Comments on Penguin Clothbound Classics - page 2

I got 30 now.. but there coming out some new ones in 2016 :O i need them all.. !

Michelle wrote: "Azur wrote: "Hera wrote: "I have a few of these and am completely obsessed with collecting them as they are so beautiful. Has anyone found a definitive list with all the titles?"
As far as I can te..."

I think because there are so many? It was so hard to find al titles on the internet! I got the Pearl myself live in the Netherlands.. So happy that we can get all of them here :)

Carlijn wrote: "Jessica wrote: "The Ramayana is the same size as the penguin cloth bound classics not one of the bigger ones like love poems or the others."

Thank you! They seem to be part of a 4-part Middle East..."

Yes, I have The Ramayana, The Mahabharate, and The Bhagavad Gita. They are the same as the regular collection, except that the cloth binding seems to be of slightly lower quality. Not BAD quality. It's just not as firm/sturdy feeling as the others.

As for The Qur'an, though, I can't find it anywhere! I know it was supposed to just be a regional print, but I'm confused that I found the Hindu books fairly easily (though I had to pay a little extra for The Mahabharata), but can't find The Qur'an. Anybody know if it's still in print?

UPDATE: I was able to find The Qur'an! I don't know if it's still in print (I feel like no), but I did find some copies for sale on Amazon Canada.

I find all the annotations really annoying: they disturb the flow of reading, and seldom offer anything very insightful. Combine this with the annoying introductions that give away the plot (I learned never to read them first!) and the crappy quality of the printing on the cloth (which will rub off with only one reading), and I have given up on these editions. Now that I have discovered the superb Folio Society books, I'm going to ditch my copies of these Clothbound Classics, and replace them all with the far superior Folio editions (they have nearly all of these titles, and many more).

Ashley wrote: "I wish I had the money to buy all these. I've seen a collection and they look so nice together."

They are gorgeous - I'm saving every month or two to pick up one. It's taking a while, but the editions with all the extra notes inside are really worth it!

Was thinking of buying the clothbound copy of War and Peace to start my collection but unsure now that I've read a few comments about the foil rubbing off. It doesn't sit well with me about having a book just for the aesthetic value. It is meant to be read after all. Any thoughts??

Janet wrote: "Was thinking of buying the clothbound copy of War and Peace to start my collection but unsure now that I've read a few comments about the foil rubbing off. It doesn't sit well with me about having ..."

I've collected over two dozen of the Penguin Clothbounds, including the very gorgeous War and Peace edition, and I can honestly say that only three or four of my books have had any issues with the foil. Even then, it is only a slight smudge here and there, and doesn't greatly hinder the book's appearance. I think what happens is the oil on people's hands may activate something in the foil ink, causing it to fall off. Again, I have read all of my copies with few problems. Even my copy of W&P, which I handled a lot during reading, has no foil damage.

I would just advice you treat the book gently (as you should any book, really)-- don't cram these into a crowded bag, leave a full coffee mug on top, etc. These really are great books!

Kyle wrote: "Janet wrote: "Was thinking of buying the clothbound copy of War and Peace to start my collection but unsure now that I've read a few comments about the foil rubbing off. It doesn't sit well with me..."

Thanks for that Kyle

There are a couple of new books coming out this October:
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
Orlando - Virginia Woolf
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne (February 2017)
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Naked Lunch - William S. Burroughs

Is Dumas' 'The Three Musketeers' is a clothbound book? I was under the impression it wasn't.

Does anyone know if "The Day of the Triffids" is available as a Penguin Clothbound? I thought I saw it for sale once, but now I can't find it.

Let me know if there are any books that should not be on this list. I can remove them. I like clothbound books but this list is for the Penguin Classics

Carlijn wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Let me know if there are any books that should not be on this list. I can remove them. I like clothbound books but this list is for the Penguin Classics"

Wait, so is this supposed..." Let me rephrase. It is only for Penguin Clothbound Classic Books. Any other clothbound ones will be removed.

Michelle wrote: "Let me know if there are any books that should not be on this list. I can remove them. I like clothbound books but this list is for the Penguin Classics"

There are quite a few on the list that aren't strictly part of the Penguin Clothbound Classics series. Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange is one. It's a Penguin Classic, but it is a hardboard and not clothbound and not in the same design style. The Pocket Classics have been added which aren't part of the Penguin Clothbound Series either. Also The Three Musketeers doesn't really fit in this collection either. It is a clothbound classic by Penguin, but it is not of the same series as the current clothbound classics. It has a totally different aesthetic.

A new one being released in Feb 2018: The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner ISBN: 9780241305850

Bookend wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Let me know if there are any books that should not be on this list. I can remove them. I like clothbound books but this list is for the Penguin Classics"

There are quite a few on ..."


Thanks for the info! I will go through this soon and remove any that do not fit. I think I may have added any that had clothbound and classic attached and I know some people have continued to add and I know those are incorrect.

Thomas wrote: "Azur wrote: "Madame Bovary is still in stock on German amazon."

Same with the Waterstones website. Now we're only missing Crime and Punishment :)"

According to an online bookseller where I usually hunt for books, Crime and Punishment will be out in October this year

Hope so. I loved .Crime and Punishment. Just picked up Little Women from .World of Books secondhand. That'll be my holiday read.

Looking forward to Crime and Punishment to complete my collection. Just so you all know it will be in a different colour way than the original edition. Not sure how I feel about this.

Do you know what colour will it be?

I have had my eyes on Austen's (the set is tempting but expensive!), as well as few of the Russians (Anna Karenina, War and Peace amongst others)

One day I'll own all of these omgggg

Well, I have finally done it. Once my latest order arrives, I believe I will own every book Penguin has released so far in this series. Of course, they keep releasing more, so that won't last long. But it's nice to have, at least for now, completed my collection. Only took about ten years. >_<

A few upcoming titles with covers now added to the list - Around the World in 80 Days, The Aeneid, Mrs Dalloway, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Animal Farm and Grimms Tales: For Young and Old.

Thanks for adding those!

I love my collection ... I am 3 short of the set so far; The Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana and The Qur'an. Has anyone seen these anywhere?

Waterstones are listing Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en as part of this series for release February 2021

The Penguin clothbound classics are genuinely stunning books, and Coralie Bickford-Smith has done a wonderful job with the covers. It’s just such a shame that the books are of such bad quality. The foil rubs off before you’ve read half the book, and they all have glued binding and very tightly so that you have to force the book open. I wouldn’t recommend getting these editions.

I would personally recommend getting the Chiltern classics and (if you can afford them) the folio editions. Both editions are just as beautiful, but far superior in binding (they’re stitched) and overall quality.

Can you please update the Anna Karenina listing, as it seems to be a separate/standalone book, not a different edition to the Goodreads book listing?
Are you able to add the clothbound edition to the general listing for Anna Karenina?
Not sure if I've explained that at all well!

Ditto for 1984 and Sanditon.

New clothbound out in June - The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon. ISBN: 9780241504123.

New clothbound out in October - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. ISBN: 978-0241508664

There's definitely a few books on this list that are not part of the clothbound classics list and are in another category all themselves. How does one remove them? They are also designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith so I can understand the confusion. I always find the best way to keep up to date with this particular series is to go on her website where she has a list of them all, plus looking on her Instagram where she shows images and release dates of upcoming books that haven't been put up on her website yet.

Ms wrote: "I love my collection ... I am 3 short of the set so far; The Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana and The Qur'an. Has anyone seen these anywhere?"

I bought mine through either Amazon UK or Amazon Canada.

Despina wrote: "There's definitely a few books on this list that are not part of the clothbound classics list and are in another category all themselves. How does one remove them? They are also designed by Coralie..."

Please, be aware that Goodreads changes the edition to the most popular one every time a librarian performs a duplicate check and duplicates are found ... (Removing is up to librarians as well.)

Thomas wrote: "Some people are saying that the book's covers rub off very easily (I'm guessing they mean the foil?) Can anyone say if this is true or not?"

It's the design pattern that rubs off. The small "Penguin Classics" logo at the bottom of my copy of Crime and Punishment had come off by the time I finished with it and some colour actually transferred onto the edges as well during reading.

So obsessed with these beautiful covers.

I don't know if it's true for all of them, but the lovely patterns on the cover of the monkey king are vulnerable to being scratched off so handle them with care

Is the paper archival quality on these or do they also yellow like the cheap paperback series?

Does anyone know how to find a copy of the Qur’an? I have the other three India clothbound but struggling to find a copy of the final one!