You might want to add a note to the subtitle about please not adding books to the list, because people will.

Thanks. I'd forgotten about that (I don't tend to use Listopia very often). There is now a note, and I'll try to be vigilant about deleting any rogue additions if they pop up. :)

No problem. I'm a Listopia addict, and probably cynical, but some strange books get on lists sometimes!

Susanna wrote: "some strange books get on lists sometimes!"

Don't they just!
:O)

Books I would buy just for the covers..they're so beautiful!

In this case, yes, I do judge the books from the cover.
They're just too pretty!

These are the prettiest covers I've ever seen, and I would love to collect them all!

Gorgeous!

Very nice editions! I absolutely love the Penguin English Library covers and it would be nice to collect them all!
Also the Penguin classic clothbound hardcover editions are absolutley beautiful!
(but are more expensive)

(https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

yeah, I kind of want to collect them all even though I already have a lot of the books already with other covers and even though there are quite a few I'm just not that interested in. They're just so pretty and collectable!

I love the clothbounds too. But yeah...a little bit on the expensive side for me. Do have a few that I got as presents though and they're absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks for a complete list! I've been looking for one. Now I just need to buy them all.

Chelsea wrote: "Thanks for a complete list! I've been looking for one. Now I just need to buy them all."

and read them all. :)

its impossible to get these wretched books in the US

Feli wrote: "where do you get these type of covers?"

You can find them on www.bookdepository.com
since they're sold from the U.K. you can also find them on Amazon.co.uk and just switch the currency as you check out.

so pretty

the textures of the covers are changing/have changed - the new sherlock covers don't feel the same and some of the existing penguin english library such as Emma by Jane Austen and Dr Jekyll are now printed with the new texture

also a lot of the charles dickens ones are hard to find now

Marte wrote: "These are the prettiest covers I've ever seen, and I would love to collect them all!"

That would be incredible! :0

Ryan wrote: "I wish they didn't change the texture of the covers. I don't understand why they would - that's one of the things people liked about the editions. Now it's just going to be a pain to buy the ones w..."

I just got my first copy of the collection, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and the cover has a velvet touch, is this the new texture or the old texture? Because I love it!

Marina wrote: "Ryan wrote: "I wish they didn't change the texture of the covers. I don't understand why they would - that's one of the things people liked about the editions. Now it's just going to be a pain to b..."

It's the old one, now they sport a more paper texture.

I literally want ALL of these!

Are these mass market size?

Can someone else share their experience buying these editions nowadays? I just received Heart of darkness and the material of the cover is awful and doesn't have a velvet texture whatsoever.

I have 6 of them! They are not mass market size, they're regular trade paper back, the cover is matte and feels like thicker paper, and the inside paper feels and looks very similar to mass market pulp paper in texture and color.

Yeah the covers are not velvety at all.

I just purchased Pride & Prejudice but I didn't get the velvety cover:( The cover on this feels like recycled paper.

I have 6 of these and though I love the designs very much, I don't intend to collect all because there are too many that I don't want to read. I wish they had printed titles from more authors like Verne, Flaubert etc. rather than including all works by Austen, Dickens, Hardy and Trollope. Yes the new covers are not velvet textured like the initial ones and even the colour pigment is a little different from the initial prints. Some people have complained of typos but I didn't find any in the copies I got, other than one or two in the whole book. Buying the pale covers isn't such a good idea as they get dirty really soon. Penguin also has notebooks in some of the designs if you are interested in buying !!

Hi! How many are these? I've read that they are only 100 but this list has 105. Thanks in advance! :)

Pls tell the lovely folks at Penguin to give Mysteries of Udolpho a chance, and maybe more Ann Radcliffe. I would love too see it in this edition.

Will read Villette soon. Torn between this and the clothbound edition, also Everyman's library looks attractive. How's the paper quality of these editions so far? I wonder how the paper compares to the black-spine penguin classics? Is it as grey and silky? which is fine, but am hoping the paper's not as worse as Vintage paperbacks.

I find it difficult choosing what to read next. So I am working my way down this list, as well as the other stuff I'm reading.

Sabrina wrote: "its impossible to get these wretched books in the US"
Try book depository :)

Juneil wrote: "Will read Villette soon. Torn between this and the clothbound edition, also Everyman's library looks attractive. How's the paper quality of these editions so far? I wonder how the paper compares to..."
The paper quality is exceptional. It's actually why I buy these editions. The font is very legible and the paper is thick enough that the words don't bleed through (a major problem in the clothbound editions, IMO).

Geethu wrote: "I just purchased Pride & Prejudice but I didn't get the velvety cover:( The cover on this feels like recycled paper."

I have several books published in this series, but not all of them have the nice velvety cover. And although a velvety cover is not my reason to buy a book, it is a nice bonus, of course :-)

Tamára wrote: "Marina wrote: "Ryan wrote: "I wish they didn't change the texture of the covers. I don't understand why they would - that's one of the things people liked about the editions. Now it's just going to..."

Are the paper qualities of these new version cheaper?Is there any way to differentiate between these two versions when buying online?

Does anyone know if there are plans to reprint the impossible-to-find titles, specifically Dickens?

Roselyn wrote: "Are the paper qualities of these new version cheaper?Is there any way to differentiate between these two versions when buying online?..."

Not as far as I know...

Gauchovalev wrote: "Does anyone know if there are plans to reprint the impossible-to-find titles, specifically Dickens?"

At this point in time, there are no plans to reprint any of the out of print titles. There are 20 new titles being released next year

Such a shame so many of the original 2012 titles are now out-of-print. Most of the Dickens and Trollope novels are unavailable now, as are the two titles by Fielding - and the prices for secondhand copies at abe.books are absurd. Penguin, if you're reading this, REPRINT!

I wanted to get Bleak House by Dickens from the Penguin English library collection and it is so sad that its out of print. I can't find it anywhere. I found a second hand copy on amazon but the price is so high. Penguin definitely needs to reprint these gems.

Ankur wrote: "I wanted to get Bleak House by Dickens from the Penguin English library collection and it is so sad that its out of print. I can't find it anywhere. I found a second hand copy on amazon but the pri..."

There's a hardback Penguin edition at Bookdepository.com Not a Penguin English library book I guess but lovely non the less.

Nikita wrote: "I have 6 of these and though I love the designs very much, I don't intend to collect all because there are too many that I don't want to read. I wish they had printed titles from more authors like ..."

Umm you do realize that this is the Penguin English Library right? This series only publishes Anglophone literature. It does not publish non-English language literature.

Geethu wrote: "I just purchased Pride & Prejudice but I didn't get the velvety cover:( The cover on this feels like recycled paper."

Ankur wrote: "I wanted to get Bleak House by Dickens from the Penguin English library collection and it is so sad that its out of print. I can't find it anywhere. I found a second hand copy on amazon but the pri..."

Fortunately, Penguin Clothbound Classics has its own edition of Bleak House. It's a beautiful hardback edition using the most reliable scholarly text of the novel, as opposed to the standard 1867 Charles Dickens edition text commonly found in most editions of that book. Definitely get it.

Can someone please tell me about the introductions and (foot)notes in the Penguin English Library editions? Are they good or bad, detailed or not enough? Thanks.

Kristen wrote: "Can someone please tell me about the introductions and (foot)notes in the Penguin English Library editions? Are they good or bad, detailed or not enough? Thanks."

Hi Kristen,

The PEL books never have footnotes (except sometimes to the Introductions I think) and the Introductions themselves I've found to always be insightful and to enhance my understanding of the novel and the context it was written inl. The pieces chosen for inclusion are typically by famous names (J.B Priestley, F.R. Leavis, Zadie Smith, T.S Eliot etc) and vary greatly in length/detail (anything between 5-35 pages in the copies that I've recently read).

Hope this helps,

Matthew

Gauchovalev wrote: "Does anyone know if there are plans to reprint the impossible-to-find titles, specifically Dickens?"

Hello,

I've been looking for the Dickens Penguin English Library editions for years myself and have just come across this Greek site that has them all:

https://www.zafeiriou.gr/en/search?co...

The books cost about £7.50 each + £2.50 postage each and are in brand new condition as far as I can make out. That's my birthday present to myself sorted :)

Hope this helps,

Matthew

Three new titles out on October 1st 2020: Passing by Nella Larsen, Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh and The Cop and the Anthem and Other Stories by O. Henry.

I've added these to the list.