Part I. Reflections on literature
C. S. Lewis's pre-eminence as an author, academic and apologist is such that we often forget he was, for the most part, a teacher. At Oxford, every term, for eight weeks, he lectured and gave tutorials in English literature to undergraduates, aside from fulfilling other duties, decanal or administrative, on behalf of the University and the residents of his College. The first two long essays here, from the collection Rehabilitations and Other Essays (1939) reveal how important this facet of his life was to him. In both, he discusses the importance of academic rigour and intellectual exploration, not only in universities, but also in schools. The third long essay, ‘Image and imagination’ appears here for the first time. It is a philosophical analysis of the way an ‘image’ may inspire ‘imagination’ and vice versa. In a way, ‘Image and imagination’ is analogous to Tolkien's famous story ‘Leaf by niggle’. Both are conceptual treatments of what is happening when an author creates an imaginary world. The other articles display the range of Lewis's literary interests, casting light on the smallest matters of bibliography, as well as more weighty problems of translation and interpretation.