MacDonald, George ~ Phantastes and Lilith – Two Novels : With An Introduction By C.S. Lewis

Victor Gollancz Ltd, London : 1962

The First UK printing of the first re-issue published by Victor Gollancz Ltd, London in 1962. 8vo., blue boards lettered in gilt to spine; in the iconic yellow Gollancz wrapper, printed in black and pink (priced 25/- net to the front flap); The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition with a little pushing at the spine tips, and the pages lightly toned; the webbing just starting to show very slightly to the gutter of inside front board but the binding remains extremely tight. Two lengthy but neat near-contemporary penned ownership inscriptions to the front blank end-paper, and a small bookseller's sticker to the front paste-down. The WRAPPER which retains much of its colour, just a little age marked at the spine; both flap folds have major splitting but are still attached and holding; and some small losses to the head and foot of the spine with no loss of lettering, and to the folds. The wrapper comes together well and is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First reissue of these two stories, originally published separately in 1858 and 1895 respectively. This first re-issue bringing the two novels together for the first time in one volume, includes an introduction by C.S. Lewis, as well as a wrapper review by W. H. Auden. A further reissue, also published by Gollancz, followed in later in 1971. A wonderful set of these two stories. The first, Phantastes, follows the protagonist Anodos as he falls into a dreamlike world, hunting for the ideal of womanly beauty. The second, Lilith, bears similarities to its partner, but is often considered to be one of Macdonald's darkest works, involving haunted libraries, parallel universes and dreamers in a long, cosmic sleep. Written at opposite ends of his career, the contrasting themes of light and dark mirror, in many ways, his own life, with the latter penned during a period of depression and declining health. Macdonald was a congregational minister, and religious themes permeate his work, though he often struggled with aspects of his faith. These books, in particular, can be seen as a way of him using the medium of fantasy to explore life, death, the human condition, as well as his often cited universalism - the belief that all are capable of redemption. Both books went on to influence a generation of fantasy writers, with C. S. Lewis reading the former at the age of sixteen. "That night my imagination was, in a certain sense, baptized; the rest of me[,] not unnaturally, took longer. I had not the faintest notion what I had let myself in for", Lewis wrote. Macdonald is recognised today as being one of the founding fathers of modern fantasy writing. Extremely scarce in the wrapper as the first re-issue.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good ++
JACKET: Very Good