Pelican Books is a non-fiction imprint of

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year."About Penguin - Company History"
founded by

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fict ...

and

V K Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, politician, and non-career diplomat. He was described by some as the second most powerful man in India, after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawa ...

. It publishes inexpensive paperbacks of academic topics intended to reach a broader audience. The imprint originally operated from 1937 to 1984, and was relaunched in April 2014.

Pelican Books, 1937–1984

Pelican Books was established in 1937 as a non-fiction imprint for low-cost intellectual paperbacks. Founder

wrote, ‘We… believed in the existence in this country of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it.’ Pelican lowered the traditional barriers to knowledge by selling books at the cost of a packet of cigarettes. In 1938, ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'' reported, 'If there is any sense in saying that the culture of the world should be accessible to all without distinctions of wealth, such publications are helping to make it true.' These books became especially popular among the self-educating post-war generation, and Pelican was even called an ‘informal university for '50s Britons’ by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''. For their first few decades, each regular Pelican was given a number starting "A". "A1" and "A2" were the two volumes of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

’s newly augmented '' The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism''; however, these were just two of nine volumes published in May 1937, the others being Olaf Stapledon, ''

Last and First Men ''Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future'' is a " future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from ...

'';

Leonard Woolley Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880 – 20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. He is recognized as one of the first "modern" archaeologists who excavated in a methodical way, ...

, ''Digging up the Past''; H. G. Wells, '' A Short History of the World'' (previously published as a Penguin); G. D. H. Cole, ''Practical Economics'';

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...

, ''Essays in Popular Science'';

Bonamy Dobrée Bonamy Dobrée (2 February 1891 – 3 September 1974), British academic, was Professor of English Literature at the University of Leeds from 1936 to 1955. Dobrée declared himself a Channel Islander, and was rather proud that both his Bona ...

and G. E. Manwaring, ''The Floating Republic''; Élie Halévy, ''A History of the English People in 1815'', vol. 1. Pelican published many of the major intellects of the 20th century including historian

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. ...

, literary critic Boris Ford, philosopher A.J. Ayer, and journalist

Jacob Bronowski Jacob Bronowski (18 January 1908 – 22 August 1974) was a Polish-British mathematician and philosopher. He was known to friends and professional colleagues alike by the nickname Bruno. He is best known for developing a humanistic approach to sc ...

. Other classic Pelican books included ''

Totem and Taboo ''Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics'', or ''Totem and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics'', (german: Totem und Tabu: Einige Übereinstimmungen im Seelenl ...

'', ''The Eighteen Nineties'','' An Introduction to Modern Architecture'', '' Coming of Age in Samoa'', ''

Pelican History of England The ''Pelican History of England'' is a book series on English history published under the mass-market Pelican Books imprint of Penguin Books between 1950 and 1965. It was subsequently revised and reprinted in numerous editions and the series is s ...

'', ''The Pelican Guide to English Literature'', and ''Childhood in Society''. Pelican’s early supporters included

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...

, H. G. Wells,

, and J. B. Priestley. The imprint published books on thousands of subjects and became a global phenomenon. The series sold over 250 million copies worldwide over its nearly 50 years. Although Pelican was discontinued in 1984, the original books continue to be collected worldwide and prized for their iconic bright blue covers.

Pelican Specials

From 1938 to 1940, a few books within the series Penguin Specials (and thus given numbers starting with "S") were given blue covers and labelled as Pelican Specials. The first was

Arnold Haskell Arnold Lionel David Haskell (19 July 1903, London – 14 November 1980, Bath) was a British dance critic who founded the Camargo Society in 1930. With Ninette de Valois, he was influential in the development of the Royal Ballet School, later bec ...

, ''Ballet'' (S5, July 1938; in 1945 reissued as a Pelican, A122).

Pelican History of Art

The hardback series the Pelican History of Art started publication in May 1953, with ''Painting in Britain: 1530–1790'' by Ellis K. Waterhouse. Books in the series were given a number starting with "Z". The series was eventually turned over to

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...

Relaunch

Pelican Books was relaunched in May 2014, again aiming to provide inexpensive, accessible non-fiction for a non-specialist readership. The first five books consisted of introductions to topics varying from economics to revolutionary Russia, written by authorities selected by the company. These were published in May 2014, with five more titles to be added each year. The first five books were: ; '' Economics: The User’s Guide'' by

Ha-Joon Chang Ha-Joon Chang (; ; born 7 October 1963) is a South Korean institutional economist, specialising in development economics. Chang is the author of several widely discussed policy books, most notably ''Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strateg ...

: The author was, at the time of publication,

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in the Political Economy of Development at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. ; ''Human Evolution'' by

Robin Dunbar Robin Ian MacDonald Dunbar (born 28 June 1947) is a British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist and a specialist in primate behaviour. He is currently head of the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group in the Department ...

: An overview of human evolution, and especially the social and cognitive changes that gave rise to modern humans, by a British

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...

and evolutionary psychologist. ; ''Revolutionary Russia'' by

Orlando Figes Orlando Guy Figes () is a British historian and writer. Until his retirement, he was Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Figes is known for his works on Russian history, such as '' A People's Tragedy'' (1996), ''Nata ...

: A short book on a period of Russian history, by a professor of History at

Birkbeck College , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

. ; ''The Domesticated Brain'' by Bruce Hood : An examination of the intersection between

neuroscience Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...

and

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

, from a British experimental psychologist. ; ''Greek and Roman Political Ideas'' by Melissa Lane : An introduction to political philosophy in Ancient Greece and Rome, by a professor of politics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. The re-launch also included a line of Pelican t-shirts. These were made in collaboration with independent London clothing brand, Super Superficial, who sold them in their store and online.

References

{{Authority control Publishing companies established in 1937 Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1937