Chatto & Windus (London, UK) & William Heinemann Ltd. (London, UK)
Series Dates: 1952-1956
Size: 7″ x 4.5″
Updated 9/1/2024
The Vanguard Library (not to be confused with Vanguard Books, a US series from the 1930s) was a joint venture published by Chatto & Windus in association with William Heinemann Ltd. At least one title (Venture to the Interior, by Laurens Van der Post) was published by the Hogarth Press (thanks to Paul Wagner for this information). This joint venture likely resulted from a need for a larger group of backlist titles to include in the series. The series was in print for only a few years in the early 1950s. It consisted of back catalog titles, mostly modern fiction, with a smattering of more and less serious fiction.
The first six titles in the series seem to have had a common jacket design. This 1952 first issue of Huxley’s Brave New World in the series is 3p./6s. The price is indicated on the spine and jacket cover. The jacket designer (the somewhat distinguished Edward Bawden) is mentioned on the front jacket flap. The series number is not included on the jacket.
The book is summarized on the jacket back, and a list of the first six titles in the series (including this title) is on the back jacket flap.
Bindings are coarse beige cloth.
The paper used was very cheap, coarse, brittle, and yellowing 50 years after the book was published. Titles in the series are listed facing the title page.
The copyright page indicates the series as a collaboration between Chatto & Windus and William Heinemann.
A second jacket, from a book also published for the first time in 1952, lists up to 24 titles. The design is unique to the title and probably uses artwork from the original book. In this case, the jacket design is credited to “Biro.” The series seems to have reached at least 30 titles by the mid-1950s (#30 was The Backward Bride: A Sicilian Scherzo by Aubrey Menen). The series number is included on this jacket (unlike the Huxley title).
The rear of the jacket continues the list of titles in the series.
