Lewis’s first work of Science Fiction was inspired by a conversation with J.R.R. Tolkien. Having agreed that there were not sufficient stories of the kind they both enjoyed, the two men decided that they should write some. It was agreed that Lewis would write a space travel story and Tolkien one dealing with travel through time. The outcome of this was Lewis’s first foray into interstellar travel: Out of the Silent Planet (1938), in which a Cambridge philologist – a nod to Tolkien’s specialist field of study – is taken to Mars against his will. It was followed by Perelandra: Voyage to Venus (1943) and That Hideous Strength (1945).
Early editions of Out of the Silent Planet
The first volume of Lewis’s ‘Space Trilogy’ was treated as a sci-fi genre book by publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. These cheap editions date from the 40s, 50s and 60s and feature wonderful cover art.
Bernard Silvestris, De mundi universitate (Innsbruck, 1876)
In Lewis’s cosmography, planets are ruled by an Oyarsa, a word inspired by Bernard Silvestris’s term Oyarses, for the rulers of the celestial spheres. This copy belonged to Lewis and contains a letter on the origin of Oyarses from another Magdalen fellow.
Permission to reproduce given by the estate of Walter Hooper.
C.S. Lewis, ‘End of the Wine’, published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (July 1964)
Lewis published short stories in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, considering it to be a valuable repository of the most serious satire of his age. In this issue, Lewis’s poem ‘End of the Wine’ was republished following his death in November 1963.
Permission to reproduce given by the curator, Professor Simon Horobin.
First edition of That Hideous Strength
Magdalen College Library, Magd. LEWI-C (THA) (res.)