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I recently recieved an e-mail from Amazon.com which listed ten top titles this week in fiction, and sitting at #2 was this new hardcover edition of CON. I don't think I've every seen it before.

The product description reads: "In 1950, C. S. Lewis introduced the land of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Now, celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the beginning of the beloved series with this luxurious presentation of C. S. Lewis's seven-book masterpiece. Beautifully bound and slipcased and printed on superior-quality paper gilded in elegant gold, this edition features a full-color map suitable for framing, a full-color timeline of Narnian history bound inside the book, and backmatter exploring Narnia through the eyes of its creator. A ribbon marker will help readers keep their place. This is the perfect indulgence for collectors and avid fans."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_63460_17463640_pe_t2/0061721085

Too bad it doesn't say anything about full color illustrations as well - I already own two seperate copies of the Chronicles, but I think I might be tempted to get a new one if it had that.

It does list Pauline Baynes as the illustrator, and the map is full color. But I suppose the illustrations could be black and white.

It looks lovely. I am of the opinion that you can never have too many copies of the books you love

I would love to have this edition to add to my collection of the Chronicles I already own! It looks very beautiful on the outside and since it does contain the original illustrations, that is definitely a good thing. I can't imagine other illustrations other than Pauline's, especially in an Anniversary Edition such as this one. I do agree with wisewoman, on the fact that the illustrations will most likely be in black and white. I have hardly ever seen any large books with quite a bit of illustrations with full color drawings.

I hope I can convince my mum to buy this for me...it will be a great addition on my Narnia bookshelf!

The books are in the wrong order, the timeline is not the one originally done by lewis, the texts are the unrevised versions and the illustrations are of course only in black and white. For the 60th anniversary they could have done much better.

Reepi, can you give some more information about this timeline please?
What is unrevised about the text? (the only revisions were made for Americans, as far as I know)

coracle wrote:Reepi, can you give some more information about this timeline please?
What is unrevised about the text? (the only revisions were made for Americans, as far as I know)

Yes, unrevised is referring to the american texts. The timeline is (about 95% sure, as I can't compare right now) the same one we got in the Prince Caspian movie softcover tie-in edition with all 7 in it, which has altered and omitted some things from Lewis original timeline (first published in Walter Hoopers "Past watchful dragons" in 1979)

You'd think that with the movies coming out in publication order (so far), the publishers would smarten up and finally release them in that order again, even if it was only a special edition.

At the very least, release them individually and don't number the books on the spines so people can arrange them on the shelf in whichever order they like best.

Until something like that happens, I won't be buying anymore editions.