Penguin 90th Anniversary Classics Collection

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Penguin’s story started in 1935 with the simple idea that quality literature shouldn’t cost more than a packet of cigarettes. Despite scepticism from publishers and booksellers, when founder Allen Lane launched his publishing company he sparked a paperback revolution in the UK. Within a year, three million Penguins had made it to readers’ shelves.

Fast-forward 90 years, and Penguin’s mission – to make books for everyone – remains the same. To mark its milestone anniversary in 2025, the publisher’s new Penguin Archive series draws from its expansive archive with 90 short books.

Curated by 16 Penguin Classics editors, the series takes readers through nine decades of literature, spanning authors from Jane Austen to Wang Xiaobo and settings ranging from ancient battlefields, to haunted graveyards, all the way to outer space.

Each title in the series comes with a simple but striking cover design that also riffs on Penguin’s heritage. “For this year’s birthday we wanted to create a love letter from Penguin Classics to Penguin Books,” says art director Jim Stoddart. “We wanted to celebrate Penguin as a whole – ie Penguin since its inception in 1935 – and to not just celebrate the quality and range of authors published by Penguin but also to mark 90 years of Penguin’s book design.”