Illustrations in Chronicles of Narnia first editions

[HareBrain]

As a child I acquired, from an older sibling, a copy of "A Horse and His Boy" which I think must be a first edition (don't have it to hand at the moment so can't check) -- it's hardback in grey cloth binding, and as well as the various pen-and-ink illustrations by Pauline Baynes throughout the text, there are several lovely full-page watercolour plates, in "greyscale".

I'm curious to know if the other books in the Narnia chronicles were issued in the same format, and with extra full-page illustrations that never made it into paperback or other later editions. Anyone know? Or does anyone have a later edition of any of these books that does have Pauline Baynes's full-page illustrations?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

HB if you have a search in Abe books you might find it; they list most editions of books, but don't go off their valuations, some of their booksellers are, how can I put it? a little optimistic.

If it is a first edition, and it still has its dustjacket, it'll be quite valuable, so look after it!

 

[Extollager]

As a child I acquired, from an older sibling, a copy of "A Horse and His Boy" which I think must be a first edition (don't have it to hand at the moment so can't check) -- it's hardback in grey cloth binding, and as well as the various pen-and-ink illustrations by Pauline Baynes throughout the text, there are several lovely full-page watercolour plates, in "greyscale".

I'm curious to know if the other books in the Narnia chronicles were issued in the same format, and with extra full-page illustrations that never made it into paperback or other later editions. Anyone know? Or does anyone have a later edition of any of these books that does have Pauline Baynes's full-page illustrations?

Could be I missed something, but I don't remember anything about halftones in the early Narnian editions. Can you post any of these pictures?

 

[HareBrain]

HB if you have a search in Abe books you might find it; they list most editions of books, but don't go off their valuations, some of their booksellers are, how can I put it? a little optimistic.

I see what you mean! At least they have a complete set of first editions (at £6,800) if I wanted to check the other volumes for myself.

Could be I missed something, but I don't remember anything about halftones in the early Narnian editions. Can you post any of these pictures?

Ah, yes, "halftone" sounds more like the right term than "greyscale" . I can't find any images on Google, nor any reference to the full-page illustrations, so I'll try photographing a couple of the interior plates next week and posting the pics here.

BTW, I'm not particularly interesting in valuing (and not at all in selling) the book; I just wondered if the other volumes had similar plates and whether they were displayed anywhere.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Just btw HB, they rereleased the original hardbacks of Lion and Caspian a couple of years ago, and these are still knocking around bookshops: I have a couple here, and they show the original illustrations for these ones, I assume the horse and its boy would have similar.

BTW; the horse and its boy is one of the less popular titles so probably quite rare

I just checked with my hubby who is a specialist bookseller and he says to check out Miller's for info as well. Early firsts are hard to identify, indicators should include no previous printing date, one publisher's name and no other imprint, date on book, words first impression anywhere. Check if there are any lists of other books in the series: horse and its boy was the 4th, I think, so if you see Last Battle or any of the later ones listed this will tell you its not a first. Also, sewn in binding is another indicator for that era.

If you want to HB, feel free to PM; we collect collectible books on hobby basis, but the other half in particular is pretty knowledgeable.

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks Springs, I'll check those details when I get my mitts on the book itself in a couple of days.

 

[Extollager]

Ah, yes, "halftone" sounds more like the right term than "greyscale" . I can't find any images on Google, nor any reference to the full-page illustrations, so I'll try photographing a couple of the interior plates next week and posting the pics here.

Thanks!

The people who would know everything about Pauline Baynes are Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull:

http://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/category/pauline-baynes/

 

[HareBrain]

I have the book. I think technically it's a first edition, but it's a fifth reprinting (1963 vs 1954) so probably not worth anything. And my memory exaggerated the number of plates (the fact that I could only remember what one of them depicted should have given me a clue that they weren't so numerous as I thought). Still, here they are:

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It's lovely HB and I am in envy of it, I love old books, as you probably guessed. Value wise, it's probably not that high, but sentimentally and in the joy of having it, I guess invalueable.

 

[HareBrain]

I think it belonged to my older brother (my siblings can't decide) and I believe I read it before I even knew there were other Narnia books. It's perhaps still my favourite -- the Arabian-Knights style setting had a very strong effect on my imagination.

A while back I won a charity auction prize to have any book professionally rebound in leather. Since this one has lost its dust-jacket and the cover is a bit ragged, I'll probably use the prize on this, now I've retrieved it.

 

[Extollager]

I have the book. I think technically it's a first edition, but it's a fifth reprinting (1963 vs 1954) so probably not worth anything. And my memory exaggerated the number of plates (the fact that I could only remember what one of them depicted should have given me a clue that they weren't so numerous as I thought). Still, here they are:

Thank you, HareBrain, for sharing these with us. I'm very fond of Baynes's artwork for the original Narnian books. (Her late work, A Book of Narnians, somehow didn't please me so much.) I love the feeling for the attic-spaces in The Magician's Nephew, for example. (That book is such fun when you see how Lewis is apparently doing a riff on Haggard's She, for example when Ayesha, errrr, Jadis, breaks loose in London!)

Thank you too for mentioning your preference for The Horse and His Boy, which I think is often sort of overlooked.