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LEWIS, C.S. Illustrations by Pauline Baynes.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, The Last Battle.

Exceptionally rare complete first edition set of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia; each volume in the rare original dust jacket

London: Geoffrey Bles/The Bodley Head, 1950-1956.

$29,500.00
Out of Stock Item Number: RRB-149763
* Custom Clamshell Boxes are hand made by the Harcourt Bindery upon request and take approximately 60 days to complete
Complete first edition set of C.S. Lewis's best-selling work, one of the best-selling series of all time which has sold 120 million copies in 47 languages. “Adored by children and academics alike, these books are extremely collectable, sought-after, and scarce” (Connolly, 186). Octavo, seven volumes, original publisher's cloth, each volume illustrated with plates, in-text illustrations, and maps by Pauline Baynes, including color where called for. Comprising first editions of: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, ownership name to the front free endpaper, damp-staining to the spine, tape reinforcements to the verso of the dust jacket, portions of loss to the dust jacket extremities, sunning to the front panel cloth extremities, 1950; Prince Caspian, light wear to the dust jacket extremities, 1951; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, jacket repaired and restored with expert retouches, 1952; The Silver Chair, with some wear to the dust jacket, 1953; The Horse and His Boy, name on slightly toned front free endpaper, some damp-staining to first and last few pages, jacket repaired and restored including chip to the rear panel, 1954; The Magician's Nephew, rubbing and wear to jacket extremities, 1955; The Last Battle, spotting to the dust jacket, spine head reinforced with tape verso, 1956. Each volume is near fine in a very good to near fine dust jackets. A rare complete first edition set of Lewis's timeless, cherished series.
The Chronicles of Narnia is "unforgettable not only for the excitement and suspense of the adventures but also for the strong emotions they describe so well [and they are] further enriched by Lewis' skillful use of language" (Silvey, 406). "Each book has something new and different to offer and there is no weakening of either inspiration or interest" (Eyre, 132). Lewis' inspiration came from a dream: "At first I had very little idea how the story would go. But then suddenly Aslan came bounding into it. I think I had been having a good many dreams of lions about that time. [O]nce he was there, he pulled the whole story together, and soon he pulled the six other Narnian stories in after him (On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature, 1980). Lewis's aim with the series was "to do for children what he had done for an adult readership in his science fiction; to re-imagine the story in an exciting narrative context. [The Narnia books are] intoxicating to all but the most relentlessly unimaginative of readers, and must be judged the most sustained achievement in fantasy for children by a 20th-century author" (Carpenter & Pritchard, 370). “Adored by children and academics alike, these books are extremely collectable, sought-after, and scarce” (Connolly, 186).
$29,500.00
Out of Stock