British Book Clubs

An early Reprint Society (World Books) dust jacket - Charles Dickens A later Reprint Society dust jacket (Major Thompson books) Book clubs have a history dating back to the 17th century but those organisations mostly involved a small elite of well-to-do educated gentlemen or were co-operative efforts by small groups of readers to purchase the fairly costly books of those days. Growing literacy through the 19th and 20th centuries eventually led to the introduction in April 1926 of the Book of the Month Club in New York, USA. In 1929 the Book Society was launched in the UK. I have long had an interest in the first forty years of these clubs. I hope to one day produce a history and bibliography of all the British Book Clubs from 1929-1974; possibly this could be a PhD thesis.
Another incised motif from a Reprint Society special (The Old Man and the Sea)

An incised motif on one of the Reprint Society specials (Anthony Adverse) One of the early very simple Companion Book Club dust jackets (Ride a Rhino). A more recent Companion book club jacket (The Lonely Sergeant)

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	Book clubs have a history dating back to the 17th century but those organisations mostly involved a small elite of well-to-do educated gentlemen or were co-operative efforts by small groups of readers to purchase the fairly costly books of those days. Growing literacy through the 19th and 20th centuries eventually led to the introduction in April 1926 of the Book of the Month Club in New York, USA. In 1929 the Book Society was launched in the UK. I have long had an interest in the first forty years of these clubs. I hope to one day produce a history and bibliography of all the British Book Clubs from 1929-1974; possibly this could be a PhD thesis.