P P P Pick Up A Penguin....

It’s entirely possible that if you have no British background or connection, the cultural reference in the title will go completely over your head. Nonetheless, one British cultural icon you would be hard pressed to not recognize, regardless of your origin in the world, is the Penguin paperback.

That little orange, (or blue, red, green, pink etc) book that can’t help but look cool and iconic nearly eighty years after its introduction in the 1930’s.

There is something very socially levelling about a Penguin. Sir Allen Lane, founder of Penguin books wanted to bring good quality writing to the reading masses at affordable prices. His success is clear when one considers that relative to most of the publishing world Penguin prices have remained low and availability of content has been consistently high.

The first Penguin paperbacks went on sale at sixpence in 1935 and now in 2014 one can still pick up most Penguins be it a crisp new copy or a tatty old one for around the $10 spot.

Then there are, of course the Penguin ‘Classics’ the black spined releases also usually available at very reasonable prices both new and secondhand. Throw mugs, notepads, keyrings tea-towels et al into the merchandise mix and you have quite the obsessive compulsive collector’s dream.

So why is the Penguin paperback so popular? In 1973 in Richmond, Surrey, The Penguin Collectors Society was formed and has grown to worldwide membership of over 500, but with availability in just about every bookshop you ever venture into, new or old, chain or independent, there is clearly a much bigger market out there than just society members. The combination of styling, content, availability and price make Penguin paperbacks an excellent source for a formative home library. 

Ebay is full of collectible titles in varying conditions and quantities and if you want to start a core collection it’s not a bad place to start but for the budding book collector on a budget, there are hours of fun to be had fossicking through the many second-hand bookstores around Melbourne.

So next time you’re rummaging around in your favourite bookstore with a limited budget but in need of a good read, you could do much worse than to P P P pick up a Penguin....