Pelican Books

Last updated

Pelican Books
Pelican book covers.jpg
Four Pelican book covers, showing the gradual shift in the design. From left – 1937 (three bands), 1955 (grid), 1969 (illustrated), and 2007 (a "Penguin Celebrations" throwback edition)
Parent company Penguin Random House
Founded1937
Founders Allen Lane
V. K. Krishna Menon
Country of origin United Kingdom
Headquarters location London
Publication types Books
Official website pelicanbooks.com

Pelican Books is a non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books [1] founded by Allen Lane and V. K. Krishna Menon. [2] It publishes inexpensive paperbacks of academic topics intended to reach a broader audience. The imprint originally operated from 1937 to 1984, [3] and was relaunched in April 2014. [4] [5]

Contents

Pelican Books, 19371984

Spines of miscellaneous Pelican books. Note the two common formats: the smaller original format, and the later larger format. Among the latter, the copy of George Henderson's Gothic is, unusually, a hardback, as first bound. Pelican books.jpg
Spines of miscellaneous Pelican books. Note the two common formats: the smaller original format, and the later larger format. Among the latter, the copy of George Henderson's Gothic is, unusually, a hardback, as first bound.

Pelican Books was established in 1937 as a non-fiction imprint for low-cost intellectual paperbacks. [3] Founder Allen Lane 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.’ [1] Pelican lowered the traditional barriers to knowledge by selling books at the cost of a packet of cigarettes. [6] In 1938, The Spectator 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.' [7] 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 . [8]

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’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 (the only work of fiction published under Pelican); Leonard Woolley, 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, Essays in Popular Science; Bonamy Dobrée and G. E. Manwaring, The Floating Republic; Élie Halévy, A History of the English People in 1815, vol. 1. [9]

Pelican published many of the major intellects of the 20th century including historian Eric Hobsbawm, literary critic Boris Ford, philosopher A.J. Ayer, and journalist Jacob Bronowski. Other classic Pelican books included Totem and Taboo , The Eighteen Nineties, An Introduction to Modern Architecture, Coming of Age in Samoa , Pelican History of England , The Pelican Guide to English Literature, and Childhood in Society. Pelican’s early supporters[ vague ] included George Orwell, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, 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. [8] Although Pelican was discontinued in 1984, the original books continue to be collected worldwide and prized for their iconic bright blue covers. [10]

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, Ballet (S5, July 1938; in 1945 reissued as a Pelican, A122). [11]

Pelican History of Art

The hardback series the Pelican History of Art started publication in May 1953, with Painting in Britain: 15301790 by Ellis K. Waterhouse. Books in the series were given a number starting with "Z". [12] The series was eventually turned over to Yale University Press.

Relaunch

Pelican Books was relaunched in May 2014, [4] 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, [4] with five more titles to be added each year.

The first five books were:

Economics: The User’s Guide by Ha-Joon Chang
The author was, at the time of publication, Reader in the Political Economy of Development at the University of Cambridge.
Human Evolution by Robin Dunbar
An overview of human evolution, and especially the social and cognitive changes that gave rise to modern humans, by a British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist.
Revolutionary Russia by Orlando Figes
A short book on a period of Russian history, by a professor of History at Birkbeck College.
The Domesticated Brain by Bruce Hood
An examination of the intersection between neuroscience and psychology, 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.

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. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Tudge</span> British science writer and broadcaster

Colin Hiram Tudge is a British biologist, science writer and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paperback</span> Book with a paper or paperboard cover

A paperback book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, leather, paper, or plastic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Books</span> British publishing house

Penguin Books Limited is a British 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. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other stores for sixpence, bringing high-quality fiction and non-fiction to the mass market. Its success showed that large audiences existed for serious books. It also affected modern British popular culture significantly through its books concerning politics, the arts, and science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everyman's Library</span> Reprint series of Random House

Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It begun in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent, who continue to publish Everyman Paperbacks.

Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bodley Head</span> British publishing company

The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortiums until it was acquired by Random House in 1987 alongside sister companies Jonathan Cape and Chatto & Windus. Random House used The Bodley Head as a children's book imprint until April 2008, when it was repositioned as an adult non-fiction imprint within the Vintage Books division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkley Books</span> Publishing imprint of Penguin Group (USA)

Berkley Books is now an imprint of the Penguin Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon & Schuster</span> American publishing company

Simon & Schuster LLC is an American publishing company owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. As of 2017 Simon & Schuster was the third largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints.

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 to Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. P. Dutton</span> Former American book publishing company

E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New American Library</span> American publisher

The New American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publishes trade and hardcover titles. It is currently an imprint of Penguin Random House; it was announced in 2015 that the imprint would publish only nonfiction titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Lane</span> Publisher and founder of Penguin Books

Sir Allen Lane 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-fiction to the mass market.

Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers. The company was sold to the Walter Reade Organization in the late 1960s. It was acquired in 1974 by Harcourt Brace which renamed it to Jove in 1977 and continued the line as an imprint. In 1979, they sold it to The Putnam Berkley Group, which is now part of the Penguin Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dell Publishing</span> American publisher

Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000, two employees and one magazine title, I Confess, and soon began turning out dozens of pulp magazines, which included penny-a-word detective stories, articles about films, and romance books.

<i>The Intelligent Womans Guide to Socialism and Capitalism</i> 1928 book by George Bernard Shaw 1.0

The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism is a non-fiction book written by the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. The book employs socialist and Marxist thought. It was written in 1928 after his sister-in-law, Mary Stewart Cholmondeley, asked him to write a pamphlet explaining socialism. The book was later re-released as the first Pelican Book in 1937. The dust jacket artwork for the British and American first editions was by the British artist and sculptor Eric Kennington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Collectors Society</span> UK historical society (1973-)

The Penguin Collectors Society (PCS) is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Its main purpose is to promote the study and research of all aspects of Penguin Books, the publishing company founded by Allen Lane in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Random House</span> American multinational conglomerate publishing company

Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was founded in 1927. It has more than 300 publishing imprints. Along with Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Enoch</span>

Kurt Enoch was a German-born publisher who co-founded Albatross Books in Germany and Penguin Books Inc. and New American Library in the United States, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fiction to the mass market in those countries.

The Pelican History of England is multi-volume, multi-author work published by the Pelican non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books between 1950 and 1965. It was edited by Jack Morpurgo (1918–2000). The series is said to have "shaped the historical thinking of generations".

References

  1. 1 2 "About Penguin - Company History". Penguin Books. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  2. "Penguin Books | Making Britain". open.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 Carswell, Beth. "Pelican Books, A Flock of Non-Fiction". AbeBooks.
  4. 1 2 3 "Pelican Books".
  5. "Pelican books take flight again". Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  6. Anne Trubek. "How the Paperback Novel Changed Popular Literature". Smithsonian Magazine.
  7. "Books and the Public". The Spectator Archive. 22 July 1938. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  8. 1 2 "What Would Allen Lane Make of Amazon". The Guardian.
  9. "A Complete Catalogue of the Publications of Penguin Books" pages 61124 within The Penguin Story: MCMXXXV: MCMLVI (Harmondsworth, Middx: Penguin, 1956), pp. 8990.
  10. "Classic Pelican Book Covers—In Pictures". The Guardian.
  11. "A Complete Catalogue of the Publications of Penguin Books", pp. 92, 120.
  12. "A Complete Catalogue of the Publications of Penguin Books", p. 104.
  13. Banks, Tom (12 May 2014). "Graphic designers create Pelican t-shirts". Design Week . Archived from the original on 26 September 2014.