Lewis, C.S. (1947) ‘George Macdonald- An Anthology’, US signed and inscribed first edition

Clive Staples Lewis (1947) ‘George Macdonald‘, US first edition, first printing, published by Macmillan. Signed and inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: “Dr Pirquet | from | C. S. Lewis | with great respect | Sept 1st 1949” 

Provenance: The inscription is most likely to Guido von Pirquet, the Austrian astronautics pioneer who was made an honorary fellow of the British Interplanetary Society in 1949. The date of the fellowship fits with the inscription’s date.

Condition: a very good copy. The book shows light shelf wear to spine tips, displays light foxing to the prelims and faint staining to boards. The fragile dust jacket has chips to spine ends and folds. The original price of USD 1.50 has been crossed out in pencil and  repriced at 1.75.

This is a very scarce C.S. Lewis title when signed. We have been unable to source any ‘George Macdonald‘ copies signed or inscribed by Lewis which might have sold in the past twenty years. Auction records of the major houses do show any sold copies.

George Macdonald was a huge influence on both fathers of modern fantasy, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. As a minister he also wrote many sermons which influenced Lewis’s theology. In this little book Lewis collects Macdonald’s Christian teachings and Lewis provides a lengthy introduction.

C.S. Lewis does not need an introduction. The writer will always be best remembered as the author of the Chronicles of Narnia.