Penguin's 90th birthday special editions – whimsical or wasteful?

In celebration of 90 years in business, publishing giant Penguin Classics has released a new line of 90 short stories from their archives in celebration. These striking red and white paperbacks have been chosen by sixteen Penguin Classics editors, spanning centuries with the stories they have selected. From Jane Austen to Andy Warhol, George Orwell to Audre Lorde, Penguin have delved into their store of literature to bring new and vibrant titles to a modern audience. But is this new line as whimsical as it appears – full of nostalgia, brimming with tales of bygone eras – or is it merely wasteful, another unnecessary line of editions looking for a cash grab?

Founded in 1935 by Allen, Richard, and John Lane, Penguin Books changed the face of literature in Britain with easily accessible fiction and non-fiction paperbacks. Sold for sixpence a piece, Penguin were committed to the idea that “quality literature shouldn’t cost more than a pack of cigarettes”. Within the year, three million Penguin paperbacks had been acquired by readers, bringing politics, art and science into the living rooms of the British people.

This new line of editions aim to pay tribute to releases of the past. When discussing the design of these covers, art director Jim Stoddart stated that “I trawled through the Penguin archive to see whether I could perhaps find a design to represent each decade […] but my list of favourite covers from Penguin’s past quickly expanded, and it became clear to me that I could create 90 unique covers, one for each book, with the design of each chiming with the year each author was first published by Penguin”.

When considering the question of whimsy or waste, a number of factors come into play. The act of book manufacturing does have a harmful environmental impact, with 10 million trees a year sacrificed to the production of unread books. In contrast to this, in the growing media literacy crisis that we are facing, it is more important than ever to encourage the spread of easily accessible literature, in all its forms – the reading of print literature has the benefit of better information retention, along with enhanced reading comprehension. This also allows for the preservation of physical media, a dying form in the internet age we now live in – research highlights that “holding a book and flipping through the pages fosters a more immersive and physical experience”.

The question of waste versus whimsy is valid in a world that teeters on the brink of collapse due to humanity’s wasteful ways – but in this instance, it is rather a question of humanity’s continued fight to retain knowledge and art for themselves. To possess your own edition of art or literature in a physical form is in itself a form of resistance, so go buy yourself one of those cute little paperbacks.