B. Mortison 2008-11-21
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This is a treasured COMPLETE set of The Chronicles of Naria by C.S. Lewis, ordered CHRONOLOGICALLY as the author intended. As can be seen by the cover, the illustrations by Pauline Barnes are full color and beautiful. They continue throughout the book.
Here is the item description which seems to have been removed from this listing:
"The Chronicles of Narnia have enchanted millions of readers over the last fifty years, and the magical events described in C. S. Lewis's immortal prose have left many a lasting memory. For here is a world where a witch decrees eternal winter; where there are more talking animals than people; and where battles are fought by Centaurs, Giants, and Fauns.
Now all seven Chronicles are bound together in this one magnificent volume with a personal introduction by Douglas Gresham, stepson of C. S. Lewis. Pauline Baynes' original and much-loved illustrations have been made even more memorable by the addition of color. This spectacular gift edition will guarantee that C. S. Lewis's timeless world of Narnia will catch the imagination of yet another generation of readers."
Amazon used to offer this for the retail price of $49.99, but it is currently unavailable (as of 11/2008). Other sets use the same illustrations, but many come only in black/white and are smaller than this version. I believe it will likely become harder and harder to find.
The pages are a good size (about standard letter 11x8) with sizable enough text for easy reading, even for young children. The layout of this book is terrific for engaging young children as well as the young at heart (:. Highly recommended.
P.S. As the order of reading is such a hotly argued issue among avid fans, here is the full original script (from Wikipedia):
To make the case for his suggested order, Gresham quoted Lewis' reply to a letter from an American fan in 1957 who was having an argument with his mother about the order:
"I think I agree with your order [i.e. chronological] for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last, but I found I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published."
Here C.S. Lewis verifies his preferred order to be CHRONOLOGICAL though I believe the confusion derives from a misinterpretation of his statement "So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them.". The most important part of this 1957 statement to note being that the word 'read' is in the past tense. His fans at the time would have read and might even prefer his series in the order it was published. However, I agree with the author.
(From Wikipedia) In the Harper Collins adult editions of the books (2005), the publisher asserts Lewis' preference for the [chronological] numbering they adopted in a notice on the copyright page: "Although The Magician's Nephew was written several years after C. S. Lewis first began The Chronicles of Narnia, he wanted it to be read as the first book in the series. HarperCollins is happy to present these books in the order which Professor Lewis preferred."
Peace, Ben
Eph 3: 17-21
