Publishing in the UK during the Second World War

It used to be said that publishing always flourished during a war; time can weigh heavily on people who have either been uprooted from, or confined to, their homes. Certainly, during the Second World War, the numbers affected were vast, and in the UK, reading quickly became a popular way of dealing with the long hours during the blackouts. But this was also the first the general population in the UK found themselves and the cities in which they lived and worked, under direct attack. Not surprisingly, this also brought unique difficulties to book publishing between 1939 and 1945. 

The financial crash of 1929, which, at the time, barely affected publishers turnover, had, by 1939, caught up and hit the trade hard, reducing the habit of book-buying to unprecedented levels. All of those interested in the production and distribution of books were dismayed at the dire situation into which British publishing had fallen. The industry had previously prided itself on the fact that the UK annually produced more books of a higher technical and material standard than any other country in Europe, and, possibly, more than any other country in the world. The UK publishers had built up an excellent export trade, and the export of books from a country meant that its culture and ideas were also being circulated in other lands. The violent, political upheavals taking place across Europe at this time gave additional impetus to these considerations. 

By September 1939, the UK was at war. With many forms of entertainment difficult to attend or no longer available, the function of books became of vital importance. Education had also been disrupted to an unparalleled degree and it was generally argued that only through books might the resulting deficiencies be made up. The consensus was certainly that books had an essential function to play in the well-being of all sections of the community. 

However, there were contradictions in what the Government appeared to see as the function of books during the Second World War. On the one hand, the Government Information department circulated memoranda emphasising the importance of books to maintain morale, whilst other departments were seen (certainly by the publishing industry) to be making the production of books almost an impossibility because of the call-up of printers and book-binders. The Government decreed that printers should be reserved (not called up for active service) but only at a comparatively high age. However, whilst the Services claimed many thousands of printers, thousands more were transferred to other essential trades because of their ability to adapt to the operating of machines for armaments manufacture. In fact, printing was so poorly paid that many left the industry voluntarily because it was possible to earn more in the munitions industry. In all, about one third of the workforce left the print industry for the duration of the war. 

But the biggest blow to publishing was the severe rationing of paper (effectively, a cut of 60%) from June 1941.1 The total amount allowed to all established book publishers per year was less than 22,000 tons. This compares with 250,000 tons for newspapers; 100,000 tons for H M Stationary Office; and 50,000 tons for periodicals. The publisher, Sir Stanley Unwin, in The Publishers Circular and Booksellers Record described the situation thus; Normally, as we well know, supply readily catches up with demand. When labour and materials are freely available, the speed of book production is so incredibly rapid that no amount of bombing could keep up with it. But the acute paper shortage and the bottle-neck of binding make it impossible to replace stock as fast as it is sold. Before the war, the most important ingredient of paper for use in traditional book production was esparto grass from North Africa. During the war this was replaced largely by home-grown wood-fibre and straw, making paper considerably greyer and weaker, making binding less secure and foredges more prone to damage even when handled with care. 

Demand for books was, paradoxically, accentuated by the Government's own Ministry Information, as well as the British Council and the Red Cross, all of whom were large war-time buyers, and there was the ever-increasing supply of books to Serve personnel and Prisoners of War. The replacement of blitzed public library collections was another exceptional source of orders, and, of equal importance, was the demand from changes of occupation and the immigration to the UK of airmen, soldiers and civilians of other nationalities. President Roosevelt's dictum that you can no more win a war of ideas without books than you can win a naval battle without ships became the mantra of British publishers as their representatives argued their case with the Government for more sympathetic support. 

P. V. Daley wrote in the British Printer, January 1942, 'the more informed public opinion is, the more enlightened and realistic will be the perception of the needs of their Government. But apart from this consideration there is also the importance of foreign countries being able to learn at first-hand what the intelligentsia of this country is thinking about. The fact that over £3 million is lost to this country by the inability of publishers to supply foreign demand is not so important as the value of foreigners understanding us and our viewpoint.' 

For the war-time author this period was grim. Best sellers were not sought since publishers would find them an embarrassment under such conditions. Established writers saw their books produced in small editions with little prospect of reprinting. The status of the author had fallen because they were not considered an essential factor in the war effort. Meanwhile, for the new writer, there were practically no opportunities because the market for magazine contributions had almost vanished since many publications had disappeared or, at best, been dramatically reduced in size. The position of the British Libraries was also difficult. The Government repeatedly urged local authorities to maintain a normal library service for the workers and even to expand that service. But in his article 'Is it Culture or Kultur?'2 Frederick Cowles explained; 'Yet nothing is done to make to make books available for purchase, and the Ministry of Labour has already sabotaged all advance planning [by taking] men and women from the libraries and putting them into the Services and blandly suggesting that a [new] librarian can be trained in three months.' 

All forms of transport were disrupted by enemy action and none more than shipping. The resulting shortages in raw materials very quickly led to actions aimed at regaining a semblance of commercial order and social responsibility. On the 1st January 1940 the Book Production War Economy Agreement came into operation. This agreement was voluntarily put into place by the publishers themselves in response to the effect of paper rationing. Walter G. Harrap, president of the Publishers Association explained, 'I am sure you will agree with me that [drawing up this agreement] is a far better than having regulations imposed which are ill-conceived and are not based true knowledge of the technical details involved. Never before in the history of publishing in the UK has it been necessary to regulate the actual format adopted by publishers. It has been suggested on a number of occasions that books should be standardised but there is so much individuality in the making of books that we hold the view that such standardisation would be detrimental, particularly in the export market. Under our scheme it is still possible for the craftsman to show his skill.' There was one section of the agreement, section five, which dealt with the use of typography in book production. Other sections dealt with the weight and substance of paper for text pages and the maximum weight of boards to be used for the binding of books. Books produced solely for export were exempt from all restrictions, although publishers were urged to observe all possible and reasonable economies. (Section 5 of the agreement is reproduced at the end of this article.) 

I can find no account of dissent from within the publishing industry. To do so would have been interpreted (understandably) as unpatriotic. But I suspect another reason why there were no adverse comments was that the agreement was so undemanding. The attitude taken by the journal British Printer is typical of the time, celebrating the fine effort the publishing industry was making on behalf of the country, 'a line, or two lines more on a page, a dozen pages less every book, means that tons of paper will be saved, and there will be more space on railway wagons and in ships holds for food and for commodities necessary for the war effort.'3 

Reading the agreement today, what is so astonishing is how conservative the Publishing Association thought it had to be, even in these, the most extreme of circumstances. Considering their huge loss in sales despite the enormous demand for books it is surprising that they were not prepared to consider more radical solutions to the production of more books with less paper. 

The key elements of the agreement were the limitation of margins and the average minimum number of words required per page. Seán Jennett in the British Printer reported, '55 per cent type area to 45 per cent margins may not seem a great economy at first sight for it still leaves nearly half the paper unused. But the public would be astonished if they realised that a book with generous margins has, perhaps only 40 or 45 per cent type area, yet they would not want the margins cut down drastically, for they help considerably towards ease of reading, or allow room for caustic comments on the author, or for children to draw aeroplanes and tanks.'4 Whilst it is obvious that margins have a practical role to play, it is remarkable to see that the writing of a reader's comments or of children's drawings offered as an argument for their retention. 

Similarly, so generous were the allowed type sizes that it was often found impossible to use the maximum size type allowable and still obtain the requisite minimum number of words per page, and so, since it is generally preferable to use smaller type leaded than to use the maximum size set solid, 11/12pt was a regular alternative. 

Although signing up to this agreement was voluntary (whether publishers were members of the Publishers Association or not) the severe rationing of paper and its escalating cost should have ensured that every opportunity to affect further economies of space in the setting of type would be taken regardless. The fact that the traditional publishing industry was so shy of making any changes whatsoever allowed the renegade publisher, Allen Lane to dominate the war years and establish a new way of designing and selling books that was to revolutionise publishing. To the chagrin of their competitors, Allen Lane's Penguin Books flourished in these times of paper rationing and escalating costs, all of which emphasised the advantages gained by economy of materials and production which, in turn, were reflected in the practical advantages to the reader of smaller, convenient format, size and weight. Even paper rationing, imposed in June 1941, and based upon 60 per cent of what each company had used between 1st September 1938 to 31st August 1939, just happened to coincide with the highly successful launch of the King Penguin Series. During that period, every other British publisher complained that this had been one of the worst periods ever experienced by the book trade. 

Today, early Penguin books, from their launch in 1935 to the end of the war, are still easy to find in second-hand bookshops.5 And despite their utilitarian binding and poor-quality paper, they are usually in a reasonable state and perfectly readible. This is due to the fact that for Penguin Books, the Book Production War Economy Agreement was an irrelevance. Even prior to 1940, the text-to-page ratio of Penguin fiction was regularly 63 per cent, offering about 325 words per page – both factors already within the range that was set by the agreement in 1942. In fact, pre-war Penguin nonfiction, text-to-page ratios were often well over 70 per cent. However, the highest ratio I can find is in a book that was one of a series specially printed for the armed services. Such books are certainly not a comfortable read but with economy a prime concern Penguin produced a 75 per cent text-to-page ration, with an average word count per page of over 480. Remember that the minimum word-count stated by the Book Production War Economy Agreement for the equivalent size of book, was just 323! At the end of the war, Penguin Books, in business terms, stood more or less where it had stood when the war began. This is a remarkable achievement, particularly when compared to the xstraditional, hard-cover publishers, for whom times had changed so radically that the face of publishing in the English-speaking world had been permanently changed. 

Section 5: 
Typographical Standards Type-to-page Ratio and maximum Type Sizes Standard. The percentage of the Type-Area to the Page-Area (untrimmed) must not be less than58 per cent. and the Size of Type (or Types) employed must not (except as specified below) exceed: Demy 8vo (8 3/4 inches x 5 5/8 inches) and over: 12 point, 1 point leaded. Crown 8vo (7 1/2 inches x 5 inches) up to but not including Demy 11 point, 1 point leaded. Below Crown 8vo: 11 point solid. The following variations (or their respective equivalents) and exemptions are pein respect of the size of type:(i) Educational Books. For Infants (ie under 7 years): no regulation. For Students of 7 11 years: 14 point, 2 point leaded. For Students of 11 14 years: 12 point: 1 point leaded.(ii) Children’s Books. For children under 11 years: no regulation. For children of 11 16: 12 point, 1 point leaded.(iii) Books of 64 pages and under are exempt from this standard. Explanatory Note: A book may be set to any measure, provided the type area (including headlines, if any,but excluding folios) is not less than 58 per cent of the area of the untrimmed page. The type (or types) used in books produced to this standard must keep within the maxi -mum size and degree of leading permitted or its equivalent. Publishers will be free to set in any smaller size, or sizes, solid or leaded, provided that the leading does not result in fewer words being contained within a given area than if the specified maximum had been used. II. The Minimum Words-per-Page Standard. The average full page of books set to this standard must contain the following minimum number of words, but the percentage of the type-area to the page-area (untrimmed)must not be less than 55 per cent. Demy 8vo and larger, at the rate of 10 words per square inch of untrimmed paper,27 per cent. Crown 8vo up to but not including Demy 8vo, at the rate of 10 words per square in untrimmed paper. Below Crown 8vo, at the rate of 16 words per square inch of untrimmed paper, plus 23 per cent.(Examples: 8 3/4 inches x 5 5/8 inches = 478 words; 7 1/2 inches x 5 inches = 37words; 7 inches x 4 1/2 inches = 323 words).Short Books: For books of no more than 40,000 words the following variations from the above standard are permitted:(a) Books of 40,000 – 20,000 words may contain 15 per cent fewer words per page. (b) Books of less than 20,000 words may contain 25 per cent fewer words per page. (c) Books of 64 pages and under are exempt from this standard. Explanatory Note: This standard defines the minimum number of words that an average full page of straight-set text must contain. Where more than one size of type is used (eg for footnotes, quotations, etc., in smaller type), the standard for the whole book will be reckoned in the type principally used. In counting of total words each part of a divided or hyphenated word counts as one word. An abbreviation counts as one word. A short Iine counts as a full line, but neither headlines nor folios are to be counted. The word computation shall be based on a count of ten consecutive full lines on each of ten separate pages taken at random.