LEWIS, C. S. The Magician’s Nephew. London: The Bodley Head, 1955.
First edition, first impression of the sixth published Narnia chronicle, the imaginative genesis of Lewis’ enduring secondary world. Octavo, original publisher’s green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with the pictorial dust jacket by Pauline Baynes.
Signed by the author on the front free endpaper. A distinguished association copy, from the library of Peter Matthiessen, co-founder of The Paris Review, with his bookplate affixed. Copies bearing both Lewis’ signature and such literary provenance are notably uncommon.
The narrative traces the creation of Narnia, introducing Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, and establishing the mythic architecture that underpins the series. A work of quiet theological resonance and narrative clarity, it stands as one of Lewis’ most evocative achievements for younger readers and collectors alike.
