C. S. Lewis’s allegory enhanced with a wealth of annotations, including notes by Lewis himself represents a number of firsts for Lewis—the first book he wrote after his conversion to
C. S. Lewis’s allegory enhanced with a wealth of annotations, including notes by Lewis himself
Modeled after John Bunyan’s famous Pilgrim’s Progress, C. S. Lewis’s Pilgrim’s Regress represents a number of firsts for Lewis—the first book he wrote after his conversion to Christianity, his first book of fiction, and the first book he published under his own name.
This splendid annotated edition, produced in collaboration with the Marion E. Wade Center in Wheaton, Illinois, helps readers recover the richness of Lewis’s allegory. Often considered obscure and difficult to read, The Pilgrim’s Regress nonetheless remains a witty satire on cultural fads, a vivid account of spiritual dangers, and an illuminating tale for generations of pilgrims old and new.
Editor David C. Downing’s critical introduction provides needed biographical and cultural context for fully appreciating The Pilgrim’s Regress. Downing relies throughout both on his own expertise and on previously unpublished sources from Lewis himself to identify allusions to other authors, translate quotations, and explain humor hidden within Lewis’s text. Among the hundreds of annotations are references that draw parallels to Lewis’s later works, including Mere Christianity, Surprised by Joy, and the Chronicles of Narnia.
“Among all of C. S. Lewis’s books, the one most in need of annotation is The Pilgrim’s Regress, which fairly bristles with allusions to writers and ideas, some ancient, some recent, some famous, some obscure. It takes a learned and discerning scholar to tease out all these references. Fortunately, David Downing is just such a scholar, and this book is an outstanding contribution to Lewis studies.”
— Alan Jacobs
author of The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis
“Downing’s consistently thorough and well-informed annotations do a superb job of clarifying and enlivening this difficult, but very important, early work by C. S. Lewis. All readers of Lewis will be grateful.”
— Peter Schakel
author of The Way into Narnia: A Reader’s Guide
“The Pilgrim’s Regress, the first book Lewis wrote after becoming a Christian, remains one of the best records of how he went from cynical atheist to joyous believer. It is no exaggeration to say that David Downing’s superb annotations allow those of us who do not share Lewis’s vast philosophical, literary, and linguistic background to understand and enjoy this classic work in a way not possible before. A must for all serious Lewis fans.”
— Devin Brown
author of A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis
“C. S. Lewis spoke of the ‘needless obscurity’ of this early fiction of ideas. Later he added notes and an explanatory preface for the reader of seventy years ago. Now David C. Downing has gone further and helped to make Lewis’s engaging and classic modern pilgrim’s quest even more accessible for today’s reader. I’ve reread The Pilgrim’s Regress more often than many of Lewis’s writings and am delighted at this new edition.”
— Colin Duriez
author of The A–Z of C. S. Lewis
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Downing’s annotations guide the reader through [Lewis’s thicket of ideas and point out the themes in the narrative. . . . In Downing’s hands, The Pilgrim’s Regress comes to life.”
— The Presbyterian Outlook
\“The Wade Annotated Edition of The Pilgrim’s Regress belongs on every Lewis devotee’s shelf, with gratitude to Downing for his valuable labors.”
— Living Church
“An excellent edition of The Pilgrim’s Regress. . . . Lewis added a great number of annotations for a friend, and these are included along with supplements provided by the editor. These additions to the text are essential to understanding the work, and they are good reading in themselves.”
— Choice
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C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) taught English literature at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and wrote more than thirty influential scholarly and popular books. Among his many famous works are Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, the Chronicles of Narnia series, Miracles, and Surprised by Joy.
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Table of Contents
Editor’s Introduction
1. The Data
2. Thrill
3. Through Darkest Zeitgeistheim
4. Back to the Road
5. The Grand Canyon
6. Northward along the Canyon
7. Southward along the Canyon
8. At Bay
9. Across the Canyon
10. The Regress
Afterword to Third Edition
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