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Book dedications

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Book dedications

Postby glumPuddle » February 28th, 2008, 3:46 am

Anyone know about the people the Narnia books are dedicated to? Here are the ones I don't know:

PC: Mary Clare Howard
VDT: Geoffrey Barfield
SC: Nicholas Hardie
MN: The Kilmer Family
LB: ... no dedication??
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Chronological Order: 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956
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Postby Leslie » February 28th, 2008, 5:38 pm

Surely Geoffrey Barfield would be Owen Barfield's son?

I recall reading that the Kilmer family were Americans who had been corresponding with Lewis. This might have been in Alan Jacobs' The Narnian.
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Postby repectabiggle » February 28th, 2008, 6:36 pm

According to Wikipedia, Nicholas Hardie was "the son of Lewis's fellow Inkling Colin Hardie."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Chair
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Re: Book dedications

Postby Sven » February 28th, 2008, 8:37 pm

Mary Clare Howard: Daughter of Jack and Warnie Lewis' doctor and fellow Inkling, "Humphrey" Havard.

Geoffrey Barfield: aka Geoffrey Corbett in some of the earlier editions of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, adopted son of friend and Inkling Owen Barfield.

Nicholas Hardie: as respectabiggle said, Colin Hardie's son.

The Kilmer Family: ah, this is an interesting one. These young people were friends of Mary Shelburne, the 'American Lady' of Lewis' Letters to an American Lady.
Rat! he found breath to whisper, shaking. Are you afraid?
Afraid? murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love.
Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet -- and yet -- O, Mole, I am afraid!
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.
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It's all in Ford; what do they teach them at these schools?

Postby carol » February 29th, 2008, 8:16 am

Mary Clare Havard - daughter of Lewis's doctor who was an Inkling. Lewis asked Mary to read the typescript of LWW, and he thanked her with the PC dedication.

Geoffrey Corbett (aka Jeffrey Barfield) was a foster-son of the Barfields, (his school fees were paid for by Lewis, who dedicated VDT to him), and Geoffrey changed his name to Barfield in 1962.

Nicholas Hardie, son of Inkling Colin Hardie, has SC dedicated to him.

The Kilmers were Kenton and Frances, and eight of their ten children, who used to write letters to Lewis at the encouragement of the correspondent Mary Shelburne and their grandmother. MN was dedicated to them.

Of course we know about dedicatees David and Douglas Gresham, whose mother used to write to Lewis,....eventually met and married him.

And Lucy Barfield, Lewis' god-daughter, the adopted daughter of Owen & Maud Barfield, to whom LWW was dedicated so tenderly.

Thank you Paul Ford!! *bow*
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