Penguin First Editions :: Early First Edition Penguin Books

Welcome to our pages with the designers who created the covers of Penguin Books, and the illustrators, artists and photographers whose work was used.

The individuals are listed on the pages in alphabetical order. The image displayed is usually the first item listed - and the entries are in series and number order, i.e. Main Series followed in order from 'A' (Pelicans) to 'Z' (Pelican History of Art). Clicking on the reference numbers will take you to the relevant entry in the website.

Our lists are only of the books for which we have images. The lists will be updated and extended as additional images are added to the site.

Under represented is the work by Edward Young who designed the original Penguin colophon, and the cover with its 3 horizontal bands of colour-white-colour, the quartic in the upper band and the early typography. The principle of the design, which has become iconic, remained for the first two decades although the colophons and typography subtlety changed. Additionally, the immensely influential work of the two Penguin typographers, Jan Tschichold and Hans Schmoller also remains mostly behind the scenes.

Book illustrated above left:
'Seven Hundred Pennguins' contains 700 page illustrations of Penguin Book covers, and can be acquired direct from Amazon using this link: Seven Hundred Penguins

Information with some cover photographs of the artists, illustrators and designers

Ulyatt	Artist: KENNETH ULYATT Books: PE8; PE15;
Unger	Artist: HANS UNGER Books: 1214; 1238; 1246; 1263; 1833; A485; PH39; S182;
Ungerer	Artist: TOMI UNGERER Books: X727;
Usborne	Artist: ANN USBORNE Books: 2173; A686; PH102; PH107;
Vallotton	Artist: FELIX VALLOTTON Books: L167;
Vandivert	Artist: WILLIAM VANDIVERT Books: S241 (Robertson);
Van Dyck	Artist: VAN DYCK Books: A839;
VanDyke	Artist: PETER VANDYKE Books: SL13;
Van Gogh	Artist: VAN GOGH Books: 2329; X308;
Vanis	Artist: J. VANIS Books: 2137 (Sis);
Varley	Artist: SYLVIA VARLEY Books: K19;
Vasarely	Artist: VICTOR VASARELY Books: 2224;
Vasari	Artist: GIORGIO VASARI Books: L164;
Vasseur	Artist: PETER LE VASSEUR Books: PK43;
Vedel	Artist: OLE VEDEL Books: 1938; A347; A462; A486; A501; A523; A546; A552; A556; A616; S195; S227;
Venables	Artist: BERNARD VENABLES Books: PP53;
Verney	Artist: JOHN VERNEY Books: 1288; 1621; PS181; PS243; PS296;
Vertès	Artist: MARCEL VERTÈS Books: 1983;
Vesalius	Artist: ANDREAS VESALIUS Books: X230;
'Vicky'	Artist: 'VICKY', VICTOR WEISZ Books: 1463;
Vider	Artist: STEVE VIDER Books: X676;
Vignelli	Artist: MASSIMO VIGNELLI Books: 2306; A593; A682; AP1; AP2; AP3; AP5; AP6; AP7; AP10; AP13; AP14;
Villon	Artist: JACQUES VILLON Books: 2362;
Vinci	Artist: KIKY VICES VINCI Books: A841;
Vinnicombe	Artist: PATRICIA VINNICOMBE Books: R83;
Visscher	Artist: CLAES JANSZ VISSCHER Books: A666 (Marber);
Vuillard	Artist: ÉDOUARD VUILLARD Books: 1740; 2013;
Wakefield	Artist: PAUL WAKEFIELD Books: X566;
Waldman J	Artist: JULES LEE WALDMAN Books: A777;
Waldman L	Artist: LESTER WALDMAN Books: 2010; 2324; 2474; 2497; 2536; 2544; 2583;
Walford	Artist: ASTRID WALFORD Books: PS76;
Walker G	Artist: G. WALKER Books: A1000 (Freeman);
Walker R	Artist: ROGER WALKER Books: X608;
Wallace-Crabbe	Artist: ROBIN WALLACE-CRABBE Books: AU13; AU14;
Walmsley	Artist: JOHN WALMSLEY Books: X148 (Atanasoff); X243; X257;
Walters	Artist: HARRIET WALTERS Books: D95 (Bassot);
Ward J.	Artist: JOHN WARD Books: 1682; 1695; 1817; 2099; 2283;
Ward R.	Artist: RONALD WARD Books: 1674;
Watson	Artist: J. M. WATSON Books: A461;
Watt	Artist: GERARD WATT Books: X157; X199;
Watteau	Artist: JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU Books: L133;
Wayne	Artist: DORRIT C. WAYNE Books: L12;
Weaver	Artist: RICHARD WEAVER Books: 2389; 2650; 2809; 2811 (Gulik); 2826 (Gulik); 2833;
Webb	Artist: JOHN WEBB Books: X253 (Blake P);
Webster	Artist: THOMAS WEBSTER Books: EL30 (Todd-White);
Wedgwood	Artist: JACK WEDGWOOD Books: X821; X822; X823; X824; X825; X826; X843; X844; X845; X868; X869; X870;
Weesop	Artist: JOHN WEESOP Books: AC13;
Wegner	Artist: FRITZ WEGNER Books: PK50; PS249;
Weill	Artist: E. B. WEILL Books: A650;
Weissenborn	Artist: H. WEISSENBORN Books: PProgress10years;
Westwater	Artist: ROBERT HERIOT WESTWATER Books: D123;
Wheeler	Artist: ROBERT WHEELER Books: X88; X191 (Drury); X636 (Drury);
Whistler	Artist: JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER Books: 2451; EL32;
Whistler R	Artist: REX WHISTLER Books: 1952;
White A	Artist: ARCHIE WHITE Books: PP88;
White E	Artist: ETHELBERT WHITE Books: C4; USA-508;
White G	Artist: GWEN WHITE Books: K26; PS25;
Whitehead	Artist: KEITH WHITEHEAD Books: 2269; R29; X2 (Christmas); X3 (Christmas); X4 (Christmas); X27 (Christmas); X39 (Blake Q); X45 (Christmas); X46 (Christmas); X48 (Christmas); X49; X65 (Christmas); X84; X120 (Drury); X163; X231 (Christmas); X237; X263 (Omnific); X278 (Drury); X292 (Drury); X349; X401; X402; X404; X407; X410; X411; X412; X413; X419; X738 (Omnific); X961 (Omnific);
Whiteley	Artist: BRETT WHITELEY Books: A935;
Whittam	Artist: GEOFFREY WHITTAM Books: PK16; PS95; PS106; PS255;
Wickham	Artist: MICHAEL WICKHAM Books: PH101; PH104;
Wiese	Artist: KURT WIESE Books: PX1;
Wigglesworth	Artist: KATHARINE WIGGLESWORTH Books: X728;
Wildbur	Artist: PETER WILDBUR Books: A519; A603; A633;
Wildsmith	Artist: BRIAN WILDSMITH Books: 1625; PS135; PS139; PS216; PS222; CL1962;
WILLEY	Artist: PAULA WILLEY Books: X465;
Williams G	Artist: GARTH WILLIAMS Books: PS183; PS185; PS194; PS204; PS225; PS228;
Williams, Maurice	Artist: MAURICE WILLIAMS Books: PP56; PS114;
Williams, Michael	Artist: MICHAEL WILLIAMS Books: Q26 (Griffiths);
Williams N	Artist: NIKE WILLIAMS Books: 2819 (Collins); 2820 (Collins);
Williams P	Artist: PAT WILLIAMS Books: 2546; 2547;
Willock	Artist: HARRY WILLOCK Books: 2481 (Aldridge); 2506 (Aldridge); 2705; 2832; A755 (Aldridge/Haynes); PH138;
Wilson F	Artist: FRANK WILSON Books: 1142;
Wilson M	Artist: MAURICE WILSON Books: A351; A942 (Rolfe); PP56; PP68; PP73;
Wilson R	Artist: RICHARD WILSON Books: X607;
Wilson, Sandy	Artist: SANDY WILSON Books: 1350;
Wilson, Susan	Artist: SUSAN WILSON Books: 2749;
Wire	Artist: DAVID WIRE Books: AU28;
Wolpe	Artist: BERTHOLD WOLPE Books: K72; L34; L44; L60; L70; L90; L102;
Wood G	Artist: GRANT WOOD Books: T17;
Wood O	Artist: OWEN WOOD Books: 2910;
Wood R	Artist: ROGER WOOD Books: 2655; A859; AU16;
Wood T	Artist: TREVOR WOOD Books: X318;
Woodcock	Artist: JOHN WOODCOCK Books: PP104; PS92; PS142;
Woodroffe	Artist: DAVID WOODROFFE Books: X230 (Topix); X673 (Omnific);
Woods	Artist: MIRIAM WOODS Books: USA-597; USA-617;
Worth	Artist: BRIAN WORTH Books: 2798;
'Wren'	Artist: 'WREN' Books: PP94;
Wright	Artist: FREIRE WRIGHT Books: 2417 (Ferris); 2699; 2976;
Wurr	Artist: WURR and WURR Books: X376; X393;
xenia	Artist: XENIA Books: T5; T12; T13; T15; T19; T23; T28;
Yates	Artist: TONY YATES Books: 2602; 2964 (Booth);
Yciar	Artist: JUAN DE YCIAR Books: A973 (Tschichold);
Yeates	Artist: G. K. YEATES Books: 1784;
Yeats	Artist: JACK B. YEATS Books: 2636;
Yee	Artist: CHIANG YEE Books: PP15; PP36;
Yeomans	Artist: IAN YEOMANS Books: 2255; 2379; 2386; 2460; 2513; A625; A719; A735; A785; A870; PH89 (Robertson); PH97 (Robertson); PH114;
Yo	Artist: YO ? (or RO ?) Books: S174;
York	Artist: DENISE YORK Books: 2024; 2150; 2246 (Suquet); 2247 (Marker); 2248 (Marker); 2249 (Marker/Suquet); 2250 (Marker/Resnals)); 2251 (Marker); 2252; 2280; 2281 (Marker/Resnals); 2282 (Resnals); A748; A793; PL48; PL49; PL50; PL51; PL52; PL53; PL54; PL55; PL57; PL58; PL59; PL60; PL61; PL62; PL63; PL65; PL66; PL68; PL69;
Young	Artist: EDWARD ('Teddy') PRESTON YOUNG Edward Young has a very special place in Penguin book design. It was he who drew the original Penguin colophon or logo, and who also designed the original front cover which survived for much of the first twenty years. He also designed the cover of the Shakespeare 'B' series. Books: No. 1; No. 2; etc. B1 - B21; First PProgress 1936;
Zapf	Artist: HERMANN ZAPF Books: 1852; 1859; 1860; 1861; 1871; 1872; 1873; 1874; 2905; 2906; PL43;
Zasche	Artist: THEODOR ZASCHE Books: Y32;
Zolotow	Artist: CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW Books: PX37;
Zuccarelli	Artist: FRANCESCO ZUCCARELLI Books: X668;

INDEX to Illustrators, Artists and Designers of Penguin Covers

AB CDE FG HIJ KLM NOPQR ST UVWXYZ

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