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. A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Paperback may refer to a kind of book binding by which papers are simply folded without cloth or leather and bound - usually with glue rather than stitches or staples - into a thick paper cover; or to a book with this type of binding. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In the publishing industry, an imprint is a brand name under which a work is published. ... Bodley Head has been, since 1987, an imprint of Random House. ... Pearson plc LSE: PSON;NYSE: PSO is a London-based media conglomerate. ... Crypt is also a commonly used name of water trumpets, aquatic plants. ...

Imprints of Penguin Books include Puffin Books, for children's literature. They have also acquired Ladybird Books, Dorling Kindersley and the Rough Guides. In the publishing industry, an imprint is a brand name under which a work is published. ... // Basic Characteristics There is some debate as to what constitutes childrens literature. ... Ladybird Books is a London-based publishing company that produces childrens books. ... Dorling Kindersley (DK) is an international publishing company specialising in reference books for adults and children. ... Rough Guides Ltd is a large travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group. ...

Former Penguin imprints include ROC, for science fiction and fantasy, and Pelican Books, for non-fiction. Peregrine was another imprint as well. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... For other definitions of fantasy, see fantasy (psychology). ... Non-fiction is an account or representation of a subject which is composed of facts, true or untrue. ...

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. Lady Chatterleys Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence written in 1928. ... Spycatcher is a book by the former MI5 secret service operative Peter Wright. ... The Satanic Verses cover The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdies fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. ... Obscenity has several connotations. ... Censorship is the use of governmental power to control speech and other forms of human expression. ...

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. Penguin Group is the second largest trade book publisher in the world. ... Penguin Group (USA) is the U.S. division of the international trade book publisher, Penguin Group, a division of Pearson. ...

See also

• Penguin Modern Poets
• The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection

Penguin Modern Poets was a series of 25 poetry books published by Penguin Books in the 1960s and 1970s, each containing work by three contemporary poets (mostly but not exclusively British and American). ... The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection was the complete collection of books published by Pengiun Classics as of 2005. ...

Further reading

• Penguin Books - Fifty Penguin Years (1985) ISBN 0140085890
• Phil Baines - Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005 (2005) ISBN 0713998393
• Jeremy Lewis - Life and Times of Allen Lane (Penguin Special) (2005) ISBN 0670914851

1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Company history