Reprinting for the Narnia Cookbook Petition

[ElfMaidenArcheroRivendell]

Hello NarniaWebbers!
A few months ago, I contacted Tirian (NW's founder) something about a reprinting for "The Narnia Cookbook", which was written by Douglas Gresham, and illustrated by Pauline Baynes. It was published in 1998 by HarperCollins Publishers, and sold for 16.00 US dollars. Unfortunately it went out of print after 2004, and is no longer found for less than $95.00 at the least, most likely anywhere. It has over 70 recipes mentioned in the Chronicles. Since there are probably a lot of Narnia fans (or cookbook collectors, foodies,etc) who wished they had bought this lovely piece of merchandise a long time ago, and that there are no legal recipes online, I thought it would be a great idea to start a petition to reprint the cookbook to Mr. Douglas Gresham. A reprinting for a book is usually started by someone just simply asking the author or publisher to do so, which usually is successful. Tirian has suggested that I could get a lot of supporters or volunteers here on the forum, and maybe also on other
fan sites.
(EDIT)The petition has successfully been sent to Mr. Douglas Gresham, thanks to NWebber, DiGoRyKiRkE. In turn, Mr. Gresham has replied saying that he will be very glad to see the book reprinted.(go to page 6) We are now awaiting for HarperCollins confirmation whether or not they would do so.
Please do support this cause, and do pray about it! Thank you very much, and don't be afraid to comment
Elf Maiden Archer of Rivendell
P.S. If anybody wants to talk about Narnian food etc., I have a topic just for that:http://www.narniaweb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1563

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

I have wanted a copy of this book for 7 years, and have never been able to afford it! I am totally and completely in favour of getting it reprinted.

[SusanTheArcher]

This is an excellent idea! Good luck, and I will definitely sign this petition. Are we sure this is going to work though? I don't want to be negative, but if the book went out of print it's probably because not enough copies were being sold. We're a handful of Narnia and cooking fans, are we enough to make sure that the cookbooks can be reprinted at an affordable price?
Hmm... but if Douglas Gresham says no, we could invent a Narnia cookbook of our own!

[Griffle]

There's one for $55 on eBay right now. It's a bit expensive, but not that expensive. I mean, it's an OOP book we're talking about here.

Never had any interest in buying this before, but now that I've realized how rare it is...

I'll sign the petition.

[Lady Courage]

I'll certainly sign too! But, I wouldn't dare try to write the letter myself...

[ElfMaidenArcheroRivendell]

@SusanTheArcher: Well, there are lots of other people who don't go on NW who want a copy, plus if people see it in bookstores again, or we do a bit of promotion, we get a lot of people, hopefully. The Narnia Cookbook went out of print before the LWW movie came out, and by the time VDT comes out Narnia will probably be more "popularized". I only found out about the Narnia Cookbook this year through a reference note on [url]thelionscall.com[/url], last month. If Mr. Gresham says no, we could ask him to get permission to photocopy made-to-order copies for people. But I prefer the reprinting thing. Well, in any case I still need help with the beginning of the petition, just in case there are no volunteers. Sigh. Thanks again for your sympathy!

[7chronicles]

Would it be copyright to scan the pages and post them?
I’m for it, but like Lady Courage I don’t think I could write the letter.

[Griffle]

All petetion letters start off the same way, just copy+paste the beginning of some letter and change a few words here and there and you're set.

[ElfMaidenArcheroRivendell]

Would it be copyright to scan the pages and post them? :-/

Hello, I'm back! Well, when I contacted Tirian, my first thought was for NW to start a recipe page, and if any NarniaWebber had the cookbook, maybe they would've shared them and posted them, and I really don't think it would be copyright, since you own it. Not sure, I don't do law! You could PM Tirian, but if you were to share recipes (if you do happen to have it : D) I don't think you're allowed to do it here on the merchandise forum.
@ Griffle: Pretty good idea, though it is already lots of work editing. I was trying to find other cookbook petitions on http://www.petitiononline.com/, but no results. The tricky part is sending it. Nobody here happens to have info of Douglas Gresham's contact (email or address), because I looked up some sites that claimed that they did & still nothing... I don't have any guts to ask the guy that I mentioned above. I originally asked Tirian if NW could do it, but he said no. I can write it, but I can't send it, because petitiononline asks for every single detail of you contact info, except for signers. Maybe I'll ask Tirian or another admin, who has better reach with Narnia people,etc. I don't think I'll even have time to finish the letter, much less have to worry about my family & student stuff, siblings. Oh, I just I hope that this will eventually get somewhere...

[Silver the Wanderer]

This sounds like a great idea! I'd love a Narnia cookbook. I tried making Turkish Delight once...but that didn't turn out so great.
Unfortunately, I'm not very good at writing letters either. But I might be able to help with correcting grammar and stuff once it's written.
Good luck!

[ElfMaidenArcheroRivendell]

Thanks Silver for checking out my topic! What recipe did you use for Turkish Delight? I'm making it today, the authentic version (gelatin-free). Alas, I happen not have any rosewater, so I'm using lemon extract. I still want to see the Narnian version & all other 70 recipes. Someone to correct grammar would be great! Thanks again!
P.S. I'll tell you if my Turkish Delight was any good.
-Elf Maiden

[Silver the Wanderer]

Elf Maiden, I really can't remember! It was a long time ago, right after LWW came out. I had a Narnia-themed party, and I tried to serve Narnian foods at it. (I think we had toast, tea, and cakes ) I had a similar party after PC came out, but it'd be nice to know exactly what classifies as a "Narnian Food" the next time around.

[Griffle]

I also tried making Turkish Delight once, using the recipe that could be found on Narnia.com at the time. It had gelatin in it and it didn't turn out that good. Had lumps of hardened gelatin in it. Didn't taste that good either. It was fun doing it though I guess.

For grammar correction, use Microsoft Word.

[Meltintalle]

Dear posters. You are making us Merchandise moderators hungry. Our mothers have told us not to put toys in our mouth, so please go talk about Narnian food in TAN and keep the discussion here focused on the petition to have the cookbook reprinted. Thank you--and good luck.

P.S. I will be happy to sign a petition once it is written.

[ElfMaidenArcheroRivendell]

Sorry Meltintalle! We got carried away, I guess. Excuse me, but what does TAN stand for? Or, I will figure it out myself... Another reason why we should have a recipe page... I guess food discussion continues to TAN.

[Griffle]

TAN = "Talk About Narnia" Forum?