Who published the first paperback book?
First PAPERBACK BOOK.
The first PAPERBACK BOOK series was the ‘Collection of British Authors’ published by Christian Bemhand Tauchnitz in Leipzig in 1841. The first title in the series was Pelham by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Other early Tauchnitz authors included Dickens, Scott, Thackeray, Capt. Marryat, Thomas Carlyle and George Eliot. The books were all printed in English and were intended for the use of the English and American tourists who were travelling on the Continent in ever-increasing numbers with the advent of rail networks. Tauchnitz secured the rights to publish English works in all non-English speaking countries, one of the terms of his contracts being that the purchasers would be instructed that the books must be discarded when finished, and not brought into an English-speaking country. Hence Tauchnitz introduced a new formula into publishing that still appertains to paperbacks today-the idea of the disposable book. He was also a pioneer in another respect, for his scrupulously drafted agreements between author and publisher were the precursor of modern international copyright. Hitherto authors had seldom been paid royalties on books published abroad.
In 1860 Tauchnitz was raised to the rank of Freiherr with the title of Baron for his services to publishing, and he was elevated to the Saxon First Chamber (equivalent to the House of Lords). England made him an honorary Consul-General and he became a very close personal friend of Queen Victoria. Tauchnitz died in 1895, but the series was continued by his heirs until 1933, by which time it comprised 5,097 titles by 525 different authors. It was subsequently taken over by another firm of Leipzig publishers, and since 1960 has been published in Stuttgart.
`Clarke’s Cabinet Series was published by H.G. Clarke, 66 Old Bailey, London, 1844-5. The series consisted of 67 titles, fiction and non-fiction, of which the first was Psyche by Mrs Tighe, bound in illuminated paper wrappers printed in colour. Only two examples from the series survive, including a copy of Psyche.
The modern `Paperback Revolution’ can be dated from the publication of the first Penguin book by Sir Allen Lane in 1935. Lane’s idea of `A whole book for the equivalent of 10 cigarettes’ was realized on a nominal capital of £ 100, and the chief retail outlet was Woolworth’s. The first batch of 10 titles was issued from a disused crypt in Holy Trinity Church, Euston Road on 30 July. Penguin No. 1 was Ariel, a life of Shelley by Andre Maurois. According to Sir Allen Lane the Penguin device was chosen because it `had an air of dignified flippancy and was easy to draw in black and white’. The original price of the books was 6d.
