I came across these covers on a search today. They’re from Estonia, and different from most covers I’ve seen. The one above is The Magician’s Nephew, but in Estonian, it translates literally as “The Miracle Worker’s Son.” It’s one of the very few covers I’ve seen that depicts Jadis in stasis in the Hall of …
Tag: Prince Caspian
Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/20/25: Let’s Talk About the Splendour Hyaline (Narnia LXXII)
“It’s like old times,” said Lucy. “Do you remember our voyage to Terebinthia—and Galma—and Seven Isles—and the Lone Islands?” “Yes,” said Susan, “and our great ship the Splendour Hyaline, with the swan’s head at her prow and the carved swan’s wings coming back almost to her waist?” “And the silken sails, and the great stern …
Two French Flammarion Editions from the 1980s
Another entry in my series of French editions of the Chronicles. Here are books one and two side-by-side, published in the early 1980s. That is clear because the first is no longer titled Le Lion et la Sorcière Blanche but L’armoire Magique — The Magic Wardrobe. If you do a search on this title and …
Narnia French Editions, 1973
Last year I posted these two interesting French editions of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian from the early 1950s. Back then foreign publishers, once they acquired the rights, usually had their own artists create the covers, likely because it was too much bother to ship over the original artwork and …
Narnia French Editions, 1952 – 1953
Many first edition Narnia books published in other countries had unique, enchanting artwork that was never repeated for further printings. These covers for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (shortened to The Lion and the White Witch) and Prince Caspian have a light, airy, featherweight feel that seems more appropriate for a book of …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/28/24: Narnian Apples (Narnia LXII)
Since there was an apple orchard at Cair Paravel (as detailed in Prince Caspian) there must have been Narnian varieties of apples, right? Narnian Apple Varieties Ruby of Tash Named for the Calorman deity (not that the Narnians really believe in him) this apple is large, bright red, sweet, and juicy, and the flesh …
Narnia Evergreen Library Editions, 1965
These Evergreen Library hardcover versions of The Chronicles came out in 1965. All seven books had been released by this point, but for this series, only these five were published. The cover artist was Giorgio de Gaspari. I’d never seen this artwork before and was struck by how different it was from post-1970s depictions. For …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/7/24: Werewolves and Hags (Narnia LIX)
One of the things I dislike about Prince Caspian is that, after many, many, centuries, hags and werewolves are still around, even though Lewis told us they had been eliminated at the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Seems like someone didn’t do the job they were supposed to. Nevertheless, they’re there, …