A very rare, first edition association copy of Essays Presented to Charles Williams. Conceived originally by C. S. Lewis as a celebratory Festschrift to honor Charles Williams upon his expected retirement from Oxford University Press, Williams's sudden death in May 1945 transformed the project into a memorial volume. Edited with a preface by Lewis and published by Geoffrey Cumberlege at Oxford University Press, it represents the only contemporary volume containing original contributions exclusively authored by core members and close associates of the Inklings circle.
There is simply nothing else in the "Inkling" cannon that resembles this collection of thoughts and perspectives that imbued all their disparate works with that Inkling "something" they all shared.
The volume is landmarked by two foundational essays that defined 20th-century fantasy and narrative theory. First and foremost is J. R. R. Tolkien’s essay "On Fairy-Stories" (appearing here in print for the very first time), which serves as his masterwork of literary philosophy. In it, Tolkien articulated his crucial concepts of "Sub-creation," "Secondary Worlds," and "Eucatastrophe, "the theoretical framework undergirding The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Second is C. S. Lewis’s essay "On Stories," in which he analyzes the function of narrative art, atmosphere, and myth, laying down the aesthetic principles that guided his own Space Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia.
The remaining contributions showcase the breadth of scholarship within Williams’s intimate circle. Dorothy L. Sayers contributed "'And Telling You a Story': A Note on The Divine Comedy," reflecting the deep influence of Williams’s Dante scholarship on her own famous translation of Dante. Owen Barfield offered "Poetic Diction and Legal Fiction," bridging language theory and law. Gervase Mathew provided a study on medieval courtly love, and Warren H. Lewis (C. S. Lewis’s brother) contributed a historical piece on the galleys of 17th-century France.
Collectively, this 1947 first edition stands as a vital primary document of Inkling scholarship and a cornerstone collectible in the bibliography of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Aside from this, the volume contains two original letters by Florence Williams, Charles' widow, written to Lorna Davis. It is also inscribed by Florence to Lorna as well.
[The Inklings] Dorothy Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, A. O. Barfield, Gervase Mathew, W. H. Lewis. Essays Presented to Charles Williams. Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxtford University Press. 1947. First Edition. 145pp.
Good + to very good in original blue cloth. some bumping and light handling soil to cloth, a small neat line across the back board. Interior with minor to moderate scattered foxing, else very good.
