Penguin Books

From Freepedia

Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. Lane's idea was to provide quality writing cheaply, for the same price as a pack of cigarettes. He also wanted them to be sold not only in bookshops but in train stations, general stores and corner shops. Its most emblematic products are its paperbacks. The first Penguin paperbacks were published in 1935, but as an imprint of Bodley Head. It is now owned by Pearson PLC. Penguin books were originally distributed from a church crypt.

Imprints of Penguin Books include Puffin Books, for children's literature. They have also acquired Ladybird Books, Dorling Kindersley and the Rough Guides.

Former Penguin imprints include ROC, for science fiction and fantasy, and Pelican Books, for non-fiction. Peregrine was another imprint as well.

In the early days Penguin paperbacks had distinctive colour schemes: orange and white for general fiction, green and white for crime fiction, a maroon colour for the travel series and dark blue for biographies. Some recent publications of literature from that time have duplicated the original look.

Controversial titles published by Penguin include Lady Chatterley's Lover, Spycatcher and The Satanic Verses. When Penguin first tried to publish Lady Chatterley's Lover it had to fight an obscenity trial. Penguin's victory in the case led to almost a complete end to the censorship of books.

Penguin Books is a division of the world-wide Penguin Group. Its counterpart in the United States is Penguin Group (USA). Penguin is the lead publisher for the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.