The Good Works of Narnia

The Narnia books continue to have a positive effect for good fifty years after they were penned by C. S. Lewis. Two items in the news have recently made this point. The first item regards the C. S. Lewis and Narnia murals in Northern Ireland. The one pictured above has existed for some time. An article yesterday in the Irish Times noted,

"The new housing developments off the Newtownards Road are named after the author C. S. Lewis, who grew up in the area. Many of the murals now depict scenes from his Narnia books instead of paramilitary folklore."

Lewis despised the sectarian hatred and warfare in his homeland. How pleased he would be to know that his fairy tales have become symbols of peace in a land once torn apart by religious strife. (You may read the whole story here: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/0718/1216073252587.html.)

A second story in the news concerns the sale of some first editions of Lewis's books. Lewis first editions, especially the Narnias, have long commanded high sums of money. But perhaps the largest amount ever garnered for a single Lewis first edition was recorded by Sotheby's the other day. When the gavel came down, a signed first edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader sold for £10,625. Of course this was not your average, run-of-the-mill, Narnia first edition. This book had been signed by C. S. Lewis to his then-secretary, Walter Hooper (pictured above with a bust of Lewis). Hooper had sold at auction 11 first edition Lewis books, including three signed Narnias, for a total price of £34,000. "Why?" you well might wonder. Hooper is donating the money to aid in the construction of a new chapel and student accommodation at his home church, The Oxford Oratory of St. Aloysius. Good on you Walter! (You may read the entire story here: http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2403058.0.lewis_books_raise_34_000.php.)

I can imagine C. S. Lewis smiling down from heaven at the thought of his books doing good for the kingdom in some ways he never could have imagined during his lifetime.

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Will Vaus

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