I've heard of Insel-Bücherei but until last week I haven't actually seen any. First published in Leipzig in 1912 their aim was mirrored by Penguin in 1935. That is, to bring affordable books to the common man. Their design obviously influenced the Penguin Poets and Scores although Insel-Bücherei's books were hardback, rather like the original Ladybird books, and the spine and cover labels were actually glued on labels.
There's been talk of them in The Penguin Collector but from before I was a PCS member so I may need to order back issues to find out more. A quick Google reveals the extent of Insel-Bücherai issues. I picked these up for £1 each. Not sure that'll be a common occurrence.
There's a digital collection here.
The biggest influence must have been on King Penguins. Good find.
Posted by: Peter Ashley | 21 October 2015 at 06:54 AM
The Insel Bucherei were the inspiration more for the King Penguins (good books as nice objects) than Penguins more generally (good books cheaply). But most of the Insel series are just text, the Kings emulated a minority which were primarily illustrations, and, of course, the format. The Insel series is very well documented, in German: look, for example, at this bibliography: http://insel-buecherei.eu/
James Mackay
Posted by: James Mackay | 21 October 2015 at 08:04 AM
I recently came across a few examples of these in a secondhand bookshop in Berlin, but they seemed a little pricey at the time. Dussman department bookstore in Freidrichstrasse (http://www.kulturkaufhaus.de/)- a must for any bibliophile - has a lovely series of the more recent editions at very reasonable prices.
Posted by: Simon Hawkesworth | 17 November 2015 at 02:49 PM