The Chronicles of Narnia is a sequence of seven novels published between 1950 and 1956 by Geoffrey Bles (London), comprising, in publication order: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), Prince Caspian (1951), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), The Silver Chair (1953), The Horse and His Boy (1954), The Magician’s Nephew (1955), and The Last Battle (1956). Together they form the most commercially successful series of children’s fantasy fiction in the English language after J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, with total sales exceeding 100 million copies.
The Series
The books create a complete mythological cycle for the world of Narnia, from its creation (in The Magician’s Nephew, where Aslan sings Narnia into existence) to its destruction and recreation (in The Last Battle, where Narnia ends and its inhabitants pass into Aslan’s country — Lewis’s version of heaven). Between these bookends, the stories follow multiple sets of human children who are drawn into Narnia at moments of crisis.
The central figure throughout is Aslan, the great lion — Lewis’s Christ-figure — who appears in every book but is never entirely predictable or domesticated. “He’s not a tame lion,” as Mr. Beaver says. Lewis’s theological framework is consistent but not systematic: each book explores a different aspect of Christian experience (redemption, perseverance, temptation, obedience, creation, judgment) without ever becoming a catechism.
Reading Order Controversy
The question of whether the books should be read in publication order or internal chronological order has generated decades of debate. Lewis himself, in a 1957 letter to a child, expressed a preference for chronological order, and HarperCollins renumbered the series accordingly. Most Lewis scholars and many readers, however, argue that publication order is superior: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the proper introduction to Narnia, and The Magician’s Nephew works best when Narnia is already known.
Collecting The Chronicles of Narnia
Complete first edition sets (Geoffrey Bles, London, 1950-1956): All seven volumes in first edition, preferably in dust jackets by Pauline Baynes.
Market values for complete sets (with dust jackets):
- All seven, fine in jackets: $100,000–$250,000
- All seven, very good in jackets: $50,000–$120,000
- Individual volumes vary enormously: The Lion is the most valuable ($30,000–$80,000); The Last Battle won the Carnegie Medal and is the second most scarce ($5,000–$15,000)
First American editions (Macmillan, New York, 1950-1956): Complete set in jackets: $15,000–$40,000.
A complete set of first editions in dust jackets is one of the most desirable items in twentieth-century children’s book collecting. The series’ permanent popularity ensures that demand never diminishes.