Penguin First Editions :: Early First Edition Penguin Books

This series of books produced for the Australian market might be considered by some as not truly Penguin. It does not bear the Penguin colophon nor the traditional Penguin cover designs - with the front cover garish and not to Allen Lane's expressed tastes. This unlikely joint venture between Horwitz and Penguin took place over the period 1961 to 1963 and involved the publication of 33 books.

Horwitz began publishing in Australia in 1920 and was already successful as a publisher and also as a bookseller through its conventional bookstores as well as through local cornershops and newsagents. They reached agreement with Allen Lane to issue a selected range of Penguin titles, a number of which had been prompted by recent film successes.

While these books may have looked like 'pulp' fiction, their content certainly was not. They had covers which were attractive to the public and sold in large numbers. That may also have been the attraction to Allen Lane, to boost his income stream. The art work was undertaken by the Horwitz Art Department in Australia and was approved by Penguin before they were produced by the regular Penguin printers in Great Britain, and for two books by Penguin's printer in the Netherlands, NV Drukkerij Bosch. Basically, these were standard Penguin books with different covers. However, the title page stated 'Horwitz Publications Inc. Melbourne and Sydney' and facing opposite there was often an advert for other books by the same author published by Penguin, and how to obtain them from Penguin Books Pty in Australia. The verso title page gave the date of that edition, that it was published by both companies, and the name of the British (or Dutch) printer. Examples are shown at H14, H1560 and H1868 below.

NUMBERING: Unlike other series produced by Horwitz, these books were numbered with the Penguin main series number preceded by an 'H'. Thus the first was H14 and the last H1899.

In an article Andrew Nette states: "The unusual nature of the deal was highlighted by the fact that Penguin felt the need to put out a statement explaining it in an issue of the local trade magazine, Ideas About Books and Bookselling. The statement labelled the arrangement 'a marketing experiment being carried out by Penguin with the assistance of Horwitz Publications', which aimed to reach 'the mass market which regards reading as light entertainment, along with films, magazines, television and so on' ('The Paperback Front'). Penguin's choice to make the pulp publisher its partner was recognition that Horwitz had distribution networks and marketing that were ideally suited to the new environment." ¹

Although the venture was a financial success, Allen Lane's brother Richard, who moved to Australia to establish Penguin Books Pty there, had not been consulted over the deal and thought it was 'possibly the worst single move the firm had made in twenty-five years'. In a letter to his brother he wrote "I have always regarded our own imprint as being the best in the paperback field and to share an imprint with Horwitz is sheer prostitution. The only possible reason for this joint enterprise must be money ..."²

We would like to thank Chris Holland (Australia) for suggesting this page. We are grateful to him for his ideas and providing content from his personal collection.

1. An Explosive Novel of Strange Passions': Horwitz Publications and Australia's Pulp Modernism, Andrew Nette (2019) Australian Literary Studies, vol. 34, no. 2.

2. Quoted in Penguin and the Lane Brothers by Stuart Kells, (2015) Black Inc., Australia.

Information and cover photographs of Horwitz Penguin Books Series:

H14	Series No.: H14 Title: THE THIN MAN Author: Dashiell Hammett Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 192pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Richard Clay and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 18 October 1935 The second and third images show advertising of other Penguin Books, the publisher as Horwitz, the joint publication venture, date of this edition and printer in Great Britain. Images and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H442	Series No.: H442 Title: BRIGHTON ROCK Author: Graham Greene Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 192pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: August 1943 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H851	Series No.: H851 Title: THE HIGH WINDOW Author: Raymond Chandler Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hunt, Barnard and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: May 1951 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H880	Series No.: H880 Title: THE WOMAN OF ROME - A Novel Author: Albert Moravia Translated: from the Italian by Lydia Holland Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 382pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Wyman and Sons Ltd Price: 6/6 Original publication date by Penguin: July 1952 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H933	Series No.: H933 Title: THE INIMITABLE JEEVES Author: P. G. Wodehouse Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: The Whitefriars Press Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 24 April 1953 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H939	Series No.: H939 Title: THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING BISHOP Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 192pp. Printed by: NV Drukkerij Bosch Price: 4/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 25 September 1953 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H952	Series No.: H952 Title: THE CASE OF THE COUNTERFEIT EYE Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1962 Pages: 192pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 4/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 21 August 1953 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H965	Series No.: H965 Title: THE CASE OF THE DROWSY MOSQUITO Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 22 January 1954 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H993	Series No.: H993 Title: DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS Author: John Wyndham Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 272pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hunt, Barnard and Co Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 22 January 1954 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1074	Series No.: H1074 Title: THE CASE OF THE CARETAKER'S CAT Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 30 June 1955 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1256	Series No.: H1256 Title: TEN LITTLE NIGGERS Author: Agatha Christie Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 208pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hunt, Barnard and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 9 January 1958 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1261	Series No.: H1261 Title: FINAL CURTAIN Author: Ngaio Marsh Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 256pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 9 January 1958 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1308	Series No.: H1308 Title: THE CHRYSALIDS Author: John Wyndham Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 200pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Cox and Wyman Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 28 August 1958 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1313	Series No.: H1313 Title: GIGI AND THE CAT Author: Colette Translated: from the French by Roger Senhouse Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 160pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 4/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 25 September 1958 1958 film starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Hermione Gingold and Eva Gabor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1361	Series No.: H1361 Title: ROOM AT THE TOP Author: John Braine Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 240pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 3/9 Original publication date by Penguin: 19 February 1959 1959 film starring Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret and Donald Wolfit, British Lion Films Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1376	Series No.: H1376 Title: THE CASE OF THE GOLD-DIGGER'S PURSE Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Cox and Wyman Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 25 June 1959 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1385	Series No.: H1385 Title: THE SEEDS OF TIME Author: John Wyndham Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 23 July 1959 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1447	Series No.: H1447 Title: THE ANGEL IN THE CORNER Author: Monica Dickens Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 304pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 6/- Original publication date by Penguin: 26 May 1960 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1455	Series No.: H1455 Title: THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 208pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Cox and Wyman Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 28 April 1960 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1479	Series No.: H1479 Title: ANATOMY OF A MURDER Author: Robert Traver Cover: shows still from the 1959 film with James Stewart and Ben Gazzara, Columbia Pictures Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 396pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 6/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 29 September 1960 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1519	Series No.: H1519 Title: BITTER HONEYMOON AND OTHER STORIES Author: Albert Moravia Translated: by Baptista Gilliat Smith, Frances Frenaye and mostly by Bernard Wall, who also made the selection in consultation with the author Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 208pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 12 January 1961 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1560	Series No.: H1560 Title: DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE Author: Richard Gordon Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 192pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Cox and Wyman Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 29 June 1961 1954 comedy film starring Dirk Bogarde, Kenneth More and James Roberstson Justice, Rank Film Organisation The other 4 images show advertising of other Penguin Books, the publisher as Horwitz, the joint publication venture, date of this edition and printer in Great Britain. Images and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1561	Series No.: H1561 Title: DOCTOR AT SEA Author: Richard Gordon Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 29 June 1961 1955 comedy film starring Dirk Bogarde, Brigitte Bardot and James Roberstson Justice, Rank Film Organisation Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1562	Series No.: H1562 Title: DOCTOR AT LARGE Author: Richard Gordon Cover: illustration by Frank Benier Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 208pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hunt, Barnard and Co Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 29 June 1961 1957 comedy film starring Dirk Bogarde and James Roberstson Justice, Rank Film Organisation Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1563	Series No.: H1563 Title: DOCTOR IN LOVE Author: Richard Gordon Cover: illustration by Frank Benier Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 192pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 5/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 29 June 1961 1960 comedy film starring Michael Craig, Leslie Phillips and James Roberstson Justice, Rank Film Organisation Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1602	Series No.: H1602 Title: DARLING BUDS OF MAY Author: H. E. Bates Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 160pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Richard Clay and Co Ltd Price: 4/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 27 July 1961 1959 film starring Debbie Reynolds and Paul Douglas, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1608	Series No.: H1608 Title: PLAYBACK Author: Raymond Chandler Date Published by Horwitz: 1961 Pages: 160pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Cox and Wyman Ltd Price: 4/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 27 July 1961 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1685	Series No.: H1685 Title: A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR Author: H. E. Bates Date Published by Horwitz: 1962 Pages: 160pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 4/6 Original publication date by Penguin: 22 February 1962 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1727	Series No.: H1727 Title: BRIDGE TO THE SUN Author: Gwen Terasaki Date Published by Horwitz: 1962 Pages: 256pp. Printed in Great Britain by: C. Nicholls and Co Ltd Price: 6/- Original publication date by Penguin: 22 February 1962 1961 film starring James Shigeta, Carroll Baker and James Yagi, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1750	Series No.: H1750 Title: GIDGET Author: Frederick Kohner Date Published by Horwitz: 1963 Pages: 144pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 25 April 1963 1959 film starring Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson, Columbia Pictures Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1868	Series No.: H1868 Title: THE CASE OF THE SMOKING CHIMNEY Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1963 Pages: 176pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hunt, Barnard and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 10 January 1963 The additional image shows advertising (for Penguin) of other Erle Stanley Gardner books as "also published in the Penguin standard edition". Images and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1869	Series No.: H1869 Title: THE CASE OF THE EMPTY TIN Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1963 Pages: 224pp. Printed in Great Britain by: Hunt, Barnard and Co Ltd Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 10 January 1963 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland
H1899	Series No.: H1899 Title: THE CASE OF THE TURNING TIDE Author: Erle Stanley Gardner Date Published by Horwitz: 1963 Pages: 208pp. Printed by: NV Drukkerij Bosch Price: 5/- Original publication date by Penguin: 10 January 1963 Image and additional information courtesy of Chris Holland

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