Below is a brief history and an, I think, complete list of the Zephyr Books published by the Swedish Publisher Albert Bonniers Förlag from 1942 to 1950. From Nick Procyk, a fellow Zephyr Books collector, I learned that I had earlier missed book number 98. Now the list should be complete and definite, as Nick got his list straight from Bonniers. Thanks for the update Nick.

I gathered this information whilst collecting the Zephyr Books from the summer of 2004 till the end of 2011. I started collecting the Zephyr Books series because 1) they are so beautiful 2) it's often quite good, or very good, literature, and 3) it made my normal idling in used bookshops seemingly more meaningful. I gave up collecting these books because I had read the books I was interested in, and had very little interest to read the books I was missing. I'll keep this page up-to-date if anything new comes to my knowledge.

Most of the information in the list was gathered from the Libris database at the Kungliga Biblioteket (Royal Library in Stockholm). However, I have found that, as the sun, even LIBRIS has its dark spots. At least I have found (and own) a few editions not listed in LIBRIS. Maybe I should report this ...

A brief history of the Zephyr Books.

I have found three sources of information on the Zephyr Books series. The first is the autobiography, »Minnen och Möten« (something like »Recollections and Encounters« in English) (pp. 106–108), of Georg Svensson, the literary editor of the series. The second source is the second book in a series about the history of the Bonniers, »Konsolidering och expansion 1930–1954« (»Consolidation and Expansion 1930–1954«) (pp. 102–105), by Staffan Sundin. The third (and best) source is the booklet »A Full List of Zephyr Books.« I have reproduced the cover and introductory text below (printed in gray).

THE PROLOGUE to the story of Zephyr Books was written during the war of 1939 to 1945. Like most other European countries, Sweden was practically cut off from England and America, and no books in English could be imported. But there was an ever increasing demand for them, and so the Continental Book Company was established in 1942, with the object of publishing books in English to satisfy in some measure the growing need, not only in Sweden but in other parts of the continent where the selling of English books was still possible in spite of the war, namely Switzerland, Portugal and Turkey. The difficulties were of course exceedingly great, as the transport routes were always controlled by the Germans. Nevertheless, it was found possible to make secret exports of Zephyr Books, not only to the neutral countries already mentioned, but also in considerable quantities to some of the "satellite states," especially Hungary and Italy, to occupied Denmark and the non-occupied zone of France. New volumes were added to the series at regular intervals, and when the war drew to its close about fifty Zephyr Books were already on sale in eight European countries.

During the closing phase of the war, the increasing disorganization of transport facilities on the continent stopped exports to other countries, and this state of affairs lasted until a long time after the armistice. It was then a question as to whether the publication of Zephyr Books should cease, having fulfilled its original purpose of satisfying the need for English literature in countries prevented by the war from obtaining any, or whether it should be continued on a wider basis. There were two main reasons why the second course was decided upon. For almost a century before the war, the firm of Tauchnitz, in Leipzig, had produced the best of English literature in a continental edition, and Tauchnitz books were well known and appreciated wherever there was an English reading public. Every bookshop of any size in all countries except the British Empire and the United States of America carried a constant stock of these books, which answered to the taste and requirements of the continental public. The total destruction of the Leipzig book industry made it clear that for a long time at any rate Tauchnitz would be unable to start work again. It was also evident that the enormous loss thus caused could not easily be made good by any country that had itself suffered through the war and was bound to feel its after-effects. Sweden, on the other hand, with her means of production left intact and with her abundant supplies of paper, was in a position to replace the Tauchnitz editions and all they had meant for the book market. Furthermore, the high literary standard, the attractive appearance and the cheapness of Zephyr Books had made them so popular wherever they were sent that the publishers were encouraged to continue.

That is the real beginning of the story of Zephyr Books. Publication was extended as fast as the continental market was reopened for freer trade, the number of volumes was doubled within a year and a hundred have now left the press, while a hundred more are in preparation, as shown in this catalogue. New technical arrangements have been made to speed up production and to make the books even cheaper than before, and the publishers are now equipped to meet any demand. The literary standard will be maintained at its high level, as Zephyr Books aim at winning the confidence of the most fastidious reader, but the selection will not be one-sided: together with the classics will be found the best detective fiction, and beside modern prose of proven worth, poetry and drama will have their place. Those interested in English literature will always find excellent books in the series, and the publishers have also thought of including good literature for school use. Zephyr Books will look well in your bookcase, and thanks to their convenient format they can be taken on journeys and holidays. The colour of the dust-cover indicates the category of literature to which the volume belongs, and the stars on the back show the price-class. The series has been given a personal note by its special volumes, such as the anthologies and the edition of Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," with illustrations perfectly adapted to the spirit of the work and made exclusively for this edition by one of England's foremost illustrators. No one can demand a higher standard than the publishers have set themselves, and as it has always been proved that a good series of books finds a market and maintains itself in the face of competition, the Continental Book Company is confident of continued success.

So, due to the Second World War publishers in the UK and USA had big difficulties. There were both labour and paper shortages, and very few new-published books reached Swedish booksellers. In 1941–42, when the situation was quite serious, the idea was formed that American and English books should be published in Sweden, were there were plenty of both labour and paper.

The Continental Book Company was formed and the series Clipper Books was commenced. The books in the Clipper Books series were bound, and were meant to be more or less exact copies of the originals — they were reprinted from an original. About fifteen titles were published. As a result of the lack of success for the Clipper Books series, the cheaper Zephyr Books series was launched in 1942 with Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms as its first title. The Zephyr Books were an immediate success. The Zephyr Books series was made after the pattern of the German Tauchnitz and Albatross series, both discontinued due to the second world war. In order not to compete with the domestic markets all books have »Not to be introduced into the British Empire or the U. S. A.« printed on the back cover.

Rather surprisingly, Bonniers continued working on the Zephyr books even when WWII had ended, and British and American publishers were back in business. It seems odd they thought it would be possible to compete on equal terms with the bigger British and American publishers, but they did.

The beautiful logotype to the right was designed by Iwan W. Fischerström. (This fact was acknowledged in the 1942 and early 1943 editions.) In what might have been an attempt to boost falling sales a new logotype (to the left, below) was used for the 1949 and 1950 editions. Apart from the new logotype the books were identical to the earlier versions.

The covers were colour-coded depending on the contents: red for »modern American authors«, blue for »modern English authors«, green for »classics«, yellow for »detective fiction and thrillers«, grey for »anthologies and special volumes«, light blue for »poetry and drama«, and finally, purple for »memoirs and biographies«. Examples of all covers can be seen in the cover browser (from my own collection) below.

As mentioned above the Zephyr series consisted mainly of reprints. However, some of the titles were produced and published directly by »The Continental Book Company«. Four anthologies were produced: The Zephyr Book of American Verse edited by Ebba Dalin with assistance from Frederic Prokosch; The Zephyr Book of American Prose, The Zephyr Book of English Verse, and Twelve Modern Poets. A new edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass with new and quite wonderful illustrations by Mervyn Peake was published in 1946.

According to Sundin 157 titles in 162 volumes were published. I have 167 volumes in my list, which might include a few books that never were published. On the other hand, I have six titles (Fame is the Spur 1–2, Of Human Bondage 1–2, Vanity Fair 1–2, David Copperfield 1–2, Captain from Castile 1–2, and Lust for Life 1–2) in two volumes which is one more than the »157 and 162« information. It can be mentioned that Georg Svensson wrote that 230 titles were produced, which clearly is just wrong.

This is what the missing covers should look like. I have made them in Inkscape — the font used for the titles is called Allegro and was apparently quite popular in the nineteen-forties.

Of course, nothing prevents me from making Zephyr Books covers for the editions that were canceled. In the image to the right we can see what Herman Melville's masterpiece Moby Dick probably would have looked like if Bonnier hadn't given up on the project when they did. It would have been a very nice-looking book, I think. When I look at the list of canceled books it's obvious the literary quality would have been as just high as it always had been. The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Richard Wright's Native Son, the U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos, The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and The Unvanquished by Faulkner, and the list goes on. They also had two new anthologies in preparation — The Zephyr Book of English Prose and The Zephyr Book of English Essays.

All Zephyr Books — both published and unpublished!

Books listed in black is or was part of my own collection. The books listed in grey were never published due to the cancellation of the Zephyr Books series. Books listed in red are titles I never owned. Hence, titles in black and red were published and printed at least the years in the Editions column.

Copyright © 2008–2011 Peter Andrén