Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded
Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality
paperback fiction and non-fiction to the mass market.
In 1967 he started a hardback imprint under his own name, Allen Lane.
Early life and family
Allen Lane Williams was born in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
, to Camilla (née Lane) and Samuel Williams, and studied at
Bristol Grammar School. In 1919 he joined the publishing company
Bodley Head as an apprentice to his uncle and founder of the company
John Lane. In the process, he and the rest of his family changed their surname to Lane to retain the childless John Lane's company as a family firm.
Lane married Letitia Lucy Orr, daughter of
Sir Charles Orr, on 28 June 1941 and had three daughters:
Clare Clare may refer to:
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, Christine, and Anna. He was
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
ed in 1952.
Career as a publisher
He rose quickly at Bodley Head, becoming managing editor in 1925 following the death of his uncle. After conflict with the board of directors who were wary at first—for fear of being prosecuted—of publishing
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...
's controversial book ''
Ulysses'', Lane, together with his brothers Richard and John, founded
Penguin Books in 1935 as part of the Bodley Head.
Penguin Books became a separate company the following year. The legend goes that on a train journey back from visiting
Agatha Christie in 1934, Lane found himself on an Exeter station platform with nothing available worth reading. He conceived of paperback editions of literature of proven quality which would be cheap enough to be sold from a
vending machine
A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fi ...
; the first was set up outside
Henderson's in
Charing Cross Road and dubbed the "Penguincubator". Lane was also well aware of the
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
publisher
Albatross Books and adopted many of its innovations.
Most booksellers and authors were against the idea of paperbacks. They believed that paperbacks would result in individuals spending less money on books. Lane was very stubborn when it came to his company; he operated mainly on intuition and imagination. "He thrived in an atmosphere of crisis and came most fully alive under the challenge of great dilemmas."
[ Reviews ''Allen Lane: King Penguin''.] He was a creative genius that once he had an idea he would not stop until it came to fruition. Once he decided on creating paperbacks he set about in deciding what the books should look like and finding a name. He had decided that the books would be reprints so he also needed to approach other publishers to see if they and their authors would be willing to sublease the rights of the books. He was quoted as saying, "I have never been able to understand why cheap books should not also be well designed, for good design is no more expensive than bad."
Edward Young designed the horizontal bands and used Gill Sans Bold for the title's letting. He was also sent to the Zoo in Regents Park to sketch penguins for the cover. Allen Lane wanted a cover design that was consistent and easily recognizable. In 1937 the font was changed to Times New Roman. His
Pelican Books were non-fiction books. Penguins were meant to entertain while Pelicans were meant to enlighten. In the 1950s his company had grown so much that it had major outposts in both Australia and the United States. Lane's management style put him and the individuals in charge in his United States office at odds. These individuals eventually left Penguin books and started their own publishing companies:
Bantam Books and
New American Library.
[
The paperback venture was extremely successful, and he expanded into other areas such as Pelican Books in 1937, Puffin Books in 1940 and the Penguin Classics series in 1945. Lane was responsible for the decision to publish an unexpurgated edition of ]D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
's '' Lady Chatterley's Lover'' as a means of testing the Obscene Publications Act 1959.
In 1965, during an attempt by chief editor Tony Godwin and the board of directors to remove him, Lane stole and burnt the entire print run of the French cartoonist Siné's book ''Massacre'', which was reportedly deeply offensive.
Lane dismissed Godwin, and retained control of Penguin, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He died in 1970 at Northwood, Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
.
Legacy
In 2010, Penguin Random House Canada launched an imprint named for Allen Lane to publish prestige non-fiction by established authors.
See also
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References
Further reading
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External links
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BBC Radio 4 programme about Allen Lane by author Michael Morpurgo, his son-in-law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Allen
1902 births
1970 deaths
British book publishers (people)
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from colorectal cancer
Knights Bachelor
Penguin Books people
People educated at Bristol Grammar School
Businesspeople from Bristol
20th-century British businesspeople