Sir Allen Lane (21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970), was a British publisher who founded Penguin Books, bringing high quality, paperback fiction and non-fiction to a mass market. Allen Lane Williams was born in Bristol to Camilla and Samuel Williams, and studied at Bristol Grammar School. In 1919 he joined the publishing company Bodley Head as an apprentice to his uncle and founder of the company John Lane.

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  • Allen Lane (SEPTA station) (en)
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  • Sir Allen Lane (21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970), was a British publisher who founded Penguin Books, bringing high quality, paperback fiction and non-fiction to a mass market. Allen Lane Williams was born in Bristol to Camilla and Samuel Williams, and studied at Bristol Grammar School. In 1919 he joined the publishing company Bodley Head as an apprentice to his uncle and founder of the company John Lane. In the process, he and the rest of his family changed their surname to Lane to retain the childless John Lane's company as a family firm. He rose quickly in the business becoming managing editor in 1925 following the death of his uncle. After conflict with the board of directors who were wary at first — for fear of being prosecuted — of publishing James Joyce's controversial book Ulysses, Lane left in 1936 to set up Penguin Books. The legend goes that on a train journey back from visiting Agatha Christie in 1934, Lane found himself on a station platform with nothing available worth reading. He conceived of paperback editions of literature of proven quality which would be cheap enough to be sold from a vending machine; the first was set up in Charing Cross Road and dubbed the "Penguincubator". Lane was also well aware of the Hamburg publisher Albatross Books and adopted many of its innovations. The paperback venture was extremely successful, and he expanded into other areas such as the Penguin Classics in 1945. Lane married Lettice Lucy Orr on 28 June 1941 and had three daughters. He was knighted in 1962. In 1965, during an attempt by chief editor Tony Godwin and the board of directors to oust him, he stole a book's entire print run and burnt it. Lane fired Godwin, retained control of Penguin, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He died in 1970 at Northwood, Middlesex. (en)
  • Allen Lane (1902-1970) est un éditeur britannique qui commence sa carrière d’éditeur chez Bodley Head, la maison d’édition progressiste appartenant à son oncle John Lane. Il devient directeur de la société en 1925 et président en 1930. Dès 1935, il commence à publier en indépendant des rééditions en livre de poche et, un an plus tard, fonde Penguin Books pour mettre la littérature à la disposition d’un plus grand public. Catégorie:Éditeur britanniqueCatégorie:Naissance en 1902Catégorie:Décès en 1970 (fr)
  • Sir Allen Lane (eigentlich Allen Williams; * 21. September 1902 in Bristol, Gloucestershire; † 7. Juli 1970 in Northwood, Middlesex) war einer der bedeutendsten britischen Verleger des 20. Jahrhunderts, Pionier des Taschenbuchs in England und Gründer des Penguin-Verlags . Er gab 1935 zunächst billige Reprint-Ausgaben zeitgenössischer Autoren für 6 Pence heraus, den Preis einer Packung Zigaretten, später auch andere Serien, darunter eine Shakespeare-Ausgabe, die erfolgreiche Kinderbuchserie Puffin Story Books und Homers Odyssee . Das erfolgreichste Werk war die 1960 erschienene ungekürzte Ausgabe von Lady Chatterley's lover von D. H. Lawrence, das sich - nach einem aufsehenerregenden Prozess - über 3,5 Millionen mal verkaufte - 2 Millionen davon innerhalb von sechs Wochen. Lane wurde 1952 zum Ritter ernannt und zog sich 1969 nach Erscheinen des 3. 000sten Penguin-Titels aus dem Verlag zurück. (de)
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  • Sir Allen Lane (21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970), was a British publisher who founded Penguin Books, bringing high quality, paperback fiction and non-fiction to a mass market. Allen Lane Williams was born in Bristol to Camilla and Samuel Williams, and studied at Bristol Grammar School. In 1919 he joined the publishing company Bodley Head as an apprentice to his uncle and founder of the company John Lane. (en)
  • Allen Lane (1902-1970) est un éditeur britannique qui commence sa carrière d’éditeur chez Bodley Head, la maison d’édition progressiste appartenant � son oncle John Lane. Il devient directeur de la société en 1925 et président en 1930. (fr)
  • Sir Allen Lane (eigentlich Allen Williams; * 21. September 1902 in Bristol, Gloucestershire; † 7. Juli 1970 in Northwood, Middlesex) war einer der bedeutendsten britischen Verleger des 20. (de)
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  • Allen Lane (en)
  • Allen Lane (éditeur) (fr)
  • Allen Lane (de)
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