@@gommine Yea but you can only see the likes. So it's really a useless metric. So I think it's kinda a silly thing to participate in. If you can't see the dislikes then you shouldn't be able to see the likes either.
You are the absolute best Book Tuber. Your videos are informative and entertaining, and really help me decide what to read. Your descriptions of the books are brilliant. I love your enthusiasm.
Fascinating! I have to read those. In one of my favorite book, George Orwells "Homage to Catalonia", he talks of sitting in the trenches in Spain reading penguin paperbacks. They were new then.
Of all the BookTubers, you are the most personable and enthusiastic! Thank you! And so good to see that Penguins published so many women authors, right from the start.
@fburton8 I'm afrai I don't know the answer. As the books were reissued for the 50th anniversary, back in the 1980s,the orange colour can fade to yellow if the books are exposed to light. I wonder if this is what has happened in this case? I hope that helps.
What a timely video! I just grabbed this exact same collection at my local secondhand bookstore! It cost only $7 CAD, and I am so happy to hear from a scholar like you that all of these works are (hidden) gems :)
I have indeed read The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. It’s one of my favorite Wimsey mysteries. Christie and Sayers books are certainly very different in every way. But I have read and loved them both all my life.
You reminded me of a little boy at Christmas...your surprise and joy with this book set is so fun to watch! I just finished reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles last week! I want to read more of that series, but with just a touch of OCD, i start at the beginning and read them in order.
Love this! Love these books. Since I started following your channel, in the last year, I’ve accumulated more than 50 Penguin Black Classic books. I’ve read most of them and now if I start collecting the Orange I’m telling my husband it’s your fault. 😂. These are awesome. 🙌🏼 📚🤩
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Tristan. I am about to buy my third bookshelf!! 😂 And it makes interior design decisions easier! I work on my computer all day. So I turned my old unused sitting room into my new & much more comfortable cozy reading room. With my collection of classics, science fiction and fantasy novels - plus my super cushy reading chair - this space is my destination to keep in touch with my imagination, my joy and my inner peace. Thank you!! 🙏🏻
Years ago I went on a binge and read all the Harriet Vane/Peter Wimsey mysteries. Then in graduate school I encountered Dorothy Sayers again, but this time as a Dante translator and scholar. She published two volumes of essays on Dante, and in her translation of the Comedy (published by Penguin) she maintained all 10,000 lines of Dante's terza rima rhyme scheme!
I think that the eclectic choice of books was part of Allen Lane's genius. All the books were reprints belonging to then famous publishers. He wanted to appeal across the brows so to speak, beginning with the high brow Ariel. He knew that the original format, the series colour and design and of course the pricing would help move the books in Smiths and Woolworth's. I read that while working for his uncle (Bodley Head) that Lane went over to France in 1924 and met Andre Maurois. That might be the connection that led to Maurois headlining the series. It is fascinating to note that Lane was a shrewd businessman, but also like the founders of several cheap classic series, interested in educating the masses. One of his greatest achievements was his publication of E V Rieu's The Odyssey.
Hi Tristan. Thank you for a really interesting video. I remember Gone to Earth being made into a film with Jennifer Jones , also she wrote another lovely book called Precious Bane I think which was also a lovely story .
Once again you made me add more books to my ever-growing list. At this point I don't know if I will live long enough! I added 'Madame Claire' and 'Carnival'.
In Love and War was based on a non-fiction book by someone in a relationship with Hemingway which purportedly served as the basis of the novel A Farewell to Arms. A Farewell to Arms has been adapted to film twice but not since the 50's, I believe. Probably also a TV adaptation or two
Oddly enough, the only one of these I've read besides Agatha Christie is Gone to Earth. If people have heard of Mary Webb these days, it's usually for Precious Bane (which is wonderful). But Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger did a lovely adaption of Gone to Earth in 1950 with Jennifer Jones (and loads of conflict with David O. Selznick, of course, who made an alternate edit of the film for American release). It's also notable for being one of the books Stella Gibbons parodied in Cold Comfort Farm.
I just did a google & found this - the Guinness Book of World Records lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies worldwide, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books (behind Shakespeare's works and the Bible). That is 2 billion, so far as people are still purchasing her work.
Simply Masterful! I continue to enjoy your presentations expressly because of your incredible enthusiasm for reading, learning and books ….. great and not so great. You will be remembered in history as a major part of encouraging love of learning and improving literacy. Congratulations for a tremendous channel and masterful management of your talent ant subjects you present!
Poet's Pub was also made into a light comedy film in 1949 which I caught on TH-cam. Not great, but I did finish watching it. "Gone to Earth" was made into a 1950 Powell and Pressburger film (Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, etc.) which was interesting, but slow and disturbing, kind of like my cousin Earl.
What a fabulous collection. I’ve only read the Agatha Christie novel but also own A Farewell to an Arms and hope to read it this year. I also fancy trying The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club as I love a mystery.
We are peas in a pod Jenny. There's not much that I prefer than a good mystery/suspense. We'll have to compare notes on it after we've read it. I'm finishing a P D James first, though I have read the first three chapters of Bellona.😀❤️
Of the 10 books, I had only heard of two of them, Farewell to Arms and The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and like you, I can't remember "who done it". However, the book, "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club", sounded rather interesting, so, since I'm taking a trip to Canada in the next week, I ordered it on-line so that I can read it on the plane. Thank you for your description.
My parents have that exact set on their shelf at home! And by coincidence I just picked up the Bellona Club (in a different edition) in a charity shop the other day. Now I need to get on and read it😊
I’ve never heard of any of these books and authors but they sound intriguing. I absolutely love your descriptions. Your enthusiasm is infectious. I will definitely be looking out for this set, hopefully I can find it here in Australia.
What a great video! I love the sound of Madam Claire. Being of a certain age myself, I'm always interested in that theme. I recently read Olive Ketteridge, which was fabulous. I remember reading one of Beverley Nichols' gardening books many years ago. It was lovely, as I recall, with useful information presented very poetically. And Eric Linkletter, I believe, wrote The Wind on the Moon, which I read over and over again as a child. I went through an avid Dorothy Sayers phase a long time ago. How long ago? I remember being shocked that the price on one of her books was over $2. Sigh... The Nine Tailors, I think, is my favourite.
I just found out about Compton McKenzie recently in researching random authors I've come across. What a cool video Tristan. Hope when you read all 10 they're all winners.
so jealous!! i have been wanting to get these original penguin books and yeah in NZ it is pretty much not going to happen with the 2nd hand stores we have. love the vintage penguins, great score Tristan, especially the condition they are in. There is another Brit on youtube by the name Jules Burt and he has the biggest original first edition vintage penguin classic collection (almost like 3000 of them) which he goes in dept in a lot of his videos if you are interested to know more on these vintage classics and what books are in this vintage series. fun fact - the founder of penguin is actually friends with Agatha Christie, he was on his way home from meeting her and on the train station he wanted to have something to read and thats when he came up with the idea to start Penguin and created these books for every day people have the chance to read without spending a lot of money.
Gone to Earth was turned into an interesting, underrated film by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger in 1950, with Jennifer Jones as Hazel. The story is compelling and works better in the novel, but some of Powell's visuals and Brian Easdale's score make it well worth a screening. Thanks for the Penguin dissection, Tristan. Enjoy your enthusiasm.
A fascinating box set! Thank you for the “ unveiling “. In the 1970s and 80s my mother and grandmother read several Beverley Nichols books, so I was most interested to hear about Twenty Five. Not sure if my family members read that one but I still have a few of the others, Down The Garden Path, A Thatched Roof, and the much more controversial autobiography, Father Figure.
How interesting. Thatched Roof was apparently very popular. I must read something by him soon. I'll be honest, biographies are not my favourite books. But some are very good.
"The colour schemes included: orange and white for general fiction, green and white for crime fiction, cerise and white for travel and adventure, dark blue and white for biographies, yellow and white for miscellaneous, red and white for drama; and the rarer purple and white for essays and belles lettres and grey and white for world affairs."
What an amazing find. I've started my classics collection, and Its always such a thrill when I find them out in the wild. I have several black spine Penguin Classics, a few Penguin Deluxe Classics and Barnes and Noble. Also, 1 each of Vintage, Worthsworth Classics, McMillans Classic Library and several editions of Dracula and Frankestein. Thank you for all your videos as you have been very influential injourney collection journry. 😊
What an absolute treasure! I think the best bio of Shelley is by Richard Holmes called "Shelley: The Pursuit" but I'm intrigued by Ariel and might track down a copy to check out! Great video as always!
Oh, what a neat collection. I hadn't heard of most of these--except the Christie and the Sayers, of course, but it was interesting to see what Penguin was goingfor when they first launched.
I am really glad that you showed and described this boxed set. I bought it when it came out and assumed I had read all the books, but realise now that I have read only two or three. With the lid on it's not possible to see the individual titles. I suspect that the original paperbacks were printed on flimsier paper, since they were meant to be read on the train and thrown away or left behind afterwards. These have sturdier paper and covers. Penguins were all reprints: everything came out in hardback for the carriage trade first, and paperbacks came out a year or two later for the hoi polloi. Penguins were a step further down the ladder as regards price but not quality. As you say, the covers were colour-coded: thrillers were originally green. The coding changed over the years as it became easier to print several colours on the one page.
I've started Unpleasantness at Bellona and so far it's very enjoyable. My difficulty is that I am reading some other books and should not have started this one.😀
They all sound amazing and I am so pleased you have possession of the set. From your descriptions ,I fancy Madam Claire by Susan Ertz and The Belona Club by Dorothy L Sayers. But would not say 'no' to any of them and now have some more titles on my Must Read list.
10:06 Great book! That was the first Dorothy Sayers (and Lord Peter Wimsey) book I ever read… and possibly my favorite one that I’ve read thus far. I don’t like her work as much as I do Agatha Christie’s, but after Christie (and tied with Chesterton), she is thus far my favorite author from the Detection Club. It’s so cool to see her featured here… I didn’t expect that for some reason. Good on Penguin for their appreciation of one of the great mystery authors. 11:59 I should have waited to comment for this book! Not the first Agatha Christie I read (I started reading her around 10 or 11 years old with Hercule Poirot’s Christmas), but it is the one I always recommend to anyone starting with Christie, as it is a great introduction to her greatest detective. I think I’ve read almost all of books (still have a couple of Miss Marples to read), and I have reread most of them countless times. It makes sense that if Sayers is in this set, the Queen of Crime. One month away from Christie’s Missing Readathon! 😃 12:08 This was Christie’s first book, and the first Hercule Poirot book. She pulled a bit from her own experience working in the dispensary during World War I for parts of the book. She also wrote it partially because her sister challenged her to.
These books are so exciting. I have read about half of them. . I immediately downloaded The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club on my kindle.😃😃😃. I never heard of that one.
Anyone of my age (70) will remember Beverley Nichols. I recall him being on television long ago. I read the Sayers book over 55 years ago, along with the other Peter Wimsey books. Compton Mackenzie founded Gramophone magazine in 1923 and it's still going strong today.
Very good video. Penguin books became big in the late 1930's and during World War II and was commonly read by the soldiers during the war including, in some cases, even carried by soldiers in battle.
Not only did I enjoy the Lord Peter Wimsy novels as a kid but when I was a little older Ian Carmichael did that wonderful series for the BBC in the seventies. I recommend anything related to Lord Peter.;
This was fascinating. Except for Dorothy, Agatha and Ernest, I've never heard of of any of the others. I've noted those I do want to read, Thank you so much, I enjoy your presentations immensely
This is a big day - I have heard of a writer that Tristan hasn’t… I have Gone to Earth on my TBR pile after reading about Mary Webb in a book called ‘Nature Mystics: The Literary Gateway to Modern Paganism’ by Rebecca Beattie. Fabulous find that collection of books Tristan - looking forward to your Patreon discussion next month - I’m loving Lark Rise…
What a fantastic find! I've read William and loved it. In fact, I've read almost all of E. H. Young's books which were re-printed by Virago in the 1980s, including William. I recognize Mary Webb as the author of Precious Bane, her most famous work, I think. Although I haven't read it, I saw the BBC TV adaptation of Precious Bane from 1989 with Janet McTeer.
I discovered Beverly Nichols several decades ago whilst working in a book shop in Portsmouth. I've enjoyed his books on cats as well as his garden, country living, and design critique books.
So I collect the original Penguins. I have Ariel, a very bad copy of a Farewell to Arms that is covered in tape! Got Poet’s Pub and Madame Claire, for some reason a doubler on Twentyfive, have William and Gone to Earth. The green crime ones and Carnival are out of my price range however (around $40!) I love the way the different colors look on the shelf but I also definitely only buy books that I’ll read.
I read "Ariel" over 50 years ago and found it interesting enough, but I was an addictive reader so enjoyed almost anything.But if you're interested in Shelley and his world, I STRONGLY recommend "A single summer with L. B." by Derek Marlowe. L. B. is Lord Byron and the novel is about the summer when Byron met Shelley and his party beside Lake Leman. It was the summer when Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein". A very enjoyable read, first published 1969 by Jonathan Cape.
Love the video. I've read "The Mysterious Affair At Styles" and loved it, although I preferred the original ending rather than the one that was published. I have read both endings because my edition has both. I haven't read any of the others, but do have "A Farewell To arms". Twenty-five" also sounds interesting, but I have to wonder what someone in their mid-twenties has to say. Mind you, back in whichever time-period he wrote it, he might have had more life experience than many people of that age today. At school I had to do a project where I had to write my autobiography, which I didn't think I would have anything to say that anyone else would find interesting, because what 13 year-old does? Apparently though, my English teacher found it very interesting. Actually she was the one who recommended Adeline Yen Mah's "Chinese Cinderella" to me as a reading suggestion.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels. I really need to read Dorothy Sayers. It's been something I've been meaning to do.
I first saw this set the year it came out (I believe it was 1985, on the 50th anniversary of Penguin Books) in a bookstore in Victoria, British Columbia, which I was visiting on holiday. If I remember correctly the price was 25 dollars Canadian, which I thought was a bit steep at the time, so I didn't buy it. But I never forgot it and probably 30 years later I started looking around for the set on Ebay, and finally bought it from a dealer in the UK, I think by that time it was 50 pounds, but I paid that and have since read about 4 of the 10. I will I suppose eventually read all of them, but I am very pleased to own the set, I am a bit of a Penguin fan, and have an entire bookcase with nothing but Penguins, probably 150 books altogether.
I thought I'd read all the Sayers stories but looking through my mystery books I find the Balona Club story not included in my collection. I'll endeavor to aquire an electronic copy for my Kindle. Gone to Earth is another story I've put on my 'must read' list thanks to you. I live in a rural community where there are no bookshops and our public library is closed for remodeling (can you imagine?) So I'm relying on electronic books more and more...sigh
It takes just a few seconds to like this video and helps so much. Please hit the like button. Thank you.
I don't like videos anymore since they removed the dislike option. If you can't boo you shouldn't be allowed to cheer either.
It's a modest request.
@@ZanarkandIsntReal I still have the dislike option
@@gommine Yea but you can only see the likes. So it's really a useless metric. So I think it's kinda a silly thing to participate in. If you can't see the dislikes then you shouldn't be able to see the likes either.
Apparently the most important thing lately is comments. (But I still like cause who knows)
The joy and giddiness on your face while describing these books is utterly contagious. Loved this video.
Thank you. I was very excited 😊
You are the absolute best Book Tuber. Your videos are informative and entertaining, and really help me decide what to read. Your descriptions of the books are brilliant. I love your enthusiasm.
Fascinating! I have to read those. In one of my favorite book, George Orwells "Homage to Catalonia", he talks of sitting in the trenches in Spain reading penguin paperbacks. They were new then.
"Homage" is a wonderful book.
Of all the BookTubers, you are the most personable and enthusiastic! Thank you! And so good to see that Penguins published so many women authors, right from the start.
A wonderful glimpse of classics known, and unknown.
Your succinct summaries are most appreciated by me, and my hopelessly distracted mind.
Love love love Dorothy L Sayers! Have read all the Lord Peter books! Time to read them again!
Great video. Penguin Books' original colour coding was: Orange Fiction.Blue Biography.Green Crime.
Thank you Nigel.
Do you know what is the significance of the yellow corner/band on the book William?
@fburton8 I'm afrai I don't know the answer. As the books were reissued for the 50th anniversary, back in the 1980s,the orange colour can fade to yellow if the books are exposed to light. I wonder if this is what has happened in this case? I hope that helps.
@@NigelFryatt I hadn’t thought of that - could be!
What a timely video! I just grabbed this exact same collection at my local secondhand bookstore! It cost only $7 CAD, and I am so happy to hear from a scholar like you that all of these works are (hidden) gems :)
I have indeed read The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. It’s one of my favorite Wimsey mysteries.
Christie and Sayers books are certainly very different in every way. But I have read and loved them both all my life.
You are an absolute joy! thank you x
You reminded me of a little boy at Christmas...your surprise and joy with this book set is so fun to watch! I just finished reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles last week! I want to read more of that series, but with just a touch of OCD, i start at the beginning and read them in order.
I think chronological reading is the most satisfying.
The Agatha Christie isn't just the first book where Poirot shows up; it's the first book she wrote because her sister bet her she couldn't.
Love this! Love these books. Since I started following your channel, in the last year, I’ve accumulated more than 50 Penguin Black Classic books. I’ve read most of them and now if I start collecting the Orange I’m telling my husband it’s your fault. 😂.
These are awesome. 🙌🏼 📚🤩
Same here! I need a bigger book shelf.
It's a terrible addiction, isnt it? 😀❤
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Tristan. I am about to buy my third bookshelf!! 😂 And it makes interior design decisions easier! I work on my computer all day. So I turned my old unused sitting room into my new & much more comfortable cozy reading room. With my collection of classics, science fiction and fantasy novels - plus my super cushy reading chair - this space is my destination to keep in touch with my imagination, my joy and my inner peace. Thank you!! 🙏🏻
@@Shannon-b5c just ordered my third. 😂🤦🏼♀️😂❤️
Which one of these ten is the Best ? Please 🙏🏻
❤
U.S. book lover here and always Penguin meant quality to me!
Years ago I went on a binge and read all the Harriet Vane/Peter Wimsey mysteries. Then in graduate school I encountered Dorothy Sayers again, but this time as a Dante translator and scholar. She published two volumes of essays on Dante, and in her translation of the Comedy (published by Penguin) she maintained all 10,000 lines of Dante's terza rima rhyme scheme!
I think that the eclectic choice of books was part of Allen Lane's genius. All the books were reprints belonging to then famous publishers. He wanted to appeal across the brows so to speak, beginning with the high brow Ariel. He knew that the original format, the series colour and design and of course the pricing would help move the books in Smiths and Woolworth's. I read that while working for his uncle (Bodley Head) that Lane went over to France in 1924 and met Andre Maurois. That might be the connection that led to Maurois headlining the series. It is fascinating to note that Lane was a shrewd businessman, but also like the founders of several cheap classic series, interested in educating the masses. One of his greatest achievements was his publication of E V Rieu's The Odyssey.
Thank you so much for this. What a delicious comment. 😀
Hi Tristan. Thank you for a really interesting video. I remember Gone to Earth being made into a film with Jennifer Jones , also she wrote another lovely book called Precious Bane I think which was also a lovely story .
Once again you made me add more books to my ever-growing list. At this point I don't know if I will live long enough!
I added 'Madame Claire' and 'Carnival'.
In Love and War was based on a non-fiction book by someone in a relationship with Hemingway which purportedly served as the basis of the novel A Farewell to Arms. A Farewell to Arms has been adapted to film twice but not since the 50's, I believe. Probably also a TV adaptation or two
Gary Cooper and a very young Helen Hayes was. Iin the first adaptation of Farewell to Arms in the 1930s.
❤ I’m so happy your friend found these for you , they will be so well looked after and loved . Enjoyed this video , thanks Tristan
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the video. It was a pretty special treat for me.😀❤️
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 I could tell and it was obvious to see it brings you such joy and that the books will get read too ❤️ enjoy!
That was so much fun.
Your enthusiasm for fiction is magical. Thanks for your passion and insight. I love your channel.
Another great review. Love your channel.
Yes. You absolutely can’t beat Dorothy L Sayers. Loved that book.
I've started reading it and I love it.
I can never remember the Christie plots no matter how many times I read them! This is a very interesting list. I will try some.
Oddly enough, the only one of these I've read besides Agatha Christie is Gone to Earth. If people have heard of Mary Webb these days, it's usually for Precious Bane (which is wonderful). But Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger did a lovely adaption of Gone to Earth in 1950 with Jennifer Jones (and loads of conflict with David O. Selznick, of course, who made an alternate edit of the film for American release). It's also notable for being one of the books Stella Gibbons parodied in Cold Comfort Farm.
I love this man so much!!!
I have learned so much and binge watch all your video's.
Same !!!
I have this exact anniversary boxed set. Bought many years ago at Angus and Robertson booksellers in Melbourne.
I love Dorothy L Sayers, and that's a good one.
The word fell comes from the Old Norse words fell and fjall, which both mean "mountain"
Styles is one of my favorite Christies. I even wrote a stage adaptation of it, so it was fun to see it pop up on this list!
Wow, fair play. I wouldn't know how to begin writing a screen play.
Such an awesome find. Thanks, Frank!
You bet! Frank's the best.
I adore this video. I love the Penguin paperbacks so much. Thank you!
I just did a google & found this - the Guinness Book of World Records lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies worldwide, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books (behind Shakespeare's works and the Bible). That is 2 billion, so far as people are still purchasing her work.
Simply Masterful! I continue to enjoy your presentations expressly because of your incredible enthusiasm for reading, learning and books ….. great and not so great. You will be remembered in history as a major part of encouraging love of learning and improving literacy. Congratulations for a tremendous channel and masterful management of your talent ant subjects you present!
The unpleasantness at the Belona Club was the first Sayers book I read, ages ago. It got me hooked.
You can tell how much you love this book set. I am right there with you. Thanks for the new writers to be looking up.
Poet's Pub was also made into a light comedy film in 1949 which I caught on TH-cam. Not great, but I did finish watching it. "Gone to Earth" was made into a 1950 Powell and Pressburger film (Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, etc.) which was interesting, but slow and disturbing, kind of like my cousin Earl.
What a fabulous collection. I’ve only read the Agatha Christie novel but also own A Farewell to an Arms and hope to read it this year. I also fancy trying The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club as I love a mystery.
We are peas in a pod Jenny. There's not much that I prefer than a good mystery/suspense. We'll have to compare notes on it after we've read it. I'm finishing a P D James first, though I have read the first three chapters of Bellona.😀❤️
Of the 10 books, I had only heard of two of them, Farewell to Arms and The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and like you, I can't remember "who done it". However, the book, "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club", sounded rather interesting, so, since I'm taking a trip to Canada in the next week, I ordered it on-line so that I can read it on the plane. Thank you for your description.
My parents have that exact set on their shelf at home! And by coincidence I just picked up the Bellona Club (in a different edition) in a charity shop the other day. Now I need to get on and read it😊
I’ve never heard of any of these books and authors but they sound intriguing. I absolutely love your descriptions. Your enthusiasm is infectious. I will definitely be looking out for this set, hopefully I can find it here in Australia.
This is very exciting. Please do more if the opportunity arises.
What a great video! I love the sound of Madam Claire. Being of a certain age myself, I'm always interested in that theme. I recently read Olive Ketteridge, which was fabulous. I remember reading one of Beverley Nichols' gardening books many years ago. It was lovely, as I recall, with useful information presented very poetically. And Eric Linkletter, I believe, wrote The Wind on the Moon, which I read over and over again as a child.
I went through an avid Dorothy Sayers phase a long time ago. How long ago? I remember being shocked that the price on one of her books was over $2. Sigh... The Nine Tailors, I think, is my favourite.
Ditto re The Nine Tailors. Reread it many times.
Yes I have read the Sayers book. I love her books. My favorite so far is the Five Red Herrings-about painters in Scotland. Great setting.
I'm ordering Poet's Pub and Gone To Earth!!! LOVED this video!!! 🤗
This was great!
What a great little time capsule in publishing history.
I just found out about Compton McKenzie recently in researching random authors I've come across. What a cool video Tristan. Hope when you read all 10 they're all winners.
Outstanding Tristan!!!
From USA
thank you,Gayla.
Just found you but you are absolutely amazing
Thank you so much!!😀❤️
so jealous!! i have been wanting to get these original penguin books and yeah in NZ it is pretty much not going to happen with the 2nd hand stores we have. love the vintage penguins, great score Tristan, especially the condition they are in. There is another Brit on youtube by the name Jules Burt and he has the biggest original first edition vintage penguin classic collection (almost like 3000 of them) which he goes in dept in a lot of his videos if you are interested to know more on these vintage classics and what books are in this vintage series. fun fact - the founder of penguin is actually friends with Agatha Christie, he was on his way home from meeting her and on the train station he wanted to have something to read and thats when he came up with the idea to start Penguin and created these books for every day people have the chance to read without spending a lot of money.
Gone to Earth was turned into an interesting, underrated film by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger in 1950, with Jennifer Jones as Hazel. The story is compelling and works better in the novel, but some of Powell's visuals and Brian Easdale's score make it well worth a screening.
Thanks for the Penguin dissection, Tristan. Enjoy your enthusiasm.
This is FANTASTIC! Thanks!
I'm pleased that you enjoyed it ☺️
A fascinating box set! Thank you for the “ unveiling “. In the 1970s and 80s my mother and grandmother read several Beverley Nichols books, so I was most interested to hear about Twenty Five. Not sure if my family members read that one but I still have a few of the others, Down The Garden Path, A Thatched Roof, and the much more controversial autobiography, Father Figure.
How interesting. Thatched Roof was apparently very popular. I must read something by him soon. I'll be honest, biographies are not my favourite books. But some are very good.
"The colour schemes included: orange and white for general fiction, green and white for crime fiction, cerise and white for travel and adventure, dark blue and white for biographies, yellow and white for miscellaneous, red and white for drama; and the rarer purple and white for essays and belles lettres and grey and white for world affairs."
Thanks so much for this ❤️
@@tristanandtheclassics6538 welcome
What an amazing find. I've started my classics collection, and Its always such a thrill when I find them out in the wild. I have several black spine Penguin Classics, a few Penguin Deluxe Classics and Barnes and Noble. Also, 1 each of Vintage, Worthsworth Classics, McMillans Classic Library and several editions of Dracula and Frankestein. Thank you for all your videos as you have been very influential injourney collection journry. 😊
What an incredible find. Great video 😊
Tristan is so full of joy.
Great video. All of EH Young was published by Virago in three nineties. She is wonderful. My favourite is Miss Mole
What an absolute treasure! I think the best bio of Shelley is by Richard Holmes called "Shelley: The Pursuit" but I'm intrigued by Ariel and might track down a copy to check out! Great video as always!
What a find! Congratulations on your acquisition, something the likes of which we rarely find at secondhand bookstores in the U.S.
I was not aware of this set - thank you for posting!
This was very interesting. It gives me a bunch of 'new' writers to check out.
What an interesting topic! No doubt that many would love to read the biography of Shelley on the commuter train!
Oh, what a neat collection. I hadn't heard of most of these--except the Christie and the Sayers, of course, but it was interesting to see what Penguin was goingfor when they first launched.
Yes it took me by surprise too. 😀
This is delightful! I am very surprised to see André Maurois as the first Penguin author.
I bought that set in 1985. Still have it, naturally.
I am really glad that you showed and described this boxed set. I bought it when it came out and assumed I had read all the books, but realise now that I have read only two or three. With the lid on it's not possible to see the individual titles. I suspect that the original paperbacks were printed on flimsier paper, since they were meant to be read on the train and thrown away or left behind afterwards. These have sturdier paper and covers.
Penguins were all reprints: everything came out in hardback for the carriage trade first, and paperbacks came out a year or two later for the hoi polloi. Penguins were a step further down the ladder as regards price but not quality. As you say, the covers were colour-coded: thrillers were originally green. The coding changed over the years as it became easier to print several colours on the one page.
What a treasure! "Ariel", "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" and "Madame Claire" are definitely on my ever growing list.
I've started Unpleasantness at Bellona and so far it's very enjoyable. My difficulty is that I am reading some other books and should not have started this one.😀
They all sound amazing and I am so pleased you have possession of the set. From your descriptions ,I fancy Madam Claire by Susan Ertz and The Belona Club by Dorothy L Sayers. But would not say 'no' to any of them and now have some more titles on my Must Read list.
10:06 Great book! That was the first Dorothy Sayers (and Lord Peter Wimsey) book I ever read… and possibly my favorite one that I’ve read thus far. I don’t like her work as much as I do Agatha Christie’s, but after Christie (and tied with Chesterton), she is thus far my favorite author from the Detection Club. It’s so cool to see her featured here… I didn’t expect that for some reason. Good on Penguin for their appreciation of one of the great mystery authors.
11:59 I should have waited to comment for this book! Not the first Agatha Christie I read (I started reading her around 10 or 11 years old with Hercule Poirot’s Christmas), but it is the one I always recommend to anyone starting with Christie, as it is a great introduction to her greatest detective. I think I’ve read almost all of books (still have a couple of Miss Marples to read), and I have reread most of them countless times. It makes sense that if Sayers is in this set, the Queen of Crime. One month away from Christie’s Missing Readathon! 😃
12:08 This was Christie’s first book, and the first Hercule Poirot book. She pulled a bit from her own experience working in the dispensary during World War I for parts of the book. She also wrote it partially because her sister challenged her to.
I loved it too!
Wish Dorothy Sayers had written more but Bologna Club was very enjoyable
These books are so exciting. I have read about half of them. . I immediately downloaded The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club on my kindle.😃😃😃. I never heard of that one.
Anyone of my age (70) will remember Beverley Nichols. I recall him being on television long ago. I read the Sayers book over 55 years ago, along with the other Peter Wimsey books. Compton Mackenzie founded Gramophone magazine in 1923 and it's still going strong today.
I acquired this set about a year ago, sans box, but in great condition.
Brilliant video!
New subbie here! Totally loved this video!!! ❤
Hello there. Glad to make your acquaintance. 😀❤️
Loved this video, I’ve just added to my reading list 😂👍👌
It's a scourge isn't it?! 🤣
You had me at Saturday Keith. Ordering it before you finish your review. 😂
Very good video. Penguin books became big in the late 1930's and during World War II and was commonly read by the soldiers during the war including, in some cases, even carried by soldiers in battle.
You’re so good, you have inspired me to start reading again. Gong to try a couple of those, interesting
Not only did I enjoy the Lord Peter Wimsy novels as a kid but when I was a little older Ian Carmichael did that wonderful series for the BBC in the seventies. I recommend anything related to Lord Peter.;
This was fascinating. Except for Dorothy, Agatha and Ernest, I've never heard of of any of the others. I've noted those I do want to read, Thank you so much, I enjoy your presentations immensely
This is a big day - I have heard of a writer that Tristan hasn’t… I have Gone to Earth on my TBR pile after reading about Mary Webb in a book called ‘Nature Mystics: The Literary Gateway to Modern Paganism’ by Rebecca Beattie. Fabulous find that collection of books Tristan - looking forward to your Patreon discussion next month - I’m loving Lark Rise…
So basically Penguin paperbacks were the train version of airport literature? 😂😂❤❤❤
(I guessed one! 😊)
Pretty much. 😀
What a fantastic find! I've read William and loved it. In fact, I've read almost all of E. H. Young's books which were re-printed by Virago in the 1980s, including William. I recognize Mary Webb as the author of Precious Bane, her most famous work, I think. Although I haven't read it, I saw the BBC TV adaptation of Precious Bane from 1989 with Janet McTeer.
I discovered Beverly Nichols several decades ago whilst working in a book shop in Portsmouth. I've enjoyed his books on cats as well as his garden, country living, and design critique books.
So I collect the original Penguins. I have Ariel, a very bad copy of a Farewell to Arms that is covered in tape! Got Poet’s Pub and Madame Claire, for some reason a doubler on Twentyfive, have William and Gone to Earth. The green crime ones and Carnival are out of my price range however (around $40!) I love the way the different colors look on the shelf but I also definitely only buy books that I’ll read.
I’ve read all the Wimsey novels by Dorothy L Sayers. She was magnificent!
I have read many of Beverley Nichols books on gardening. Highly entertaining. Good sense of humor.
I read "Ariel" over 50 years ago and found it interesting enough, but I was an addictive reader so enjoyed almost anything.But if you're interested in Shelley and his world, I STRONGLY recommend "A single summer with L. B." by Derek Marlowe. L. B. is Lord Byron and the novel is about the summer when Byron met Shelley and his party beside Lake Leman. It was the summer when Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein". A very enjoyable read, first published 1969 by Jonathan Cape.
Thanks, very interesting! I’m interested in reading them all. I only know the detective stories from British TV!
What a wonderfull find!! I'd like to read Gone To Earth by Mary Webb
Love your videos❤🎉😊
Thank you so much 💓
Love the video. I've read "The Mysterious Affair At Styles" and loved it, although I preferred the original ending rather than the one that was published. I have read both endings because my edition has both. I haven't read any of the others, but do have "A Farewell To arms". Twenty-five" also sounds interesting, but I have to wonder what someone in their mid-twenties has to say. Mind you, back in whichever time-period he wrote it, he might have had more life experience than many people of that age today. At school I had to do a project where I had to write my autobiography, which I didn't think I would have anything to say that anyone else would find interesting, because what 13 year-old does? Apparently though, my English teacher found it very interesting. Actually she was the one who recommended Adeline Yen Mah's "Chinese Cinderella" to me as a reading suggestion.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels. I really need to read Dorothy Sayers. It's been something I've been meaning to do.
The Dorothy L. Sayers novel sounds thrilling. I don't know whether I should just buy that one or read the previous books in the series beforehand.
I think Gone to Earth sounds like the most interesting, for the subject matter and because it sounds like it’s very well written and got good reviews.
I first saw this set the year it came out (I believe it was 1985, on the 50th anniversary of Penguin Books) in a bookstore in Victoria, British Columbia, which I was visiting on holiday. If I remember correctly the price was 25 dollars Canadian, which I thought was a bit steep at the time, so I didn't buy it. But I never forgot it and probably 30 years later I started looking around for the set on Ebay, and finally bought it from a dealer in the UK, I think by that time it was 50 pounds, but I paid that and have since read about 4 of the 10. I will I suppose eventually read all of them, but I am very pleased to own the set, I am a bit of a Penguin fan, and have an entire bookcase with nothing but Penguins, probably 150 books altogether.
I thought I'd read all the Sayers stories but looking through my mystery books I find the Balona Club story not included in my collection. I'll endeavor to aquire an electronic copy for my Kindle. Gone to Earth is another story I've put on my 'must read' list thanks to you. I live in a rural community where there are no bookshops and our public library is closed for remodeling (can you imagine?) So I'm relying on electronic books more and more...sigh