Collecting C.S. Lewis
By: Dr. Edwin Brown

The genesis of my C. S. Lewis collection began in 1963 when I became enamored of British pubs on my first visit to England. Determined to have a replica in my basement library, I began bringing back bits and pieces of dismantled pubs during subsequent visits to England. It was about that time that I also became seriously influenced by the writings of C. S. Lewis and his friends, so it was inevitable that my pub should be called The Eagle and Child.

While assembling the pub I began buying first editions of Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, Sayers, Barfield and George MacDonald. Condition being all-important, I constantly upgraded the collection, adding to it two rare Lewis manuscripts and many original letters, until it became what was generally regarded as the finest private Lewis collection known. With fine copies in dust jackets of every British and American first edition of C. S. Lewis, as well as most of the first editions of those other writers, it is now at Taylor University here in Indiana as the Edwin W. Brown Collection, for whom a generous benefactor purchased it from me some years ago. What greater honor could one ask for as the culmination of a marvelous hobby?

I never had the privilege of meeting Lewis, but I’ve made many friends who were close to him – including Pauline Baynes, Owen Barfield, George Sayer, Walter Hooper and Douglas Gresham.

With a plethora of first editions surplus to the collection from continual upgrading, I perforce became a part-time dealer in Lewis first editions, as well as his letters, and signed books. I have learned firsthand the value of buying the finest copies of any first edition one can afford, for they will always increase significantly in value.

Having all of Lewis’s first editions in their dust jackets at my disposal, I have now completed a detailed descriptive bibliography of both books and jackets, soon to be published as Jack’s Paper Trail, providing instant verification of every Lewis first edition and its jacket. Nor is it a dry tome, for the bibliography is preceded by a host of anecdotes of the unusual experiences I’ve enjoyed in my more than 30 years of collecting C. S. Lewis.

Marquis Publications has recently honored me with my biographical sketch in Who’s Who in the World for my professional accomplishments – but I consider my Lewis collection to be my greatest accomplishment.