranging from conferences to exhibitions, poetry readings and Penguin days. A major three-day conference is planned for 2010 to celebrate Penguin’s 75th birthday. The PCS will be actively involved with the University’s team and further details will appear here and in future issues of the Penguin Collector. This is good news for all Penguinists. For further details visit the university’s website.