King Penguin Books – History, Collecting Guide and Complete K1–K76 Checklist

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King Penguin Books are one of the most distinctive and attractive branches of Penguin collecting. Published between 1939 and 1959, the series combined compact books, specialist texts and extensive colour illustration at prices intended to make subjects normally associated with expensive illustrated books accessible to a much wider readership.

Collection of King Penguin books. This collection sold for £50 at Duke’s Avenue Auctions, December 2023

A total of 76 numbered King Penguins were published, covering an extraordinary variety of subjects. British birds, butterflies, flowers and fungi appeared alongside heraldry, fashion, clocks, railway history, Staffordshire pottery, medieval carving, cricket and the Crown Jewels.

For today’s collector, that variety is a major part of their appeal. Some people attempt to assemble the complete K1–K76 series, while others concentrate on natural history, art and design or simply collect the books whose striking covers appeal to them.

The Beginning of King Penguin Books

The first King Penguins appeared in 1939, four years after Allen Lane launched the original Penguin paperback series.

Penguin had demonstrated that good contemporary writing could be produced inexpensively for a mass readership. King Penguins extended that philosophy into illustrated publishing.

The concept drew inspiration from the small, beautifully produced illustrated books already being published in continental Europe, particularly the Insel-Bücherei series produced by Insel Verlag in Germany.

King Penguins were nevertheless given a very British identity.

Rather than the familiar horizontal bands of the early Penguin paperbacks, King Penguins generally appeared as small hardback books with decorative or pictorial covers. Inside were specialist texts accompanied by colour plates and illustrations.

The result was something that could be inexpensive yet still feel like an attractive object in its own right.

K1 – The First King Penguin

The series began with K1, British Birds on Lake, River and Stream by Phyllis Barclay-Smith, published in 1939.

Its illustrations reproduced bird paintings by the celebrated nineteenth-century ornithological artist John Gould.

Natural history would become one of the recurring themes of the series. Later King Penguins covered garden birds, moths, fungi, butterflies, beetles, reptiles, ducks, woodland birds and many other subjects.

K2, A Book of Roses by John Ramsbottom, also appeared in 1939 and used illustrations associated with the great botanical artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté.

These first two books established an important characteristic of the series: scholarly or informative text combined with carefully selected visual material.

A Remarkably Diverse Series

After the first two titles there was a gap before the series resumed during the Second World War.

K3, A Book of Ships by Charles Mitchell, appeared in 1941, followed by books including Portraits of Christ and Caricature.

During the 1940s the King Penguin list expanded rapidly.

The subjects could be remarkably specific. Readers could buy books about British shells, Elizabethan miniatures, the Bayeux Tapestry, edible fungi, heraldry, British moths, garden birds and English ballet.

Other titles explored areas of British art, architecture and design.

This eclectic approach means a collection of King Penguins is visually and intellectually varied. A natural-history book might sit beside a study of typography, an examination of military uniforms or a book devoted to an archaeological site.

Art, Illustration and Design

King Penguins are particularly interesting to collectors of twentieth-century British book design.

The series involved notable writers, artists, illustrators and designers, and the visual treatment of the books was an important part of their identity.

Edward Bawden, for example, was responsible for Life in an English Village, K51, published in 1949. Bawden’s distinctive work has given the title an appeal extending well beyond collectors of Penguin Books.

John Piper was associated with K55, Romney Marsh, while Enid Marx contributed to the design of Russian Icons.

Other volumes reproduced the work of historical artists and illustrators including Thomas Bewick, John Leech, Albrecht Dürer and John Gould.

This crossover is significant for collectors. A particular King Penguin may be wanted not simply because of its place in the K1–K76 sequence, but because somebody collects the artist, illustrator, author or subject.

Natural History King Penguins

Natural history is perhaps the most immediately recognisable collecting theme within the series.

Among the titles are books devoted to birds, flowers, fungi, shells, moths, spiders, butterflies, beetles, reptiles and amphibians.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith appeared several times during the life of the series. After writing K1, she returned with Garden Birds, A Book of Ducks and, near the end of the series, Woodland Birds.

John Ramsbottom similarly contributed books on roses and fungi.

These titles can appeal to natural-history collectors independently of their Penguin connection, particularly when their illustrations reproduce the work of important botanical or zoological artists.

Collecting King Penguin Books

With 76 numbered titles, King Penguins offer collectors something increasingly unusual: a substantial vintage book series for which completing an entire numbered run remains a realistic objective.

It is not necessarily an easy one.

The books were produced over twenty years, and availability varies considerably. Some titles appear regularly on the secondary market, while others can take much longer to locate, particularly in excellent condition.

Collectors can approach the series in several ways.

The obvious challenge is to collect K1 through K76. Alternatively, a collection might concentrate on natural history, art and design, architecture, or books associated with particular illustrators.

The decorative covers also make King Penguins attractive purely as examples of mid-twentieth-century book design.

What to Look for When Buying King Penguins

Condition matters considerably.

King Penguins were books intended to be handled and read. Covers can consequently suffer from rubbing, bumped corners, damaged spines and staining. Internally, collectors should look for missing or damaged pages and plates, inscriptions, foxing and other signs of wear.

A particularly bright, clean example can therefore be much more desirable than another copy of exactly the same title.

Collectors should also be aware of different editions and bindings. Although King Penguins are strongly associated with their small hardback format, variations exist within the series, and some titles were also produced in soft-cover forms.

It is worth checking the publication details rather than identifying a copy solely from its front cover.

Are King Penguin Books Valuable?

Most individual King Penguins are not exceptionally expensive, which is one reason the series remains attractive to collectors.

Values, however, vary according to the title, edition, condition and demand for the subject or illustrator.

Complete and near-complete collections also appear at auction.

For example, a collection of King Penguin Books sold for £50 at Duke’s Avenue Auctions in December 2023, while another group, mainly dating from the 1940s and including ten natural-history volumes, sold for £50 at Barbara Kirk Auctions in September 2023.

These results should be treated as snapshots of the market rather than fixed valuations. Auction prices can vary substantially according to the contents and condition of a lot, the venue and the level of competition between bidders.

Individual books associated with desirable artists, unusual subjects or particularly scarce editions may behave very differently from mixed groups of common titles.

For collectors, identifying exactly what is being offered is therefore much more useful than relying on a general price guide.

The Last King Penguins

The pace of publication slowed considerably during the 1950s.

Later titles included Egyptian Paintings, Misericords, John Arlott’s A Picture of Cricket, Woodland Birds and Monumental Brasses.

The series finally reached K76 with Sculpture of the Parthenon by P. E. Corbett, published in 1959.

Twenty years had passed since K1.

During that period King Penguins had created a remarkable miniature library covering natural history, art, archaeology, architecture, social history, decorative arts and numerous subjects that resist easy classification.

King Penguin books mostly from the 1940s including 10 volumes on Natural History. This collection sold for £50 at Barbara Kirk Auctions, September 2023.

King Penguin Books Complete K1–K76 Checklist

The following checklist covers the complete numbered King Penguin series from K1, British Birds on Lake, River and Stream, published in 1939, to K76, Sculpture of the Parthenon, published in 1959.

The books included colour printing, illustrations or plates. Illustrators and artists are included where known.

No.	Title	Author	Illustrator	Year
K1	British Birds on Lake River and Stream	Barclay-Smith, Phyllis	John Gould	1939
K2	Book of Roses	Ramsbottom, John	Pierre-Joseph Redouté	1939
K3	A Book of Ships	Mitchell, Charles	Mitchell, Charles	1941
K4	Portraits of Christ	Kitzinger, Ernst & Senior, Elizabeth	–	1941
K5	Caricature	Gombrich, E.H & Kris, E	–	1941
K6	British Shells	Duncan, F. Martin	–	1943
K7	Fashions and Fashion Plates	Laver, James	–	1943
K8	Elizabethan Miniatures	Winter, Carl		1943
K9	Microcosm of London	Rowlandson, T & Pugin, A C	Rowlandson & Pugin	1943
K10	Bayeux Tapestry	MacLagen, Eric	–	1943
K11	Fishes of Britain’s Rivers and Lakes	Norman, J.R.	–	1943
K12	Poets’ Corner	Beerbohm, Max	–	1943
K13	Edible Fungi	Ramsbottom, John	–	1943
K14	Book of Lilies	Stoker, Fred	–	1944
K15	Seashore Life and Pattern	Stephenson, T.A.	–	1944
K16	Children as Artists	Tomlinson, R.R.	–	1945
K17	Leaves of Southwell	Pevsner, Nikolaus	–	1945
K18	Some British Moths	Riley, Norman	–	1945
K19	Garden Birds	Barclay-Smith, Phyllis	–	1945
K20	English Ballet	Leeper, Janet	–	1944
K21	Popular Art in Britain	Carrington, Noel	–	1945
K22	Heraldry in England	Wagner, Anthony	–	1946
K23	Poisonous Fungi	Ramsbottom, John	–	1945
K24	Birds of the Sea	Lockley, R.M.	–	1945
K25	Ur: The First Phases	Woolley, Leonard	–	1947
K26	Book of Toys	White, Gwen	–	1946
K27	Flowers of Marsh and Stream	Williams, Iolo	–	1946
K28	Book of English Clocks	Symonds, R.W.	–	1947
K29	Flowers of the Woods	Salisbury, E.J.	–	1947
K30	Wood Engravings	Bewick, Thomas	Thomas Bewick	1947
K31	English Book Illustrations 1800-1900	James, Philip	–	1947
K32	A Christmas Carol	Dickens, Charles	John Leech	1946
K33	Russian Icons	Rice, David Talbot	Cover design by Enid Marx	1947
K34	English Tradition in Design	Gloag, John	–	1947
K35	Book of Spiders	Bristowe, W.S.	–	1947
K36	Ballooning	Gibbs-Smith, Charles	–	1948
K37	Wild Flowers of the Chalk	Gilmour, John	Irene Hawkins	1947
K38	Compliments of the Season	Ettlinger, R.D.	–	1947
K39	Woodcuts of Albrecht Durer	Barlow, T.D.	Albrecht Durer	1948
K40	Edward Gordon Craig	Leeper, Janet	–	1948
K41	British Butterflies	Ford, E.B.	–	1951
K42	British Military Uniforms	Laver, James	–	1948
K43	Prospect of Wales	Rowntree, Kenneth	–	1948
K44	Tulipomania	Blunt, Wilfred Jasper	–	1950
K45	Unknown Westminster Abbey	Tanner, L.E.	–	1948
K46	Highland Dress	Collie, George	–	1948
K47	British Reptiles and Amphibia	Smith, Malcolm	–	1949
K48	Book of Scripts	Fairbank, Alfred	–	1949
K49	Some British Beetles	Taylor, Geoffrey	–	1949
K50	Popular Art in the United States	Christensen, Erwin O.	–	1949
K51	Life in English Village	Edward Bawden	–	1949
K52	Isle of Wight	Jones, Barbara	–	1950
K53	Flowers of the Meadow	Grigson, Geoffrey	–	1950
K54	Greek Terracottas	Webster, T.B.L.	–	1951
K55	Romney Marsh	Piper, John Egerston	–	1950
K56	Early British Railways	Barman, Christian	–	1950
K57	Book of Mosses	Richards, Paul	–	1950
K58	Book of Ducks	Barclay-Smith, Phyllis	Peter Shepheard	1951
K59	Ackermann’s Cambridge	Williamson, Reginald Ross	–	1951
K60	Crown Jewels	Chadwick, Paxton	–	1951
K61	Atlas of Tudor England	Speed, John	–	1951
K62	Medieval Carvings in Exeter	Cave, C.J.P.	–	1953
K63	Book of Greek Coins	Seltman, Charles	–	1952
K64	Magic Books from Mexico	Burland, Cottie	–	1953
K65	Semi-Precious Stones	Wooster, Nora	–	1953
K66	Birds of the Plata	Hudson, W.H.	S. Magno	1952
K67	Mountain Birds	Lodge, G.E.	–	1952
K68	Animals in Staffordshire Pottery	Rackham, Bernard	Peggy Jeremy	1953
K69	Ackermann’s Oxford	Colvin, H.M.	–	1954
K70	Diverting History of John Gilpin	Cowper, William	–	1953
K71	Egyptian Paintings	Davies, Nina	–	1954
K72	Misericords	Anderson, M.D.	–	1954
K73	Picture of Cricket	Arlott, John	–	1955
K74	Woodland Birds	Barclay Smith, Phyllis	Peter Shepheard	1955
K75	Monumental Brasses	Mann, James	–	1957
K76	Sculpture of the Parthenon	Corbett, P.E.	–	1959

Building a King Penguin Collection Today

King Penguins remain an excellent collecting field because they combine several qualities that collectors look for.

They have a clearly defined numbered series, a fascinating publishing history, attractive designs and an enormous variety of subjects. At the same time, many examples remain affordable enough for a collection to develop gradually.

A collector might begin with one appealing natural-history title or an interesting cover discovered in a second-hand bookshop and eventually find themselves searching for all 76.

That is very much in the spirit of Penguin itself.

The original Penguin revolution was about making good books accessible. King Penguins took that idea into illustrated publishing, producing small books that were informative, visually appealing and affordable.

More than eighty years after the first King Penguins appeared, those same qualities continue to make them appealing objects to collect.

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