We’ve reached the Letter N on the A to Z Blog Challenge and have arrived in Narnia.
I venture to say that most of you reading this little post are familiar with the maps of Narnia and the author of The Chronicles, C. S. Lewis. The art and the maps of the original The Chronicles of Narnia are what many of us picture in our minds when we think of the magical world beyond the wardrobe.
J.R.R. Tolkien was impressed with the art of Pauline Baynes (1922-1908) who illustrated his books, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Smith of Wootton Major. They became friends and Tolkien recommended that she illustrate the books written by Lewis beginning with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Baynes was well suited to map illustrations as she had worked in the British Ministry of Defense map-making department during WWII drafting maps and designing camouflage. Baynes based her maps on sketches Lewis sent to her. The original is in the Bodelian Library.
Click here to see different covers of The Chronicles of Narnia over the years. Which are most familiar to you?
It has been a long time since I’ve read The Chronicles of Narnia. Perhaps it’s time to visit these classics.
I hope you are going to publish this series of #Challenge posts, which are in every way a great contribution to children’s literature. Another FABULOUS offering. Thank you.
Hi Claire Annette – they are beautiful aren’t they … it’s always something I’d love to be able to do – but art is not my area. There’s an exhibition in Oxford on Tolkien later this year – should you be interested …and can make it over … it’s in June to October …
https://tolkien.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/
Cheers Hilary
Oh, I would love to go to this. I love Oxford. Thanks for the link.
LOVE the maps! So hard to find good maps these days! Thanks for sharing these.
EXCELLENT!!
I must confess that I haven’t read the Narnia books yet…
Your research for this month is outstanding, Claire. Less than two weeks left! Good luck!
Fantastic! I had never seen those maps and I didn’t know Baynes illustrated Lewis’s work too.
Thanks so much for sharing this 🙂
Narnia and the North! Love these books — The Horse and His Boy is my favorite, I think!