Penguin celebrates 75 with release of Decades

07.01.10 Benedicte Page in The Bookseller

A January Waterstone's promotion (running from 21st January to 21st February) and the re­issue of 20 novels that "helped shape Modern Britain" are among the initiatives from Penguin to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year. A new logo has also been designed to mark the event.

Writers' tables featuring 50 ­Penguin writers recommending 50 Penguin titles will go into Waterstone's on 21st January, with p.o.s. and bellybands highlighting the choices. Selections include Jonathan Coe picking Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, William Boyd opting for Nabokov's Pale Fire, Will Self choosing H G Wells' War of the Worlds and Nick Hornby enthusing about Geoffrey Willans' Molesworth, which he calls "a comfort and a joy".

In April, Penguin will publish the Penguin Decades, five seminal novels from each decade from the 1950s to 1980s inclusive, with cover artwork by high-profile artists and designers.

The collections include Ian Fleming's From Russia with Love, introduced by MI5 historian Christopher Andrew from the 1950s, and from the 1970s, Angela Carter's The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman, introduced by Ali Smith and with cover artwork by Zandra Rhodes.

Jeremy Paxman will introduce John Mortimer's Paradise Postponed as one of the 1980s' titles, with cover artwork by John Squire. Penguin will produce p.o.s. for the Decades titles for use in promotions "across the board", and in libraries. There will be "read-offs" featuring the Penguin Decades titles in libraries in four cities: Manchester, Leeds, Derby and Nottingham.

The publisher is also promising birthday-related activity throughout the year, with online initiatives, literary festival events, posters, postcards and bags, as well as new branded products from Penguin's brand licensees, Art Meets Matter and Wild & Wolf.

The first Penguin book was published on 30th July 1935.

PENGUIN DECADES - FIVE NOVELS PLUS THEIR PROMOTER

50s
Scenes from Provincial Life/William Cooper (1950) NICK HORNBY
Lucky Jim/Kingsley Amis (1954) DAVID NICHOLLS
From Russia with Love/Ian Fleming (1957) CHRISTOPHER ANDREW
Billy Liar/Keith Waterhouse (1959) BLAKE MORRISON
Memento Mori/Muriel Spark (1959) DAVID LODGE

60s
A Clockwork Orange/Anthony Burgess (1962) WILL SELF
The Millstone/Margaret Drabble (1965) ELAINE SHOWALTER
The British Museum is Falling Down/David Lodge (1965) MARK LAWSON
A Kestrel for a Knave/Barry Hines (1968) IAN MCMILLAN
Another Part of the Wood/Beryl Bainbridge (1968) LYNN BARBER

70s
I'm the King of the Castle/Susan Hill (1970) ESTHER FREUD
Don't Look Now/Daphne du Maurier (1971) JULIE MYERSON
The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman/Angela Carter (1972) ALI SMITH
The Children of Dynmouth/William Trevor (1976) ROY FOSTER
Treasures of Time/Penelope Lively (1979) SELINA HASTINGS

80s
A Month in the Country/J.L. Carr (1980) BYRON ROGERS
An Ice-Cream War/William Boyd (1982) GILES FODEN
Hawksmoor/Peter Ackroyd (1985) WILL SELF
Paradise Postponed/John Mortimer (1985) JEREMY PAXMAN
Latecomers/Anita Brookner (1988) HELEN DUNMORE