The PCS Noticeboard
This page provides information on our recent and planned events and publications.
Forthcoming Events
Penguins In The North
An exhibition of Penguin covers and design – formerly at the V&A and then at Bath – is now moving to the Rotherham Art Gallery, from 29 March to 17 May. Alongside it will be a display of the work of Robert Gibbings, another artist associated with Penguin’s early days.
Spring Meeting 2008
The Penguin Collectors’ Society will hold its Spring Meeting on Saturday 10 May, 2008 at the Christ the Saviour Church Hall in Ealing. The Church Hall is conveniently located in the centre of Ealing, near public transportation and parking. The doors of the Hall will open at 1.30 pm for members and 2.00 pm for non-members. The event will finish at 4.00 pm. For those who are members it is a great chance to catch up on all things penguinary, see old and new friends and perhaps pick up a bargain at the same time. For those who are not members, it is an opportunity to learn more about the Society and its aims and find a great deal on a book or two for interest or to fill in a missing title in a collection.
Recent Events
Penguin Exhibition in Bath
The exhibition at the Holbourne Museum (now closed for restoration) was a great success. The talks by Jeremy Lewis and Phil Baines were both sold out and the visitors bought many copies of our ‘Penguin by Designers’ and a quite remarkable number of our postcards (both still available). The exhibition now moves north to Rotherham Art Gallery.
Annual General Meeting - October 2007
The AGM, accompanied by our usual swap-meet and dinner, took place on Saturday, 13 October in the Lady Anne’s Hotel, St. Martin’s Without, Stamford. The event was well attended and was followed by an excellent meal in the Garden House Hotel.
Spring Meet - 12th May 2007
Another successful Spring Meeting was held at Christ the Saviour Church Hall, Ealing.
Study Day - 24th March 2007
We held another Study Day in March 2007 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London featuring Penguin ILLUSTRATORS: artists featured in Penguin books and on their covers from the past five decades, including contemporary practitioners.
For further details go to our Study Day 2007 page.
Annual General Meeting – September 2006
The AGM, accompanied by our book exchange and annual dinner, took place this year at Heaton Mount, the Bradford University Management Centre, on Saturday 16 September. Our thanks to the Vice Chancellor, Jeff Lucas, a member, for his hospitality and to him and to Jim and Jan Rayner for their organising skills. All went well and attendance was well up to expectations.
Spring Meeting 2006
This took place in Ealing, London on Saturday 13th May and was well attended. We thank John Ross for his efforts and look forward to organising another similar event next year.
Study Day 2005
The PCS celebrated Penguin’s Seventieth Birthday (Penguin No. 1 was published in July 1935) with a most successful Study Day at the V & A Museum on 18th June, which more than 100 people attended. For further details go to “Penguin By Designers” - a ‘Study Day’ with guest speakers.
Recent Publications
You can now buy our publications and membership subscriptions online
We are now accepting secure online payment for publications and membership through PayPal. See our Publications and Membership pages for more information.
The Penguin Collector 69
Our 69th Penguin Collector features in its 88 pages the early Penguin Travel and Adventure titles and the recent Great Loves and Celebrations series (with colour cover illustrations). It also includes Margaret Clark’s memoirs of working for Penguin, a piece on William Sloane’s To Walk the Night (an underknown detective story), a feature on Jerry Cinamon’s designs for Penguin with quotations from correspondence with authors and some striking colour illustrations of his work, and the second update to Penguin in Print. Copies can be ordered via our Publications page. For details of joining PCS see our Membership page.
Penguin by Designers
In 2005 the Society organised a Study Day held at the V&A to coincide with Penguin’s 70th anniversary celebrations; several renowned designers spoke and their illustrated talks have now been published as a full-colour book. See our Publications page for details.
NEW: In Search of a Hero – Looking for Allen Lane
A study, in the emerging subject of book history, by Professor Alistair McCleery of Napier University of Allen Lane’s role in the emergence of Penguin Books. Published in December 2006 it gives particular attention to his struggles to publish Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Ulysses. 48 pages including 4 pages of colour plates. To purchase, see our Publication page.
The NEW Penguin Companion
“A significant paperback about the twentieth-century’s most significant paperbacks”. Published in June 2006. 250 pages, over 300 illustrations. To find out more go to our Penguin Companion page.
Wherever you go – take a Penguin Book.
Unique postcard offer. Following the success of our copies of the William Grimmond poster last year we now have available sets of colour postcards. £4 for a set of 10. For further details see information about the poster, or our publications page.
The Typography of Penguins by Erik Ellegaard Frederiksen.
This was originally published in Danish in 1956. It assesses the impact of Jan Tschichold’s complete overhaul of Penguin design between 1947 and 1949. It is the first English translation and is a 40 page high-quality production including all the illustrations (originally in black and white) in colour. See our publications page for further details.
December 2003 saw the appearance of one of our most impressive publications – Penguin in Print. This is a comprehensive bibliography of publications about Penguin. It features many extracts as well as colour illustrations. Essential reading for the Penguin historian. Further details available on our publications page.
Planned Publications
Penguin Collector 70
The next issue of our twice-yearly Penguin Collector, our 70th issue, will appear in July. Join the PCS now so that you receive it.
Page last updated: 12 June 2007