The Penguin Collectors Society (PCS) is a charity based in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...
. Its main purpose is to promote the study and research of all aspects 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.Allen Lane in 1935.
History
The PCS was started in 1974 by a small group of enthusiasts in Richmond, southwest London. The group recognised the importance of Penguin's contribution to publishing history, its innovations in
book design
Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...
and
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and ...
, and the role that its many thousands of published titles play in influencing and educating generations of readers. While it is evident that this rich cultural heritage should be preserved for future generations, paperbacks, by their nature, are not hard wearing and many of them eventually get thrown away. The PCS is therefore committed to the acquisition and conservation of Penguin books and related material, which it regularly donates to the Penguin Archive at the
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...
.
The organisation had 38 members in 1974, and currently has around 500 members Internationally.
The organization does not require its members to collect Penguin books, although some members are collectors. Its members' reasons for joining range from:
* The history of Penguin Books and other twentieth-century publishers.
* The design and content of the books, including cover artwork, typography and boxed sets.
* Series and subseries such as crime,
Penguin Classics
Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Weste ...
Puffin Books
Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...
.
* People past and present, including Allen Lane,
Edward Young
Edward Young (c. 3 July 1683 – 5 April 1765) was an English poet, best remembered for '' Night-Thoughts'', a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements. It was one of the mo ...
Jan Tschichold
Jan Tschichold (born Johannes Tzschichhold, also known as Iwan Tschichold, or Ivan Tschichold; 2 April 1902 – 11 August 1974) was a German calligraphy, calligrapher, typography, typographer and book designer. He played a significant role ...
Tony Godwin
Anthony Richard James Wylie Godwin (17 December 1919 – 15 March 1976) was an influential British publisher of the 1960s/1970s. His contribution to the publishing industry is recognized in the form of the Tony Godwin Memorial Trust.
Born in Ledb ...
,
Germano Facetti
Germano Facetti (5 May 1926 – 8 April 2006) was an Italian graphic designer who headed design at Penguin Books from 1962 to 1971.
Biography
Born in Milan, Facetti was arrested in 1943, age 17, for putting up anti-Fascist posters. He was d ...
Alan Aldridge
Alan Aldridge (8 July 1938 – 17 February 2017) was a British artist, graphic designer and illustrator. He is best known for his psychedelic artwork made for books and record covers by The Beatles and The Who.
Personal life
Aldridge was born ...
, David Pelham, and other directors, editors, designers, typographers, cover artists and illustrators.
* Promotional materials, publications catalogues and other Penguin ephemera.
The PCS is funded by annual subscriptions from its members and by sales of its publications to non-members (members receive a copy of each new PCS publication). Research, writing, book production and all administrative duties are undertaken by trustees and other members on a voluntary basis. The PCS was registered as a limited company in 2001 and became a registered charity the following year. Its members usually meet twice a year, once being for the Annual General Meeting which is held at a different UK venue each year.
PCS publications
The PCS publishes a twice-yearly journal along with other titles in book form, some of which are listed below:
* ''The Penguin Collector'' (normally published in June and December) is the official journal of the Penguin Collectors Society and features articles, letters, news and other Penguin material, with many contributions coming from PCS members.
* ''Drawn Direct to the Plate'' (2010) by Joe Pearson is a comprehensive study of Noel Carrington and the Puffin Picture Books 16 pages with 380 illustrations, mostly in colour
* ''A Checklist of the Puffin Picture Books and Related Series'' (2010) is a companion to ''Drawn Direct to the Plate'' and provides detailed printing information for all Puffin Picture Books, Puffin Cut-out Books, Baby Puffins, Porpoise Books, Livros Ilustrados Puffin, Collection du Vieux Chamois, other foreign-language Puffin Picture Books, and Harlequin Books 0 pages with 212 colour illustrations
* ''Penguin by Illustrators'' (2009), edited by Steve Hare, contains transcripts of presentations given by five Penguin illustrators during a second study day organised by the PCS at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2007. There are also chapters by
Quentin Blake
Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...
and
David Gentleman
David William Gentleman (born 11 March 1930) is an English artist. He studied art and painting at the Royal College of Art under Edward Bawden and John Nash (artist), John Nash. He has worked in watercolour, lithography and wood engraving, at s ...
, plus shorter articles by Alan Aldridge, Coralie Bickford-Smith, Andy Bridge,
Len Deighton
Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels.
After completing his national service in the Royal Air Fo ...
,
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark: A Life in Four Books, Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays ...
,
Bryan Kneale
Robert Bryan Charles Kneale (born 19 June 1930) is a Manx artist and sculptor, described by BBC News Online as "one of the Isle of Man's best known artists."
Biography
Born in the island's capital, Douglas, Kneale studied painting at the Doug ...
, David Pearson and twenty other Penguin illustrators 00 pages with approx 600 colour illustrations
* ''Penguin Classics'' (1994; revised and expanded 2008), edited by Russell Edwards, Steve Hare and Jim Robinson, provides a detailed history of the long-running Penguin Classics series, along with a fourteen-page checklist 44 pages with 200 illustrations, 73 in colour
* ''Penguin by Designers'' (2007), edited by Steve Hare and Phil Baines, contains transcripts of presentations given by six Penguin designers -
Derek Birdsall
Derek Birdsall, (born 1 August 1934) is an internationally renowned British graphic designer.
Early life
Birdsall was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1934 and attended The King's School, Pontefract, Wakefield College of Art and Central School ...
, Jerry Cinamon, Romek Marber, John Miles, David Pelham and Jim Stoddart - during a study day organised by the PCS at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in 2005, along with a reprint of a 1967 article by Germano Facetti describing his work at Penguin 84 pages with approx 250 colour illustrations
* ''The Penguin Companion'' (1997; revised and expanded 2006), compiled by Martin Yates, is an essential reference text for students and researchers, with over 700 'A to Z' entries and a Reference Guide 48 pages with 291 colour illustrations
* ''Penguin in Print'' (2003), compiled by Tim Graham, is a bibliography of printed material about Penguin Books with numerous extracts and colour illustrations 12 pages
* ''The Penguin Modern Painters: A History'' (2001) by Carol Peaker examines the ''Penguin Modern Painters'' series of monographs that were published in 1944–59. The nineteen artists featured in the series were
Edward Bawden
Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...
,
Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...
,
Edward Burra
Edward John Burra CBE (29 March 1905 – 22 October 1976) was an English painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, best known for his depictions of the urban underworld, black culture and the Harlem scene of the 1930s.
Biography Early life
Burra ...
,
Duncan Grant
Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group.
His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major i ...
,
Ivon Hitchens
Ivon Hitchens (born London, 3 March 1893 – 29 August 1979) was an English painter who started exhibiting during the 1920s. He became part of the 'London Group' of artists and exhibited with them during the 1930s. His house was bombed in 1940 du ...
,
Frances Hodgkins
Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape and still life, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. She was born and raised in New Zealand, but spent most of her working l ...
,
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching.
Hopper created subdued drama ...
Paul Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
,
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life.
Background and training
Nicholson was born on 10 April 1894 in Den ...
Victor Pasmore
Edwin John Victor Pasmore, CH, CBE (3 December 190823 January 1998) was a British artist. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s.
Early life
Pasmore was born in Chelsham, Surrey, on 3 December 1908. He ...
Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as ''The Shape of Content''.
Biography
Shahn was born ...
Stanley Spencer
Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small ...
, and
Graham Sutherland
Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ( ...