Phantastes: Annotated Edition

Phantastes was a groundbreaking book in 1858 and continues to be a seminal example of great fantasy literature. Its elusive meaning is both alluring and perplexing, inviting readers to experience a range of deep feelings and a sense of profound truth. This annotated edition, by two renowned MacDonald scholars, provides a wealth of information to better understand and enjoy this masterpiece. In addition to the text, there are 184 pages containing an authoritative introduction, life chronology, textual notes, book reviews, and comparative source materials. With 354 footnotes to explain obscure words and literary references, this enhanced edition will benefit any reader and will provide a solid foundation for future scholarship.

"By placing Phantastes within older and wider British and Continental literary traditions and by establishing this text's affinities with the iconography of artists such as William Blake, the editors enrich our sense of George MacDonald's influential promotion of a supra-reality best discerned by "poetic and childlike" minds." U. C. Knoepflmacher, Author of Ventures in Childland: Victorians, Fairy Tales, and Femininity

"A good critical edition of George MacDonald's Phantastes has long been needed, and now we have it. This fine, comprehensive edition provides an accessible and illuminating introduction to this profound work."
Colin Manlove, Author of Scotland's Forgotten Treasure: The Visionary Novels of George MacDonald

Any serious reader of Phantastes will fi nd this edition to deepen his or her understanding and enjoyment of MacDonald's fantasy masterpiece, and MacDonald scholars will find it an invaluable resource.
Bonnie Gaarden, Author of The Christian Goddess: Archetype and Theology in the Fantasies of George MacDonald

John Pennington, professor of English at St. Norbert College, specializes in Victorian fairy tales and is the editor of North Wind: The Journal of George MacDonald Studies.

Roderick McGillis, emeritus professor of English at University of Calgary, has written widely on MacDonald and edited several essay collections of George MacDonald scholarship.

George MacDonald was born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, on December 10, 1824. He was the second son of George and Helen MacDonald, and he was raised on a farm not far from the village. In 1840, he attended King's College in Aberdeen and studied chemistry and Natural Philosophy, thinking he might continue his scientific studies in Germany. He could not, however, afford to pursue this plan, and he turned his attention to the study of theology. Despite a weak constitution (he was tubercular from an early age), he earned money by cataloguing the library in the North, and by teaching arithmetic during the winter of 1843 in the Aberdeen Central Academy. After graduation in 1845, with the degree of M.A., he accepted a tutorship in Fulham, where he hoped to earn enough money to repay his Aberdeen debts. In 1848, after some time working as a tutor, MacDonald entered Highbury College to study for the ministry. On completion, he accepted a call to Arundel, Sussex, in 1850, and he served there until 1853 when he left under suspicion of heretical views, which included the belief that heathens could enter Heaven-as well as animals. From this time, MacDonald made his living as a writer of poetry, fiction, sermons, children's books, and two influential adult fantasies. He became a well-known literary figure. Many of the leading critical journals printed long articles on his work, and he was considered "one of the most popular authors of the day" (London Quarterly Review, 1869). During the 1860s and 1870s, MacDonald's friends included John Ruskin, Arthur Hughes, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), Henry Sutton, Sir Noel Paton, and F. D. Maurice, a major theologian and influence on MacDonald. In 1872, he followed Dickens and Thackeray on a lecture tour in America. He had, and continues to have, a following of enthusiastic admirers who look to him as their teacher and prophet, the most famous being C. S. Lewis. In later years he lived in Bordighera, Italy, and in 1898 he wrote a thinly disguised autobiographical story in the Sketch, "Far Above Rubies." This story chronicles his early difficulties. He died in Ashstead, Surrey, on December 10, 1905.

John Pennington, professor of English at St. Norbert College, specializes in Victorian fairy tales and is the editor of North Wind: The Journal of George MacDonald Studies.

Roderick McGillis, emeritus professor of English at University of Calgary, has written widely on MacDonald and edited several essay collections of George MacDonald scholarship.