Penguin Clothbound Classics | An Illustrated Bibliography

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Penguin Clothbound Classics: Collector's Guide and FAQ

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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 the very talented 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.

penguin clothbound early numbered set

How many books are in the series?

This is an ongoing series, so the book count changes every year. As of 2023, there are around 97 volumes in the series, with at least 4 more expected next year. I can’t give an exact number, because there is some disagreement amongst collectors on whether you count the India Special Editions (which were published by Penguin India and match the series design in most respects, but they do not have the ribbon bookmark and were not designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith); the faux 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 pocket philosophy 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.)

Complementary series include the Leatherbound ClassicsClothbound Children’s ClassicsClothbound Poetry, Penguin Pocket (Philosophy) Hardbacks, and the new “Little” Clothbound Classics series featuring short stories and novellas.

coralie bickford smith clothbound classics shelf
A glimpse at Coralie's shelves from her IG account @coraliebickfordsmith

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.

penguin clothbound jane austen bookendsAnother rarity of interest to collectors is the ‘Clothbound Jane Austen’ bookend set, which was 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 not particularly high quality (they use Forest Stewardship Council-approved paper, but earlier volumes were not acid-free so may brown over time) with a glued binding. I would estimate with the most careful of handling, the glue 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 can come off if you are not careful.

Did Penguin change the printing process for the covers of this series?

In December 2021, Penguin trialled a new process of screen printing the design on the clothbound classics, with the first volume released in this style being The Little Prince. The indentation is lost with this new process, but the cover design is more durable.

Where are the books made? Are the US and UK editions different? What size are the books?

The books are “B format” hardbacks: 204mm x 132mm. The titles in my collection (UK first printings) were printed by Penguin UK in St Ives, England. The US editions (Penguin Random House) are sometimes printed / released later than the UK editions (I have given UK publication dates below), although they have the same ISBN and usually made available during the same calendar year. Dye colours on the fabric can be slightly different between countries and printings. Also, 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: 20242023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 (including the India Special Editions) | 2009 | 2008 | Out-of-Series | Boxed Sets | Other Hardbacks

→ I have separate lists for Penguin’s complementary series, which you can find more about at these links: Leatherbound Classics | Clothbound Children’s ClassicsClothbound Poetry | Penguin Pocket (Philosophy) Hardbacks | Little Clothbound Classics

2024 (forthcoming)

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodir Dostoyevsky, translated by David McDuff

Notes: Published Jan 4, 2024. ISBN 9780241655566.

→ Buy from Amazon | WaterstonesBlackwells

Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

Notes: Anticipated March 28, 2024. ISBN 9780241638422.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy by John le Carré

Notes: Anticipated June 27, 2024. ISBN 9780241685143.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Notes: Anticipated July 4, 2024. ISBN 9780241655573.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

Notes: Anticipated Aug 29, 2024. ISBN 9780241678961. *nb: unverified rumours this title has been cancelled?

→ Buy from Amazon

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Notes: Anticipated Sep 26, 2024. ISBN 9780241689646.

→ Buy from Amazon

2023 (4 titles)

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

Notes: Published Jan 5, 2023. ISBN 9780241552667.

The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Notes:  Published March 2, 2023. ISBN 9780241552674.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Notes: September 7, 2023. ISBN 9780241552681.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Notes: September 7, 2023. ISBN 9780241638439.

2022 (4 titles)

Ulysses by James Joyce

Notes: 
Published January 27, 2022. ISBN 9780241552636.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Notes: Published March 3, 2022. ISBN 9780241552643.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Notes: Published June 02, 2022. ISBN 9780241552650.

The Outsider by Albert Camus

Notes: Published June 2, 2022. ISBN 9780241554401.

2021 (7 titles + 1 companion)

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 February 11 2021. ISBN 9780141393445.

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

Notes: Published June 3 2021. ISBN 9780241504123.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Notes: Published December 2, 2021. ISBN 9780241508664.

The cover design for this book is the first to be screen printed – it loses the indentation, but the foiling is more durable.

The Aeneid by Virgil

Notes: Introduced by David West. Published November 30, 2021.

ISBN 9780141996332

*Delayed release from 2020 schedule, originally 9780141994222.

→ Buy from Amazon | B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Notes: Published November 21, 2021. ISBN 9780241468654.

*Delayed release from 2020 schedule.

*Out of series – The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories edited by Jessica Harrison

Notes: Jump below for details

2020 (2 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.

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.

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 (*2nd edition reprint)

Notes: Translated by David McDuff. Published October 9, 2018. ISBN 9780241347683.

*Original first edition published November 6, 2008.

2017 (1 title)

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Notes: Published April 27, 2017. ISBN 9780241198773.

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 January 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.

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.

OOP. Check availability at AmazonAbeseBay

Remembrance of Things Past: Volume 2 by Marcel Proust

Notes: Translated by C. K. Scott. Published November 24, 2016. ISBN 9780241205945.

OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

Remembrance of Things Past: Volume 3 by Marcel Proust

Notes: Translated by C. K. Scott. Published November 24, 2016. ISBN 9780241205969.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

2015 (1 title)

The Travels by Marco Polo

Notes: Translated by Nigel Cliff. Published February 26, 2015. ISBN 9780141198774.

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, 2014. ISBN 9780141394626.

Buy from Amazon B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

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, 2nd edition)

Notes: Published August 7, 2014. ISBN 9780141394671.

*First published November 6, 2008.

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. Re-released December 1, 2020. 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.

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.

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.

2010 (7 titles, including the Penguin 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 Sep 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084173. India Special Edition.

OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

The Ramayana

Notes: Translated by Arshia Sattar Valmiki. Published Sep 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084180
India Special Edition.

→ OOP. Check availability at Amazon AbeseBay

The Mahābhārata

Notes: Translated by John D. Smith. Published Sep 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084159
India Special Edition.

OOP. Check availability at Amazon | Abes | eBay

The Bhagavad Gita

Notes: Translated by Juan Mascaro. Published Sepr 2, 2010. ISBN 9780670084166
India Special Edition.

OOP. Check availability at AmazonAbeseBay

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 Carroll

Notes: Illustrated by John Tenniel. Published October 1, 2009. ISBN 9780141192468.

☞ See also The Alice in Wonderland collector’s guide

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.

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

*Reprinted, 2nd edition August 7, 2014.

OOP. Check availability at Amazon Abes | eBay

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.

*Reprinted January 1, 2021

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Notes: Translated by David McDuff. Published November 6, 2008. ISBN 9780140455687. OOP.

*Reprinted 2nd edition, October 9, 2018 .

OOP. Check availability at AbeseBay

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.

Out-of-series clothbound classics (8 titles)

Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

Notes: Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Published September 30, 2004. ISBN 9780713996418.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Notes: Translated by Gyurme Dorje. Published October 27, 2005. ISBN 9780713994148.

OOP. Check availability at AmazonAbeseBay

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: *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. Check availability at Amazon | AbeseBay

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. Check availability at AmazonAbeseBay

Penguin Poems for Weddings selected by Laura Barber

Notes: Published June 5, 2014. ISBN 9780141439457

OOP. Check availability at AmazonAbeseBay

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Notes: Translated by Richard Pevear. Published October 5, 2006. ISBN 9780713999525.

OOP. Check availability at Amazon | AbeseBay

The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories edited by Jessica Harrison

Notes: Published October 7, 2021. ISBN 9780241455654.

*This book is slightly smaller than the usual volumes – similar in size to the poetry series.

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 Brontë Sisters Box Set

Notes: Published November 22, 2016. ISBN 9780241248768.

*Reprinted Jan 2021

Proust Box Set

Notes: Published December 1, 2016. ISBN 9780241300695.

OOP. Check availability at Amazon |  AbeseBay

Thomas Hardy Box Set

Notes: Published August 29, 2019. ISBN 9780241382721.

Arabian Nights Box Set

Notes: Published Nov, 2008. ISBN 9780140911664.

OOP. Check availability at AmazonAbes | eBay

Non-clothbound hardback classics (5 titles)

These titles are also designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, but they have paper covers and are not part of the clothbound classic series. I include them here just for fun because I like her artwork and they don’t fit elsewhere…

The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry edited by Patrick Crotty

Notes: Published September 30, 2010. ISBN 9780141439457.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

The Golden Age of British Short Stories (1890-1914) edited by Philip Hensher

Notes: Published October 1, 2020. ISBN 9780141992204.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

Notes: Published 2019. ISBN 9780241444139.

Special edition produced for Waterstones Amsterdam.

OOP. Check availability at Abes | eBay

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson by Selma Lagerlof

Notes: Published June 2, 2016. ISBN 9780241206089.

→ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

I Saw Eternity the Other Night by Timothy Day

Notes: Published March 2019. ISBN 9780241352182.

→ Buy from AmazonB&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay

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