Membership of the Society
In 2001 the Society became a charitable company limited by guarantee and in 2002 it was registered as a charity. From 1974 the Society has aimed to encourage and promote the study and collecting, not only of works published by Penguin and by Allen Lane at the heart of the 20th century publishing revolution, but also the works of their contributors and contemporaries. We publish learned, quality books for members and the general public. We assist with the acquisition of archive and historical material relevant to our field, for gift or loan to university libraries and collections where they will be available for educational and research purposes. While many of our members are collectors, to be a private collector has never been a prerequisite for membership. In 1974, Penguin Books asked us to call ourselves the Penguin Collectors’ Society rather than The Penguin Book Society so that there was no implication that we were sponsored by the company. To us a ‘Penguin Collector’ is someone who recognises and encourages others to recognise the essential importance of Penguin books (especially early editions) so they are not simply thrown away. Our concern is that Penguin books were always perceived – even by Allen Lane and the creators of Penguin – as essentially ephemeral, to be read and discarded. We define ‘collecting’ in terms of preservation and conservation.
We are not a fund-raising charity. Our work for public benefit is funded by members’ subscriptions and by sales of our publications, but overwhelmingly in effect by pro bono research, writing, dissemination and other contributions from our members.
Application
You can join the Penguin Collectors Society online by filling in this form. Payment can be made either by PayPal or by downloading and posting a standing order form.
Benefits
- An Annual Conference held at various venues – Edinburgh, Stamford and Bradford have been among the most recent – brings members together for a convivial and bookish weekend.
- For the most part, however, communication takes place through the Society’s publications. The Penguin Collector, published in June and December, is a substantial illustrated journal, in mock Penguin format, full of articles and information on Penguin-related topics, contributed by members and guest writers.
- The Society also publishes specialist books, including the missing Puffin Picture Book, Paxton Chadwick’s Life Histories, and Penguin in Print – a detailed bibliography about Penguin and its history. Copies of these books are still available.
Subscriptions
Annual subscription costs
UK: £19.00 – less a £3.00 discount if paid by standing order.
Europe: £21.50 (which includes airmail postage) – less a £3.00 discount if paid by standing order.
Rest of the world: £25.00 (which includes airmail postage) – less a £3.00 discount if paid by standing order.
The subscription is for a calendar year. You receive all members’ publications for the year free, whenever you join. Past publications are also available for purchase.
Regular Payments
Ideally a subscription would be paid by a standing order in sterling to a UK bank – this gives you a £3.00 discount. The standing order form for a UK resident can be downloaded. If you are resident abroad, but have a UK Sterling bank account, please ask the Treasurer, Michael Fowle for the correct form. You can of course cancel your standing order by writing to your bank at any time. Any members uncertain whether they have a standing order can, of course, check with the Treasurer. Any duplicate standing order instruction or payment will be disregarded or returned.