A complete set of original first edition copies of all seven of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books, prominent among the most famous children’s books ever written. This set comprises later printings from the 1950s and 1960s in good condition. The books are gorgeously and copiously illustrated by Pauline Baynes (typically 40+ images in each book) including colour frontispieces in the first two books and four monochrome plates in The Horse and His Boy. Each book has its original dustjacket. The first three books in the series have been successfully produced as movies and a cinematic version of The Silver Chair is awaited. The Last Battle won the Carnegie Medal in 1956.
In overall very good condition and none is ex-library: a talking point for any bookshelf. See book-by-book condition reports.
The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, 6th printing, 1962, Geoffrey Bles, NOT ex-library and very good with an inscription and light foxing spots to the endpapers and the boards. The dustjacket also has a few spots of foxing and small repairs to some fold corners and is price clipped.
Prince Caspian, 7th printing 1969, Geoffrey Bles, the book is NOT ex-library and near fine with an inscription to the rear of the half-title leaf and a 2mm diameter hole on the spine just beneath the author. The dustjacket has some faint discoloration to areas of its rear panel and a crease across the top of its rear panel and is price clipped.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 3rd printing 1960, Geoffrey Bles, NOT ex-library. Mild fading to the edges of the boards and a hard-to-see tear repair to the lower inside corner of the frontispiece and a small owner’s signature at the top of the half-title page. The dustjacket is very good with some tear repairs and a repair to the top of its spine and some creasing and a bit of light foxing.
The Silver Chair, 4th printing, 1961, Geoffrey Bles, NOT ex-library, the book is near fine with a 3mm diameter spot at the top edge of the endpaper map. The dustjacket is very good with a few small chip repairs to its edges.
The Horse and His Boy, 3rd printing, 1959, Geoffrey Bles, NOT ex-library and near fine except for a 2cm closed tear in the top left corner of the front panel of the dustjacket.
The Magician’s Nephew, 5th printing, 1966, Bodley Head, NOT ex-library. The book is near fine with an award plate to the front endpaper. The dustjacket is price clipped and has small chip repairs to some fold corner and the top and bottom of its spine and light creases to the top right corner of its rear panel. The first four printings of the dustjacket were tinted in a deep grey-green which was changed to a lighter shade of green for this fifth printing.
The Last Battle, 3rd printing, 1961, Bodley Head, NOT ex-library but has traces of a label having been removed from the front endpaper. The book is intact and complete, but has marks to some pages, about the worst two cases being shown in a set of 4 photos of the interior of this book with also short tape marks to the front and rear endpapers and pastedowns, also shown in these photos. There are very faint letters LF to the spine. The jacket is very good with a touch of foxing and small chip repairs at some fold corners and at the top of the spine.
The books will have their dustjackets protected in removable clear cellophane when delivered (shown present in the photo of the spines of the books on a bookshelf) and will be posted in bubblewrap and cardboard layers to preserve their condition.