Ariel (1935)

Ariel, André Maurois's life of Shelley, was Penguin no. 1, one of the ten books that launched Penguin on 30 July 1935 at 6d each. It is not a first edition of the text, which Bodley Head had published in 1924, but a first printing of the first Penguin is a cornerstone of any Penguin collection.

What to check:

• Back cover: the list of the first ten titles gives no. 2 as Farewell to Arms, without the A. Later batches corrected it.
• Front cover: blue for biography, with The Bodley Head named on it, as on all Penguins up to no. 80.
• Dust wrapper: first printings were issued in a printed wrapper with the 6d price on the front. Few survive.
• Imprint: the first printing shows no reprint lines; later impressions list their months beneath.

Penguin reprinted Ariel within weeks, so reprints of 1935 are common. The imprint page usually settles it, though printers occasionally left out reprint lines, so the back cover list is a useful second check.

Collectors also distinguish cover states by the accent on André and the corrected list. A 1985 facsimile set of the first ten exists and should not be mistaken for the originals.

Sources: penguinfirsteditions.com, bookramblings.blog, collectingchristie.com and the Grolier Club.