Penguin Clothbound Classics: Collector's Guide and FAQ
What is the Penguin Clothbound Classics Series?
The first ‘official’ books in the Penguin Clothbound Classics books were released in 2008 by Penguin UK (more about this below) and were initially only offered through the UK-based bookstore Waterstones. These ten earliest editions can be identified by numbers on the spines. All the books in the series have distinctive covers with each being designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, and featuring a repeating pattern made from a motif from the story stamped in foil onto a linen-like cloth cover. Coralie has said her intent in designing the series was ‘to hark back to the world of Victorian bindings and a golden age of book binding’. The books also feature coloured endpapers and an integrated ribbon bookmark.

How many books are in the series?
This is an ongoing series, so the book count changes every year. As of 2020, there are at least 80 volumes in the series, with 3 more expected in early 2021. The reason I say ‘at least’, is because there is some disagreement over whether you count the India Special Editions (which were published by Penguin India, do not have the ribbon bookmark and were not designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith); the leather-bound classics which have similar cover designs and overlapping titles, but are bound in a different material; the boxed sets; the clothbound poetry series; the clothbound children’s classics; the original ‘precursor’ clothbound classics and other out-of-series volumes published in the early years; and/or the reprints with different cover colours. (There is even some debate over the inclusion of The Pearl, as this was a separate commission by V&A, but it was produced in the same design as the rest of the series and I tend to think it counts.)
Are there any rare volumes?
Yes! The rarest volume is the first printing of Crime and Punishment, one of the first 10 titles released in 2008. The red foiled design on fawn covers for this initial print run caused problems at the printing press, and so it ended up having to be hand-foiled. Because of this, there was only a limited print run of this volume and it is the rarest volume in the series. The title was later reprinted in 2018 with a black linen binding (which is not a rare edition). The 2008 edition of Madame Bovary also went out of print and a newer edition was reprinted in 2014. Several of the India Special Editions are currently out of print, as are the Proust series. If you include the out-of-series volumes, the Tibetan Book of the Dead is also very hard to track down. In addition, some books were reprinted with slightly differing cloth covers (e.g. Great Expectations covers can look navy or blue-black), and the earliest printings on the first 10 books are differentiated by having numbers on the spines (as you can see in the image above) which later printings lack. Where possible, the relevant isbns for these rare editions are listed below to help you find them if you’re completing a collection.
Another rarity are the ‘Clothbound Jane Austen’ bookends, which were available at the Penguin shop for a while but are sadly now sold out.
These lovely pieces were handcrafted from a solid piece of Prime Grade English Oak in a Surrey Hills workshop, and engraved with the intricate flower design that features on the Sense and Sensibility volume.
How well are the books made? What is the binding like? Can you clean the covers?
The books in the Penguin Clothbound Classics series have lovely cloth covers, which have a nice linen-like texture, but the foiling/printing on the cover is a little fragile and will likely rub off if you have them tightly stacked in the shelf. Unfortunately, the internals are what I consider to be quite low quality (e.g. they use Forest Stewardship Council-approved paper, but not acid-free so it may brown over time) with a glued binding. I would estimate with the most careful of handling, they will probably last for about 40 years at the most. It is also worth noting that the covers can be hard to clean because the surface is textured cloth, and the cover design does come off if you are not careful.
Where are the books made? Are the US and UK editions different?
The books I have were printed in St Ives, England (printed by Penguin UK). The US editions (Penguin Random House) are sometimes printed / released later than the UK editions (I have given UK publication dates below), although having the same ISBN and usually available during the same calendar year. Dye colours on the fabric can be slightly different. And the books are harder to find in the US, so even though they may be out of print there it is worth checking the UK for books that are on the verge of going out of print as they usually do a larger print run.
Is there a cheaper way to buy them? Are they available in boxed sets?
Prices of the books go up and down, but they are generally pretty affordable. There are a few boxed sets available for selected authors, namely Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and Charles Dickens. I have included these below at the end of the book list.
Penguin Clothbound Classics - The Complete List
Jump to: out-of-series | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 (including the India Special Editions) | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Boxed Sets
→ with separate lists for Penguin’s matching Leatherbound Classics | Clothbound Children’s Classics | Clothbound Poetry
Out-of-series clothbound classics (6 titles)
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
Notes: Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Published September 30, 2004. ISBN 9780713996418.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Notes: Translated by Gyurme Dorje. Published October 27, 2005. ISBN 9780713994148. OOP.
Penguin’s Poems for Life selected by Laura Barber
Notes: Published November 1, 2007. ISBN 9780713999617.
Penguin’s Poems for Love selected by Laura Barber
Notes: *Only quarter clothbound, so not really part of the series but included here as a companion to the Poems for Life. Published November 24, 2009. ISBN 9781846141690. OOP.
Tales from 1001 Nights: Aladdin, Ali Baba and other favourites
Notes: Translated by Malcolm and Ursula Lyons. Abridged. Published February 22, 2011. ISBN 9780141191652. OOP.
Penguin Poems for Weddings selected by Laura Barber
Notes: Published June 5, 2014. ISBN 9780141439457. OOP.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Notes: Translated by Richard Pevear. Published October 5, 2006. ISBN 9780713999525. OOP.
2008 (10 titles)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Notes: Introduced by Tony Tanner. Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040349.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Notes: Introduced by Tony Tanner. Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040370.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Notes: Introduced by David Trotter. Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040363.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Notes: Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040318. OOP.
*Reprinted August 7, 2014.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Notes: Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040356.
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Notes: Introduced by Patricia Ingham. Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141442549.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Notes: Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040332.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Notes: Translated by David McDuff. Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780140455687. OOP.
*Reprinted October 9, 2018 .
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Notes: Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141040387.
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
Notes: Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780141442464.
2009 (10 titles)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Notes: (Includes Good Wives). Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192413.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Notes: Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192420.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Notes: Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192437.
The Odyssey by Homer
Notes: Introduced by Peter Jones. Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192444.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol
Notes: Illustrated by John Tenniel. Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192468.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Notes: Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192451.
Emma by Jane Austen
Notes: Introduced by Fiona Stafford. Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192475.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
Notes: Introduced by Doris Lessing. Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192482.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Notes: Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192499.
The Sonnets and A Lover’s Complaint by William Shakespeare
Notes: Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192574.
2010 (7 titles, including the India Special Editions)
A Christmas Carol and other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens
Notes: Published September 25, 2010. ISBN 9780141195858.
Inferno: The Divine Comedy I by Dante
Notes: Translated by Robin Kirkpatrick. Published September 25, 2010. ISBN 9780141195872.
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Notes: Published November 25, 2010. ISBN 9780141196640.
The Qu’ran
Notes: Translated by Tarif Khalidi. Published September 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084173. India Special Edition. OOP.
The Ramayana
Notes: Translated by Arshia Sattar Valmiki. Published September 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084180. India Special Edition. OOP.
The Mahābhārata
Notes: Translated by John D. Smith. Published September 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084159. India Special Edition.
The Bhagavad Gita
Notes: Translated by Juan Mascaro. Published September 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084166. India Special Edition. OOP.
2011 (8 titles)
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Notes: Illustrated by Ang Lee. Published June 2, 2011. ISBN 9780141196886.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Notes: Published June 2, 2011. ISBN 9780141196909.
Middlemarch by George Elliot
Notes: Published June 2, 2011. ISBN 9780141196893.
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Notes: Published October 6, 2011. ISBN 9780141198347.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Notes: Published October 6, 2011. ISBN 9780141198354.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Notes: Published November 3, 2011. ISBN 9780141197708.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Notes: Published November 3, 2011. ISBN 9780141197715.
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Notes: Published November 3, 2011. ISBN 9780141197692.
2012 (3 titles)
Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense by Lewis Carroll
Notes: Published September 6, 2012. ISBN 9780141195940.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Notes: Translated by Norman Denny. Published October 25, 2012. ISBN 9781846140495.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Notes: Translated by Robin Buss. Published November 29, 2012. ISBN 9780141392462.
2013 (8 titles)
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
Notes: Introduced by John Carey. Published March 7, 2013. ISBN 9780141199542.
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Notes: Introduced for Andrew Delbanco. Published September 26, 2013. ISBN 9780141199603.
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Notes: Published September 26, 2013. ISBN 9780141393384.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Notes: Translated by Nevill Coghill. Published September 26, 2013. ISBN 9780141393216.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Notes: Published October 3, 2013. ISBN 9780141393391.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Notes: Published October 31, 2013. ISBN 9780141199573.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Notes: Published November 28, 2013. ISBN 9780141393407.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Notes: Introduced by Richard Pevear. Published November 28, 2013. ISBN 9780141199610.
2014 (8 titles + 1 reprint)
Metamorphoses by Ovid
Notes: Translated by David Raeburn. Published April 3, 2104. ISBN 9780141394619.
Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
Notes: Published April 3, 2013. ISBN 9780141394626.
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Notes: Published May 1, 2014. ISBN 9780141394633.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Notes: Published May 1, 2014. ISBN 9780141394640.
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Notes: Published August 7, 2014. ISBN 9780141394688.
Love and Freindship by Jane Austen
Notes: Published September 25, 2014. ISBN 9780140433340.
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Notes: Published November 6, 2014. ISBN 9780141394664.
The Iliad by Homer
Notes: Translated by E.V. Rieu and Peter Jones. Published November 6, 2014. ISBN 9780141394657.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (*reprint)
Notes: Published August 7, 2014. ISBN 9780141394671.
First published November 6, 2008.
2015 (1 title)
The Travels by Marco Polo
Notes: Translated by Nigel Cliff. Published February 26, 2015. ISBN 9780141198774.
2016 (12 titles)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Notes: Published January 6, 2016. ISBN 9780241265543.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Notes: Published Jnaruary 28, 2016. ISBN 9780241198957.
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Notes: Published February 26, 2016. ISBN 9780241198964.
Naked Lunch by William D Burroughs
Notes: Published October 6, 2016. ISBN 9780241284636.
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Notes: Translated by Andrea Ashworth. Published October 6, 2016. ISBN 9780241281901.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Notes: Introduced by Sandra Gilbert. Published October 6, 2016. ISBN 9780241284643.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Notes: Published October 6, 2016. ISBN 9780241284667.
→ Buy from Amazon
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Notes: Introduced by Barry Langford. Published October 6, 2016. ISBN 9780241284674.
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Notes: Published October 20, 2016. ISBN 9780241284629.
Remembrance of Things Past: Volume 1 by Marcel Proust
Notes: Translated by C. K. Scott. Published November 24, 2016. ISBN 9780241205921.
Remembrance of Things Past: Volume 2 by Marcel Proust
Notes: Translated by C. K. Scott. Published November 24, 2016. ISBN 9780241205945.
Remembrance of Things Past: Volume 3 by Marcel Proust
Notes: Translated by C. K. Scott. Published November 24, 2016. ISBN 9780241205969.
2017 (1 title)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Notes: Published April 27, 2017. ISBN 9780241198773.
2018 (5 titles + 1 reprint)
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
Notes: Published July 5, 2018. ISBN 9780241347768.
The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner
Notes: Published June 7, 2018. ISBN 9780241305850.
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
Notes: Published September 6, 2018. ISBN 9780241347775.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Notes: Published September 6, 2018. ISBN 9780241347782.
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
Notes: Published December 6, 2018. ISBN 9780241382707.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (*reprint)
Notes: Translated by David McDuff. Published October 9, 2018. ISBN 9780241347683.
*Original edition published November 6, 2008.
2019 (3 titles)
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Notes: Published July 4, 2019. ISBN 9780241382691.
Tales from 1001 Nights
Notes: Published September 5, 2019. ISBN 9780241382714.
Sanditon by Jane Austen
Notes: Published September 12, 2019. ISBN 9780241436585.
2020 (4 titles)
Grimm Tales for Young and Old by Philip Pullman
Notes: Translated by George M Towles. Published October 1, 2020. ISBN 9780241472729.
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Notes: Introduced by Elaine Showalter. Published November 5, 2020. ISBN 9780241468647.
The Aeneid by Virgil
Notes: Introduced by David West. Published November 5, 2020. ISBN 9780141994222.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Notes: Published November 5, 2020. ISBN 9780241468654.
2021 (4 titles *anticipated)
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Notes: Published January 7 2021. ISBN 9780241453513.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Notes: Published January 7 2021. ISBN 9780241453865.
Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en
Notes: Translated by Julia Lovell. Published 11 February 2021. ISBN 9780141393445.
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Notes: Published June 3 2021. ISBN 9780241504123.
Boxed Sets
Charles Dickens Box Set
Notes: Published November 23, 2011. ISBN 9780141198415.
Jane Austen Box Set
Notes: Published October 30, 2014. ISBN 9780141395203.
The Bronte Sisters Box Set
Notes: Published November 22, 2016. ISBN 9780241248768.