Definition:   A group of penguins in the water is called a ‘raft’ – a group of penguins on land is called a waddle. Other collective nouns for penguins include: rookery, colony, and huddle.

I thought I would update you on a few new (old) Penguin books I have acquired in the last month or so. As I don’t keep them in water I guess they are not a ‘raft’.  I tend to think the main collection might be the ‘colony’ or the ‘rookery’ though for some reason ‘rookery’ reminds me of youngsters. Like a nursery. I guess it boils down to a ‘waddle’.

Without further adieu I will introduce you. All of them but one are published in England. Most are first published. If I find an early Penguin I don’t have at all then I will get the reprint until I find the first published one. A couple books replaced reprints I had so I will now pass those reprinted books on. I might have a giveaway once I get organised.

 

I am very much focused now on the first 1000 Penguin books in the collection. The Tasmanian Mercury newspaper contacted me to do a feature about my Penguin book collection for their Sunday magazine but as I was travelling so much this past winter it hasn’t been done yet. I don’t know if that is in the pipeline or not. Guess I would have to chase it up, but first I would have to straighten and clean the library room  which is a right tidy mess.

 

On the 25th of November I am presenting a talk on the  Penguin publishing history to a group of elderly people at a school for seniors in Hobart. The people really seem to enjoy seeing the books and for many it is a walk down memory lane for them. I don’t charge any money to do this hour presentation but I generally get home made goodies for morning tea and a bottle of red Tassie wine. I appreciate their interest. The men in the audience some times doze off now and again, especially if they aren’t readers,  but the women are wide awake and love to handle the books and ephemera. They always ask the most interesting questions and I like to see where their interest lies. I will try to get photos. This is the fourth time I will have presented the collection to senior groups around Hobart. Their interest warms my heart.

Okay, that’s the waddle for today…

***********************************************************************Descriptions are below if you want details. They are organised chronologically by series number on their spine:

244   Crump Folk Going Home by Constance Holme  (1940)

251    The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressall  (1944)

269    Canon in Residence by V. L. Whitchurch (1940)

319     Claudius the God vol.II by  Robert Graves (194?)

339    High Rising by Angela Thirkell  (1941)

415    Modern Irish Short Stories edited by Sel. Joan Hancock & Alan Steele (1945)

447   Twixt Land and Sea Tales by Joseph Conrad

551    Peter Waring by Forrest Reid  (1946)

638   Don Segundo Sombra by Ricardo Guiraldes   (1948)

653    My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber (1948)

714    Thursday Afternoon by Monica Dickens (1949)

946    Jassy by Nora Lofts (1952)

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American Penguin Illustrated Classic

08   Walden by Henry Thoreau (1942)