A Red Letter Day, Indeed

The Fall of Númenor [and Other Tales of the Second Age of Middle-earth] (2022), Edited by Brian Sibley and Compiled from The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, volumes from The History of Middle-earth by Christopher Tolkien, and other sources. Illustrations by Alan Lee. 

The day began rainy, cold, and grey, and remained so. But things began looking up when Susan and Andy took us all the Grand Buffet for an early supper. When we returned, I found this book awaiting me on the porch, and things went into a higher gear.

I took the package in and eagerly unwrapped it with trembling hands. I was immediately struck by the beauty of the volume. Illustrated throughout by a dozen paintings and innumerable pencil sketches by Alan Lee, this book gathers together nearly everything known about the island kingdom of Númenor and the Second Age of Middle-earth, all from Tolkien's own published writings or Christopher Tolkien's editing of his unpublished work. It is up-to-date even unto The Nature of Middle-earth (2021, edited by Carl F. Hostetter). It thus contains no 'original work' beyond Sibley's Introduction, Notes, and Appendices.

But it does gather together into one location all the scattered previously published material on Númenor into one well-organized, chronological narrative.  Brian Sibley, as well as being an acknowledged expert on Fantasy and Children's Literature, has had a long-standing relationship with Tolkien's work since he adapted The Lord of the Rings into a series of radio plays over forty years ago.

I watched an interview he gave about the publication of this novel in preparation for its arrival. He was asked the inevitable question about possible ties with Amazon's abomination of The Rings of Power, also set in the Second Age. Sibley was rather cagey in his answers, neither giving it a ringing endorsement or completely handing it over to perdition. He said time will tell when the series has progressed more. I have the feeling that this was a rather politic answer, in view of the changes in the Tolkien Estate. After all, he does not want to be 'canceled', like Tom Shippey.

But here he is treading safe ground for true Tolkien aficionados. It seems very well put together, using Tolkien's own 'Tale of Years' as a skeleton to hang the passages on, and includes a red ribbon marker to hold your place. The book itself is dedicated to Priscilla Tolkien, J. R. R.'s only daughter and honorary vice-president of The Tolkien Society. She died in February of this year, the last of Tolkien's living children.

I, of course, have not had time to do any serious reading in it, but I can hardly wait to go voyaging once again into this 'dark age' of Middle-earth. It will certainly help cleanse my palate after the foul draught of  the streaming service's 'pile of fetid dingo kidneys', and is certain to endure long after that show is an unfortunate but fading memory. Perhaps the 'showrunners' might have benefitted from this book had it been available to them. But then they already had 'Moses and the prophets' and did not listen to them on their road to damnation. Sorry to linger so bitterly on it when this should be more about the book, but it still scrolls my knurd.

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Peter Jackson Films

‘The Lord of the Rings’ Official Movie Guide, by Brian Sibley. (2001)

Coming out when it did it was, of course, confined to images from the first movie. Nevertheless, it discussed Tolkien and his work, Peter Jackson and his vision, and the actors and artists behind the movies. Was there any follow up by Sibley after the release of all the films? I don’t know, and I’m almost too tired to find out.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Movie Guide. Hardback.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ Visual Companion (2001); ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ Visual Companion (Foreword by Viggo Mortensen) (2002); ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ Visual Companion (2003), by Jude Fisher.

You can’t tell the players (or the playing fields) without a program. Large, profusely illustrated with stills from the movies, simply told, I eagerly snapped up these books and everything else to do with the movies, which were the fulfilment and the ratification of a decades old dream. One could stare gloatingly upon them until the movies themselves were released on DVD.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Visual Companions. Film. Hardback.

The Lord of the Rings: The Art of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Art of ‘The Two Towers’ (2003); The Lord of the Rings: The Art of ‘The Return of the King’ (2004); The Art of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (2004), by Gary Russell.

Presents pre-production art, concept art by Alan Lee and John Howe, set design, creature workshop, props, and costume concepts from the whole film-making process. Each book positively oozes with imagery; the text is just a pretext and explanation for the pictures.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Movie Art. Middle-Earth. Hardbacks.

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Visual Companion (Foreword by Martin Freeman) (2012); ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Visual Companion (Introduction by Richard Armitage)(2013); ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Visual Companion (Introduction by Sir Ian McKellen)(2014), by Jude Fisher.

“Jude Fisher is the pseudonym for Jane Johnson, who is the Publisher of HarperCollins' science fiction and fantasy list, Voyager. She has also been involved in the publishing of JRR Tolkien's works for many years.” – FantasticFiction.com. Oh, dear. We had hoped so much for the ‘Hobbit’ movies, especially after the ‘LOTR’ movie trilogy success. But it was plagued with problems from the start. There is a good film, maybe even two, lurking in there, under Peter Jackson competing with Peter Jackson, and trying to stretch The Hobbit into another epic, like a small bit of good butter spread over too much bread. Anyway, it’s not for lack of good actors and good production design, as these books go to show.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Visual Companions to Films. Hardbacks.

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Official Movie Guide (2012); ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Official Movie Guide (2013); ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Official Movie Guide (2014), by Brian Sibley.

As a superfan of fantasy and film, Brian Sibley certainly has the credentials to talk up these films. I’m sure he was paid well to cheerlead them along, and indeed there is much that can be honestly admired. But I’m afraid his admiration for the people and the processes surrounding the movies might have lulled his critical responses to sleep, and, after all, he is not being paid to find fault or point out possible errors of judgement. Beautiful books, though, full of art and photos.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Movie Guide Tie-Ins, Softcover.

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Chronicles: Art and Design, written by Daniel Falconer; ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Chronicles II: Creatures and Characters, written by Daniel Falconer (Introduction by Andy Serkis); ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Chronicles: Art and Design, by Daniel Falconer (Introduction by Alan Lee).

“Daniel Falconer is a creature, costume, armour, weapon and prop designer for films and known best for his work with Weta on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” – Wikipedia. These beautifully bound books are mainly pretenses to show off the gorgeous production art from ‘The Hobbit’ movies, and they don’t disappoint (unlike the movies themselves). They include (in order of publication): a facsimile of Bilbo’s Contract with Thorin & Company; a fold-out comparative size chart of creatures and characters; and a fold-out portrait of the Master of Lake Town. There is one other in the series, from “Desolation’: “Cloaks and Daggers”, which includes a foldout of the hobbit market from ‘An Unexpected Journey’.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Art and Design. Film. Hardback.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Photo Guide, Edited by Alison Sage. (2001)

“Over 70 Fantastic Pictures.” Bought, of course, when the ‘Fellowship’ was just coming out and enthusiasm was at a fever pitch. If there were any more Guides for the other movies, I didn’t bother to get them.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Movie Photo Album. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis: Biographies and Reminiscences

 

C. S. Lewis: At the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences, Edited by James T. Como.

“A collection of essays by twenty-two men and women whose reminiscences of Lewis as teacher, colleague, and friend form an intimate, candid, and sometimes surprising community biography.” – Amazon. A Collier book, bought in the mid-80’s, and a horrible shade of pink and purple. A good insight into Lewis’s friends as well as into Lewis.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Reminisces. Essays. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands: The Story of His Life with Joy Davidman, by Brian Sibley.

This book has been through so many title permutations. It is dedicated to “Roger Lancelyn Green and June”. It is the story of the love of Lewis and Joy that Sibley later adapted into a TV special and then into the Anthony Hopkins movie. Sibley is a superfan of Fantasy and Children’s Books and Disney, and has written many radio adaptations, specials, and movie makings-of books.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times, by George Sayer.

Harper & Row, with Photos. “Sayer describes Lewis' early years, hinting at childhood evidence of the brilliance and eccentricity that would later become Lewis' hallmarks. He discusses Lewis' academic career, his life-transforming conversion to Christianity, and the role of religion in his life. With honesty and compassion, he covers Lewis' controversial relationship with Mrs. Moore and his passionate marriage to Joy Davidman. This biography of C.S. Lewis, poet, novelist, literary critic and theologian is written by a lifelong friend who seeks to present a more balanced portrait than has been possible before, by making use of family papers and the million word diary kept by Lewis's brother. He vividly describes the Belfast background, the cruel schooling and sadism, Lewis' terrible experiences in the Great War, the strange promise to a brother officer that led him to live with a woman twice his age for years at the Kilns, Oxford, the young poet, the academic career and his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and other Oxford dons who made up The Inklings group. The author goes on to describe Lewis' conversion to Christianity and the run-away success of the wartime Screwtape Lectures on the BBC and the extraordinary marriage to the eccentric American divorcee, Joy Davidman that altered him profoundly in his last years. This book provides a full survey of the whole literary output, academic, fictional, theological and poetic.” – Amazon. It has one of those crumbly paper jackets that never survive for long.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

C. S. Lewis: A Biography, by A. N. Wilson.

Well, I don’t care what some critics say, I like it. There is very little of the hero-worshipper in Wilson, and if he comes up with psychological theories that others don’t agree with, he always has facts to back them up. Of course, the trouble with facts, as Chesterton said somewhere, is that they don’t point one way like a signpost but every which way, like the branches of a tree. Wilson is a very lively and readable writer, and his is an alternative reading that bears some scrutiny and makes for lively debate. Photos.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis: A Life, by Michael White.

“Clive Staples Lewis’s path to renown not only as a groundbreaking literary critic and novelist but also as a Christian theologian was at times intellectually and emotionally chaotic, as award-winning author Michael White reveals in this probing new biography. He follows the young Lewis, a nervous man profoundly depressed by the death of his mother, in a spiritually tormented course that would take him to the upper ranks of English letters. He deconstructs Lewis’s novels and religious works to reveal the frequently tormented soul and imagination from which they sprung. Most importantly, he delves into the mythos that has long surrounded Lewis and rediscovers the man beneath.” – Amazon. White, a former member of The Thompson Twins, has also written a biography of Tolkien. Photos.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis, by Douglas Gresham.

Basically the story of Gresham’s life, up to the death of his mother Joy, who had married Lewis, then Lewis’s death, and then Warnie Lewis’s death, after which he no longer has any connection with the Kilns and moved to Australia for many years. It’s ‘Shadowlands’ from the kids’ point of view, and what happened in the aftermath, and why Gresham, basically Lewis’s heir, was poor.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Memoirs. Hardback.

In Search of C. S. Lewis, Edited by Stephen Schofield.

“Contains previously unpublished letters and photographs.” Includes contributions by Kenneth Tynan and Malcolm Muggeridge (they’re famous!) as well as Lewis regulars George Sayer and Kathryn Lindskoog. Produced by the Canadian C. S. Lewis Society.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Memoirs. Essays. Softcover.

We Remember C. S. Lewis: Essays and Memoirs, Edited by David Graham.

Includes work by George Sayer and Dom Bede Griffiths. Photos.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Memoirs. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis: A Biography (Revised Edition), by Roger Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper.

A Harcourt Brace edition. The classical first biography. “C.S. Lewis, a man of varying talents, is remembered for his radio broadcasts and books reaching millions worldwide. This revised biography, created with full access to family papers and personal documents, is written by two men who knew Lewis well. An immensely readable record of Lewis's personal and intellectual life, it includes new information and photographs.” – Google Books. Photos.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Softcover.

Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship, by Colin Duriez.

“Both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are literary superstars, known around the world as the creators of Middle-earth and Narnia. But few of their readers and fans know about the important and complex friendship between Tolkien and his fellow Oxford academic C.S. Lewis. Without the persistent encouragement of his friend, Tolkien would never have completed The Lord of the Rings. This great tale, along with the connected matter of The Silmarillion, would have remained merely a private hobby. Likewise, all of Lewis' fiction, after the two met at Oxford University in 1926, bears the mark of Tolkien's influence, whether in names he used or in the creation of convincing fantasy worlds. They quickly discovered their affinity--a love of language and the imagination, a wide reading in northern myth and fairy tale, a desire to write stories themselves in both poetry and prose. The quality of their literary friendship invites comparisons with those of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Cowper and John Newton, and G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc. Both Tolkien and Lewis were central figures in the informal Oxford literary circle, the Inklings. This book explores their lives, unfolding the extraordinary story of their complex friendship that lasted, with its ups and downs, until Lewis's death in 1963. Despite their differences--differences of temperament, spiritual emphasis, and view of their storytelling art--what united them was much stronger, a shared vision that continues to inspire their millions of readers throughout the world.” – Google Books. Colin Duriez will be mentioned several other times in this list.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Literary History. Softcover.

The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis, by Alan Jacobs.

Yet another book on Lewis; I suppose I’ll buy anything about him, if I have enough money. “Few things are more interesting to human beings than trying to figure out how another human being (especially a profoundly gifted one) works. Not just a conventional, straightforward biography of Lewis, Jacobs instead seeks a more elusive quarry: an understanding of the way Lewis's experiences, both direct and literary, formed themselves into patterns–themes that then shaped his thought and writings, especially the stories of Narnia. It is in the Narnia stories that we see the most of Lewis, and this illuminating biography delivers a true picture of the life and imagination of the Narnian.” – Google Books. Photos.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Imagination. Hardback.

C. S. Lewis: Companion and Guide, by Walter Hooper.

“A delightful compendium of information on the life and writing of the twentieth century’s favorite Christian writer.” – Power of Babel. Hooper does it again with entries on people, books, adaptations, institutions, and concepts relating to Lewis, his life, and his work. The scholarship and organization of this book is breath-taking; the entries are snappy but informative, with little fat.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Reference. Biography. Hardback.

The C. S. Lewis Encyclopedia, by Colin Duriez.

“A comprehensive guide to his life, thought, and writings.” But only about a third as long as Hooper’s “Companion and Guide”. So – skimpy, or slimmed down, considering which point of view you take.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Literary Guide. Softcover.

The C. S. Lewis Chronicles, by Colin Duriez. Foreword by Brian Sibley.

“The Indispensable Biography of the Creator of Narnia Full of Little-Known Facts, Events, and Miscellany.” Ah, but not so much a biography as a year by year, almost day by day timeline of Lewis’s life. Includes handy charts that pinpoint or collect certain things (like time and subject of radio talks), what important world events were going on at the same time, and other trivia. This time Duriez has done it right and produced a truly useful book for the Lewis scholar.

Ranking: Essential.

Fie Code: Reference. Softcover. Biography.

The Secret Country of C. S. Lewis, by Anne Arnott. Illustrations by Patricia Frost.

There was a copy of this in the High School library; I don’t remember it being very engaging. However, it is Lewis, and cheap, and a memory, so into the hoard it goes. The cover is surprising; it shows an old Boxen drawing inside a wardrobe. The whole biography is aimed at the young reader, I think. An Eerdman book.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

Jack’s Life: The Life Story of C. S. Lewis, by Douglas Gresham.

“Includes Exclusive Author’s Introduction DVD.” And it is signed by Gresham! A fact I don’t think I’d noticed before making this Inventory. So, he held this book, and he was Lewis’s stepson, and now when I hold this book, I’m only a couple of steps away from C. S. Lewis! Photos.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Hardback. DVD.

C. S. Lewis in a Time of War, by Justin Phillips. Foreword by Walter Hooper.

Focuses in on “The World War II Broadcasts that Riveted a Nation and Became the Classic ‘Mere Christianity’.” The whys and wherefores and the effect that Lewis had with his broadcasts while London was under attack.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: History. Softcover.

Around the Year with C. S. Lewis and His Friends: A Book of Days, Compiled by Kathryn Lindskoog. Art, calligraphy, and design by Leah Palmer Preiss.

A blank journal book with daily quotes and significant dates from the lives of Lewis and his ‘friends’, which include favorite authors that he never met. Got this in the early 80’s (at least) and it is redolent of the time for me. It’s boxed and has a padded cover, has never been written in and probably never will be. Bought it at Hastings.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Blank Journal. Quote-a-day. Hardback.

C. S. Lewis: More Core Works and Narnia

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life, by C. S. Lewis.

An autobiographical work focusing on the events that led up to his conversion, a book that he felt was called for after he gained fame as a Christion apologist. Surprisingly, it was written before he met his future wife, Joy Davidman. “His personal physician and fellow Inkling Robert E. Havard said the book should have been called “Suppressed by Jack” because of all the things Lewis did not discuss about his life.” But then, it is focused on his spiritual journey. My copy is a pretty faded Harcourt Brace edition from Yesterday’s Warehouse.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Autobiography. Religion. Softcover.

The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism, by C. S. Lewis.

An Eerdman’s Edition, it has a map and Lewis’s running commentary. His first book published after his conversion, in which he follows in a dream (like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress) the story of a man named John who flounders far afield in revolt against his childhood faith, then in better understanding must ‘regress’ back to his home country with clearer eyes. Full of poetry, a dragon, dwarfs, and caricatures of the philosophical trends of the 20’s.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Allegorical Novel. Religion. Softcover.

The Pilgrim’s Regress, by C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Michael Hague.

Eerdman’s again, but, you know, with Michael Hague, who was also doing Narnia calendars at the time. No map.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Allegorical Novel. Religion. Hardback.

The Dark Tower and Other Stories, by C. S. Lewis. Edited and with a Preface by Walter Hooper.

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition. Contains the four short stories published during Lewis’s lifetime and two unfinished beginnings of novels. The titular one, ‘The Dark Tower’, appears to have been slated for another Ransom story taking place after ‘Out of the Silent Planet’; the subject of the famous “Lindskoog Controversy”, when she claimed that it was a forgery by Hooper.  I remember reading “The Shoddy Lands” in one of those magazines in Mrs. Rowley’s class.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Short Stories. Anthology. Softcover.

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, by C. S. Lewis. Illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg.

Dedicated to Joy Davidman, who helped him greatly in the creation of the work, both for inspiration and critical insight, and of course whom he later married. “The revered author’s retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche—what he and many others regard as his best novel. C. S. Lewis brilliantly reimagines the story of Cupid and Psyche. Told from the viewpoint of Psyche’s sister, Orual, Till We Have Faces is a brilliant examination of envy, betrayal, loss, blame, grief, guilt, and conversion. In this, his final—and most mature and masterful—novel, Lewis reminds us of our own fallibility and the role of a higher power in our lives.” – Amazon. A Harcourt/Brace/Jovanovich edition I got in college.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Novel. Myth. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis’s Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile. Edited by A. T. Reyes.

“A. T. Reyes reveals a different side of [Lewis]: translator. Reyes introduces the surviving fragments of Lewis's translation of Virgil's epic poem, which were rescued from a bonfire. They are presented in parallel with the Latin text, and are accompanied by synopses of missing sections, and an informative glossary, making them accessible to the general reader. Writes Lewis in A Preface to Paradise Lost, “Virgil uses something more subtle than mere length of time…. It is this which gives the reader of the Aeneid the sense of having lived through so much. No man who has read it with full perception remains an adolescent.” Lewis's admiration for the Aeneid, written in the 1st century BC and unfolding the adventures of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy and became the ancestor of the Romans, is evident in his remarkably lyrical translation. C. S. Lewis's Lost Aeneid is part detective story, as Reyes recounts the dramatic rescue of the fragments and his efforts to collect and organize them, and part illuminating look at a lesser-known and intriguing aspect of Lewis's work.” - Google Books. I’ll get right on it … one of these days.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Poetry. Translation. Hardback.

Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis, written and illustrated by C. S. Lewis. Edited by Walter Hooper.

Harcourt/Brace/Javonovich, 1985. “Boxen is a fictional world that C. S. Lewis ("Jack") and his brother W. H. Lewis ("Warnie") created as children. The world of Boxen was created when Jack's stories about Animal-Land and Warnie's stories about India were brought together. In Surprised by Joy, Jack explains that the union of Animal-Land and India took place "sometime in the late eighteenth century (their eighteenth century, not ours)". During a time when influenza was ravaging many families, the Lewis brothers were forced to stay indoors and entertain themselves by reading. They read whatever books they could find, both those written for children and adults. Influenced by Beatrix Potter's animals, C.S. Lewis wrote about Animal-Land, complete with details about its economics, politics/government, and history, as well as illustrations of buildings and characters.” – Wikipedia. And longer stories, that they called ‘novels’. Lewis later noted later that there was no ‘whimsy’ in their stories; strip their characters of their animal disguises and you might as well be reading Dickens or Trollop. Still, a remarkable record of childhood imagination; the original manuscripts were passed around to the Lewis’ brothers friends’ children, and Hooper was only just in time to rescue some manuscripts from the fire to which the aged Warnie (who loved them dearly, but thought they were too personal to survive him) was about to consign them.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Childhood Stories. Hardback.

Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia, by C. S. Lewis and W. H. Lewis.

Introduced by Douglas Gresham. An expanded edition of ‘Boxen’ this time acknowledging and adding more of Warnie’s contributions and with more colorful reproductions of the pictures. Harper Collins 2008.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Childhood Stories. Hardback.

The Complete Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis.

All seven books (in ‘historical order’, from “The Magician’s Nephew” to “The Last Battle”) with Pauline Baynes’s illustrations colored by herself and her Map of Narnia on the cover. Published in conjunction with the release of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, it was an inscribed 2005 Christmas present to Kaitlyn from Andy’s parents. She gave it into my keeping when she went off to college and got married. Score!

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Omnibus Volume. Fantasy. Hardback.

Past Watchful Dragons: The Origin, Interpretation, and Appreciation of the Chronicles of Narnia, by Walter Hooper.

An early critical look at the Narnia stories, it is notable for containing Lewis’s “Outline of Narnian History” and the first draft of what would come to be “The Magician’s Nephew”, besides of Hooper’s insightful analysis.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Literary criticism and History. Softcover.

The Land of Narnia, by Brian Sibley. With Illustrations by Pauline Baynes.

“Brian Sibley Explores the World of C. S. Lewis”. With old and new pictures by Baynes, photos, and classic children’s book illustrations, this is a beautiful book by super-fan Sibley. Harper and Row, 1989.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Imaginary Lands. Narnia. Hardback.

A Book of Narnians: The Lion, the Witch, and Others. Adapted from C. S. Lewis and Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

A guide to Narnians, both good and evil, with text adapted from the Chronicles and a new slew of large, colorfully brilliant, and enchanting pictures from Pauline Baynes, the classical illustrator. I almost missed out on this one, because I thought it was a repackaging of “The Land of Narnia”, and what a tragedy that would have been.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Guide. Illustrated. Softcover.