"C.S. LEWIS HAD NO PEER": FIRST EDITION OF MERE CHRISTIANITY

LEWIS, C.S. Mere Christianity. London: Geoffrey Bles, (1952). Octavo, modern full navy morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $5000.

First edition of C.S. Lewis' revised and expanded WWII BBC radio talks together in one volume—Broadcast Talks, Christian Behaviour and Beyond Personality—handsomely bound in navy morocco gilt.

Clive Staples Lewis, perhaps most famed for his Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56), "was an academic who sought delight in myth, a skeptic who found joy in faith… in his ability to nurture the faithful, as well as seduce the skeptic, C.S. Lewis had no peer." Lewis, who moved away from Christianity at 14, returned to his faith 16 years later and "began writing witty lucid books in defense of Christian orthodoxy, delighting in the rigors of reason… A British philosopher declared that Lewis had 'the rare gift of being able to make righteous readable'" (New York Times). During WWII Lewis delivered a series of BBC radio talks that "drew an understandably tremendous response… the bite and clarity of Lewis' argument cannot but impress even today. Anthony Burgess called him 'the ideal persuader for the half-convinced'" (Guardian). "Among those influenced by them was the young Margaret Roberts [Thatcher], in whose memoirs Lewis features as the most formative influence on her religious outlook: 'the power of his broadcasts, sermons and essays came from a combination of simple language with theological depth'" (ODNB). "The lessons found within his writings continue to resonate today" (NYT). Mere Christianity brings together in one volume the revised and expanded transcripts of the BBC radio talks that appeared separately in print as Broadcast Talks (1942), Christian Behaviour (1943) and Beyond Personality (1944).

A fine, beautiful copy.