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came most fully alive under the challenge of great dilemmas." He was a creative genius that once he had an idea he would not stop until it came to fruition. Once he decided on creating paperbacks he set about in deciding what the books should look like and finding a name. He had decided that the books would be reprints so he also needed to approach other publishers to see if they and their authors would be willing to sublease the rights of the books. He was quoted as saying, "I have never been able to understand why cheap books should not also be well designed, for good design is no more expensive than bad."
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Edward Young designed the horizontal bands and used Gill Sans Bold for the title's letting. He was also sent to the Zoo in
Regents Park to sketch penguins for the cover. Allen Lane wanted a cover design that was consistent and easily recognizable. In 1937 the font was changed to Times New Roman. His
387:
were non-fiction books. Penguins were meant to entertain while
Pelicans were meant to enlighten. In the 1950s his company had grown so much that it had major outposts in both Australia and the United States. Lane's management style put him and the individuals in charge in his United States office at
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Most booksellers and authors were against the idea of paperbacks. They believed that paperbacks would result in individuals spending less money on books. Lane was very stubborn when it came to his company; he operated mainly on intuition and imagination. "He thrived in an atmosphere of crisis and
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in 1934, Lane found himself on an Exeter station platform with nothing available worth reading. He conceived of paperback editions of literature of proven quality which would be cheap enough to be sold from a
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He rose quickly at Bodley Head, becoming managing editor in 1925 following the death of his uncle. After conflict with the board of directors who were wary at first—for fear of being prosecuted—of publishing
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Lane dismissed Godwin, and retained control of
Penguin, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards after being diagnosed with
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Penguin Books became a separate company the following year. The legend goes that on a train journey back from visiting
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odds. These individuals eventually left
Penguin books and started their own publishing companies:
945:"Lady Chatterley's Defendant: Allen Lane and the Paperback Revolution (a portrait of Allen Lane)"
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launched an imprint named for Allen Lane to publish prestige non-fiction by established authors.
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The plaque marking the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of
Penguin Books by Allen Lane at 8
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series in 1945. Lane was responsible for the decision to publish an unexpurgated edition of
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The paperback venture was extremely successful, and he expanded into other areas such as
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BBC Radio 4 programme about Allen Lane by author
Michael Morpurgo, his son-in-law.
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Penguin and the Lane
Brothers: The Untold Story of a Publishing Revolution
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In 1967 he started a hardback imprint under his own name, Allen Lane.
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and dubbed the "Penguincubator". Lane was also well aware of the
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Penguin
Portrait: Allen Lane and the Penguin Editors, 1935–1970
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For the U.S. railway station formerly known as Allen Lane, see
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Narrated by Lane biographer Jeremy Lewis on BBC Radio in 2010
343:, Lane, together with his brothers Richard and John, founded
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who together with his brothers
Richard and John Lane founded
286:, to Camilla (née Lane) and Samuel Williams, and studied at
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Neavill, Gordon B. (April 1981). "Review: [Untitled]".
694:"Hatching a Penguin: The Start of the Paperback Populism"
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and the board of directors to remove him, Lane stole and
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as an apprentice to his uncle and founder of the company
570:"Penguin's pioneering publisher – who never read books"
259:; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British
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Horatio
Morpurgo, Lane's grandson (September 2008).
930:University of Bristol Library Special Collections.
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75:
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718:Penguin Special: The Life and Times of Allen Lane
230:Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour
774:, Penguin Books Ltd. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
436:the entire print run of the French cartoonist
8:
271:fiction and non-fiction to the mass market.
873:. Collingwood, Vic., Australia: Black Inc.
428:In 1965, during an attempt by chief editor
305:, on 28 June 1941 and had three daughters:
301:Lane married Letitia Lucy Orr, daughter of
290:. In 1919 he joined the publishing company
622:"Penguin paperbacks come in from the cold"
60:
42:
1033:People educated at Bristol Grammar School
647:
645:
444:, which was reportedly deeply offensive.
1018:Deaths from colorectal cancer in England
522:
531:"Sir Allen Lane, 67, of Penguin Books"
27:Publisher and founder of Penguin Books
898:Allen Lane: King Penguin: A Biography
375:and adopted many of its innovations.
7:
582:from the original on 11 January 2022
347:in 1935 as part of the Bodley Head.
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998:20th-century British businesspeople
813:Cavendish, Richard (29 June 2010).
791:from the original on 17 August 2022
34:. For those of a similar name, see
952:Toby Clements (19 February 2009).
568:Florence Waters (26 August 2010).
25:
698:The Journal of the Book Community
549:from the original on 28 July 2018
1008:British book publishers (people)
1003:Book publishing company founders
954:"History of the Penguin Archive"
601:"about Penguin – company history
505:
493:
481:
282:Allen Lane Williams was born in
359:; the first was set up outside
267:in 1935, bringing high-quality
183:
815:"The First Penguin Paperbacks"
764:About Penguin: Company History
620:Field, Michele (6 July 1985).
309:, Christine, and Anna. He was
1:
423:Obscene Publications Act 1959
133:St Nectan's Church, Hartland
1013:Businesspeople from Bristol
638:– via Newspapers.com.
469:Penguin Random House Canada
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896:Morpurgo, Jack E. (1979).
421:as a means of testing the
32:Richard Allen Lane station
29:
846:. London: Penguin Books.
742:– via Google Books.
627:The Sydney Morning Herald
488:United Kingdom portal
59:
680:Allen Lane: King Penguin
770:1 November 2011 at the
704:: 20 – via Brill.
606:5 November 2013 at the
418:Lady Chatterley's Lover
900:. London: Hutchinson.
869:Kells, Stuart (2015).
715:Lewis, Jeremy (2005).
692:Jeremy, Lewis (2008).
337:'s controversial book
329:
288:Bristol Grammar School
451:. He died in 1970 at
324:
317:Career as a publisher
278:Early life and family
173:Lady Letitia Lucy Orr
1028:Penguin Books people
842:Hare, Steve (1995).
500:Biography portal
394:New American Library
958:The Daily Telegraph
825:(7). Archived from
575:The Daily Telegraph
257:Allen Lane Williams
80:Allen Lane Williams
829:on 29 October 2010
535:The New York Times
365:Charing Cross Road
330:
932:"Penguin Archive"
654:Library Quarterly
245:
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226:Knighthood (1952)
90:21 September 1902
16:(Redirected from
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409:Penguin Classics
407:in 1940 and the
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373:Albatross Books
357:vending machine
352:Agatha Christie
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962:. Retrieved
960:. London, UK
957:
936:the original
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870:
843:
831:. Retrieved
827:the original
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793:. Retrieved
785:"Allen Lane"
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748:
736:. Retrieved
723:Viking Press
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632:. Retrieved
630:. p. 43
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584:. Retrieved
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449:bowel cancer
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405:Puffin Books
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390:Bantam Books
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236:Albert Medal
129:Burial place
111:(1970-07-07)
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993:1970 deaths
988:1902 births
586:17 February
430:Tony Godwin
361:Henderson's
335:James Joyce
327:Vigo Street
292:Bodley Head
160:Founder of
139:Nationality
109:7 July 1970
982:Categories
553:4 November
518:References
371:publisher
147:Occupation
86:1902-09-21
68:London Zoo
18:Allen lane
916:185461758
889:908806724
795:17 August
610:, Penguin
543:0362-4331
467:In 2010,
457:Middlesex
453:Northwood
403:in 1937,
313:in 1952.
296:John Lane
269:paperback
261:publisher
213:John Lane
209:Relatives
151:Publisher
117:Northwood
964:23 April
862:33085920
789:Archived
768:Archived
678:Reviews
604:Archived
580:Archived
547:Archived
475:See also
442:Massacre
440:'s book
311:knighted
198:Children
66:Lane at
833:21 July
674:4307350
369:Hamburg
340:Ulysses
284:Bristol
215:(uncle)
192:
180:
176:
142:British
121:England
98:England
94:Bristol
36:Al Lane
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904:
887:
877:
860:
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738:7 June
729:
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634:7 June
541:
463:Legacy
255:(born
238:(1969)
232:(1969)
220:Awards
186:
168:Spouse
70:, 1965
670:JSTOR
434:burnt
307:Clare
190:)
182:(
178:
966:2010
912:OCLC
902:ISBN
885:OCLC
875:ISBN
858:OCLC
848:ISBN
835:2021
797:2022
740:2024
727:ISBN
636:2024
588:2014
555:2017
539:ISSN
438:Siné
392:and
188:1941
106:Died
76:Born
662:doi
415:'s
363:in
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956:.
910:.
883:.
856:.
823:60
821:.
817:.
787:.
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696:.
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658:51
656:.
644:^
624:.
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252:CH
184:m.
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84:(
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20:)
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