When I was reading Madame de Treyme by Edith Wharton last week it was very convenient to be able to put the book in my pocket. If I were on a train or in a cab or any other type of transportation that commuters use other than driving it would have been nice to be able to carry literature with you without having to hold onto it.
They are out of print it seems as I cannot find them on Penguin's website. Each book is different cover wise with only perhaps an orange spine (most of the time) as the one item they have in common.
So far each Penguin 60's that I've seen is under 100 pages.
Here's a glimpse of my collection so far:
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One may think that there are "60" titles for the Penguin 60's as it is to celebrate their 60th year in publishing. I do not know how many there were. I can't find a source that has a definitive list. If anyone knows of one please let me know!
Have you come across any of these? Ever read one? Do you think it is worth about $1 each? I'd like to read your comments.
Also, here is a good article about this topic from 1995.
6 comments:
Hi there,
I just came across this when i was searching for a similar list. I have most of the Penguin 60's, and the 60's Classics (two different sets released the same year). There were different US and UK releases for both sets - looks like you have the US ones if they were $1 each. UK sold them separately for 60p, and they retailed here (Australia) for about $1.95. They're only extracts or abridged versions of the whole work, about 70-100 pages long.
You're right about the covers - the 60's mostly have their original Penguin covers and all have the orange spine. There are also some "mini" Penguins, which look like they belong to one of the 60's sets, but have black spines and will generally say on them somewhere "Penguin Classics". The other 60s set - the 60's Classics - are the same size, but with black spines. A lot of them are historical and all of them have a cover with a cream/yellow border around the illustration.
If you still need a definitive list, i can send one for the 60's, still looking for the missing titles from my list of 60's Classics though. You can contact me through the livejournal i'm commenting with.
Hi,
Penguin 60s were published to commemorate Penguin's 60th birthday. In Britain they were priced 60 pence. There were three series in the UK - Standard (orange spine), Classics (black spine) and Children's (yellow spine). There were 60 books in each series.
Penguin repeated the idea for their 70th birthday, but the format was larger than the almost "square" shaped 60s. They are really collectable and you can generally find them in second hand book stores.
I just happened to pick on up not knowing what the deal was. It was a great buy. It was Poems by Robert Frost, a favorite of mine and a great size for classics. But I'm not sure I could carry one in my pocket since I have found out how hard they are to replace.
While browsing the internet I came upon your blog and then found this info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_60s_Classics
Hope that you can make some use of it.
I have a series with the orange spine for sale if interested. schwartz_sheila@yahoo.com
Dear All,
First let me commend you on your blog, you are doing a great job.
This is Sam Combs. I am the Director of The Learning Center here in the mid=west. It is an educational non-profit 5019C03. We collect and use the Penguin 60s in our reading groups and reading classes. With the development of the new educational standards here in the US I am using the works suggested there to guide me in sorting these into skill, age and interest groups so we can use them in that program as well. I have found the following site, which was sent to me by a very helpful book dealer to be of great value.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Penguin_60s_Classics&printable=yes
It gives a full title list and discusses the various series in detail. I have found that eBay is a very good source and that some of the book dealers will even do bulk orders with reduced price and postage.
Let me hear what you think,
Sam Combs
Director
The Learning Center
TLC9418@aol.com
email and I will send phone.
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