Allen Lane is Penguin's UK hardback non-fiction imprint, started in 1966 to 1967. Its hardbacks are the first editions; the orange-spined Penguin paperbacks that follow are later editions.
Allen Lane is a publisher active from 1952. We track 143 editions it published between 1952 and 2024, 48 of them first editions across 142 books. How Allen Lane marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Allen Lane
Allen Lane is the hardback non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books in the UK, named after Penguin's founder. Allen Lane was born in Bristol on 21 September 1902 and died on 7 July 1970. In 1935 he and his brothers Richard and John started Penguin inside The Bodley Head, where he was managing director, and Penguin became a company in its own right the next year.
For three decades Penguin was a paperback house. Its chief editor Tony Godwin wanted a hardback list, partly because authors wanted hardback editions, and the imprint, first called Allen Lane The Penguin Press, began in August 1966 with a two-volume set by Sigfred Taubert on pictures and texts of the book trade, of which 750 sets were made for Allen Lane. Penguin's own page gives 1967 as the start. From the outset the list was to be non-fiction only.
Allen Lane now sits within Penguin Press, part of Penguin Random House, and covers history, science, politics, economics, philosophy, psychology, language and current affairs. Its books come out first in hardback and later as orange-spined Penguin paperbacks.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Allen Lane's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Allen Lane first editions
What to look for
Before 1966
The imprint did not exist yet, so a book dated before 1966 and filed under Allen Lane is probably a Penguin paperback, or a book from another house, rather than an imprint hardback.
1960s to 1980s
From 1966 to 1967 the imprint issued hardback non-fiction, first as Allen Lane The Penguin Press. The Allen Lane hardback is the first edition; the Penguin paperback that follows is a later edition, however close in date.
1990s to the present
Allen Lane books still appear first in hardback and are later reissued as Penguin paperbacks, so the first edition is the Allen Lane hardback.
Where a number row is printed, the lowest number shows the printing: a row that still contains 1 indicates a first printing.
Before 1966 - The imprint did not exist yet, so a book dated before 1966 and filed under Allen Lane is probably a Penguin paperback, or a book from another house, rather than an imprint hardback. 1960s to 1980s - From 1966 to 1967 the imprint issued hardback non-fiction, first as Allen Lane The Penguin Press. The Allen Lane hardback is the first edition; the Penguin paperback that follows is a lat
How many Allen Lane books does MyVolumes track?
We track 143 editions published by Allen Lane, 48 of them first editions, across 142 books.
