"But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again"
By LEWIS, Clive Staples; and BAYNES, Pauline , 1950
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The Chronicles of Narnia.

  • Author: LEWIS, Clive Staples; and BAYNES, Pauline
  • Publication place: London,
  • Publication date: 1950-1956.
  • Physical description: First British Edition. Complete in 7 Volumes. Octavo (199 by 135mm).

    'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe', Geoffrey Bles, 1950: 173pp. Light discolouration on boards and spine, printed ex libris to front pastedown.

    'Prince Caspian', 1951: 195pp, some light foxing.

    'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader', Geoffrey Bles, 1952. 224pp, price label adhered to second blank, dust jacket with light soiling on verso and some edge wear at spine.

    'The Silver Chair', Geoffrey Bles, 1953: 217pp, front end paper with some discolouration, dust jacket restored with manuscript facsimile of small missing portion of letter "E" of "The" in title.

    'The Horse and His Boy', Geoffrey Bles, 1954: 199pp, gift inscription to half title, front endpaper with some discolouration.

    'The Magician's Nephew', The Bodley Head, 1955. 183pp, gift inscription to front endpaper, dust wrapper price clipped, discolouration to spine and lower cover, closed tear of 20mm to dust jacket.

    'The Last Battle', The Bodley Head, 1958: 184pp, faint smudge to fore-edge, some discolouration to back of dust jacket.
  • Inventory reference: 22064

Notes

All seven volumes of 'The Chronicles of Narnia', all first edition, first printings, in original dust jackets, illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

The Books
"This is the land of Narnia," said the Faun, "where we are now; all that lies between the lamp-post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea". A world of talking animals, mythical creatures and magic, Narnia is the setting for one of literature's most beloved children's series. Written between 1950 and 1956, C.S. Lewis' 'The Chronicles of Narnia' consist of seven novels telling the age-old tale of good versus evil. While Dufflepuds, Marsh-wiggles, enchanted wardrobes, fantastical castles and Turkish delight add to the charm of the stories, it is the great allegory at its heart that makes 'The Chronicles of Narnia' an enduring and profound work of literature. Indeed, the books have remained in continuous print since their publication, with translations into 47 languages and over 120 million copies sold.

Lewis dedicated the first book to his goddaughter Lucy Barfield and gave her name to the fictional Lucy Pevensie, who, along with her siblings Peter, Susan, and Edmund, figures as a character in the series.

"A whole generation has grown up of people who read the Narnia stories in childhood, and have passed on the secret to their own children in turn. Whatever Lewis's future reputation as a theologian or literary critic, he is certain of a place among the classic authors of children's books" (Wilson, p220).

The mapmaker, Pauline Baynes, however, barely profited in this success as she sold her work to Lewis's publishers for a flat fee of just
£100 per book.

Cosmology
Lewis's Narnia exists in a tri-partite flat world with a heaven and stars occupying the "domed sky" above, and the "Underland" (sometimes "Underworld"), a kind of Hades-like environment, through which characters can wander, and the firey "Bism" below. The sun and moon rise from the "Utter East" and set in the "Utter West", and the "Last Sea in the east" is bright with a "drinkable light". There are stars and planets in the sky but in the Narnian world they are people who move accordingly, and some live on the surface.

The Maps
Lewis did not intend for his own illustrations to be published in his books, intending instead that a professional artist would create a more polished interpretation. Pauline Baynes was introduced to Lewis by his fellow Inkling J.R.R.Tolkien, and she redrafted the map for publication in 'Prince Caspian', the second book of the series.

In a letter with further instructions for Baynes, dated 8 January 1951, Lewis described the finished look he was hoping for:

"My idea was that the map should be more like a medieval map than an Ordnance Survey – mountains and castles drawn – perhaps winds blowing at the corners – and a few heraldic-looking ships, whales and dolphins in the sea".

The country of Narnia itself is around 90 miles from East to West and 60 miles from North to South. If it was rectangular, its area would be 5,400 square miles, or about the size of Montenegro. The seven volumes contain four printed maps as endpapers to 'Prince Caspian'; 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'; 'The Horse and His Boy'; and 'The Silver Chair'.

'Prince Caspian'
'A Map of Narnia and Adjoining Lands', extending from 'The Wildlands of the North' to 'Archenland' in the South. To the east is 'Glasswater' and 'Cair Paravel' with the sea, populated with a compass rose, sea monster, and ship, beyond. Other toponyms are 'Lantern Waste'; 'Miraz his Castle'; 'Beaverstown'; 'Great River'; 'Beruna'; 'Aslan's How'; 'Dancing Lawn'; 'Bulgy Beard Home'; and 'Trufflehunters Cave'.

The area to the west of Narnia is unmapped, but the reader knows from the text that it includes the country of Telmar, from whence the Telmarines invaded and conquered Narnia.

'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'
A map of the opposite direction, east, appears, printed in light blue, on the front endpaper of 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. It traces the journey of the Dawn Treader from 'Cair Paravel', at the mouth of the 'Great River', by way of 'Galma', 'Terebinthia', and the 'Seven Isles', to the point at which the three children joined the ship. Also on the map are the 'Lone Islands'.

The map has two names on it which do not appear in the book: 'The Great Eastern Ocean', for the area about and beyond the Lone Islands, and 'The Bight of Calormen', for the waters immediately off the coast of Narnia. "Obviously this latter is the more interesting of the two names, for Pauline Baynes surely had Lewis' authority for giving the title" (Christopher).

'The Horse and His Boy' The map of the south in 'The
Horse and His Boy' mainly shows the desert between 'Archenland' and 'Calormen'. To the south, the city of 'Tashbaan' on its river-island, and on the north, the castle 'Anvard'; 'Mount Pire'; 'Stormness Head'; 'The River Winding Arrow'; and the 'pass into Narnia'; are shown. Archenland, as shown here, seems narrower than it does in either map of 'Prince Caspian' or 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'.

'The Silver Chair'
The final map, that of the 'Wild Lands of the North', covers the surface adventures of the two children and the Marsh-wiggle. It shows the marshes in the northeast of Narnia (also shown on the map in 'Prince Caspian'), the 'River Shribble', 'Ettinsmoor' (spelled "Ettinsmuir" in 'The Last Battle', p170), the giant bridge across the river at the top of the moors, the mountains further north, and both 'Harfang' and the ruined city just before it.

Bibliography

  1. Christopher, 'An Introduction to Narnia – Part II: The Geography of the Chronicles', 1971
  2. Wilson, 'C.S. Lewis: A Biography', 1990.

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