Publisher: | London: Penguin Books | Edition: | Reprint; Published Date: 1947 | Illustrations: | B/w photographic plates | Dimensions: | 180 x 110 mm (7 x 4 inches) - 160pp. | Appearance: | Paperback. | Condition: | G : in Good condition without dust jacket as issued. Inner hinges cracked. |
In 1937 the Pelican series was launched as an imprint of Penguin books. The books were designed with the clear intention of providing inexpensive paperbacks that would be bought and read by a wide audience. The series aimed to cover a broad range of subjects, including classical music, science, philosophy, architecture and psychology.
Allen Lane, Pelican's founder, stated: ‘We…believed in the existence in this country of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it. Pelican lowered the traditional barriers to knowledge by selling books at the cost of a packet of cigarettes'. These books became especially popular among the self-educating post-war generation, and Pelican was even called an ‘informal university for 50s Britons’ by The Guardian. The Spectator reported, ‘If there is any sense in saying that the culture of the world should be accessible to all without distinctions of wealth, such publications are helping to make it true.’
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