@nicemice2023 

The Macmillan paperback editions of the 1970’s were kind of a disappointment in that Pauline Baynes’ illustrations were cropped. That was one  of the reasons why I replaced my set with with the Harper Collins hardcover set, which has the black and white pictures in their complete form. I suppose the reason for the cropping was that they wanted the books to be small paperbacks. But it seems like you are getting less and something of poor quality. The hardcover edition I have now is of better quality (especially the paper and binding) and I am much happier with it.  There are better paperback books of each of the seven Chronicles with the full color illustrations, which aren’t too expensive and I would recommend them over the Macmillan paperbacks. But if you want something that is really permanent the hardcovers are the best thing.

I’m still curious why the U.S. hardcovers prior to the 1994 reordering were missing illustrations. There’s one I like of Reepicheep and the other mice when he notices his tail is missing (from PC), which I know for sure wasn’t in any of the original U.S. editions. 

It would be nice if the Barnes and Noble hardcover edition of all seven books in one volume were brought back into print.  If you can find it you pay a high price for it now, but at the time it was published it was a good deal for the money. It had Pauline Baynes illustrations in color, although I believe it had the stories in chronological order.  There was another hardcover edition that had the stories all in one book, but I think that is also out of print. It is kind of sad that beautiful books often go out of print only a few years after they are published.  🙁

I don’t know if people here would like a movie edition of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or of Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I think that Pauline Baynes’ illustrations should be considered inseparable from the books.  If people want pictures from the movies they are available from other sources such as online and in other publications. I have seen them in calendars, but today Narnia calendars are rather hard to find and there haven’t been any new ones in many years.  The Walden films are too different from the books to be featured along with the original stories.

@narnian78 I bought one here, in 2005 or so, and left it in its plastic wrap.  Hope its value is increasing. 

@coracle 

I think my Narnia calendar might be the same the one you have.  It has pictures from the 2005 movie and is for 2006. I haven’t seen new Narnia calendars for a long time.  Some of the older ones from the 1980’s have artwork like paintings and drawings instead of photographs from the movies.  They are quite pretty to look at but are somewhat difficult to find (there are occasionally used ones on eBay).  I recommend them if you like to see how other artists draw Narnia. 

@narnian78 sorry, I was replying to the post about the hardcover edition with all seven stories. I haven't got a Narnia calendar. 

I wonder how the people here feel about the work of other artists illustrating Narnia. I enjoy seeing other artists’ work, but I think the books should always have Pauline Baynes’ pictures.  The book jackets sometimes have illustrations by other artists (the set of books I own has them), but I think even the book covers and jackets should have Baynes’ illustrations out of respect to her.  She may not have been the perfect artist, but I think she was the best one.  I am not overly fussy about the hair color of the children or any other minor details like that. It is more about the spirit of the books, which I think Pauline Baynes does the best of any artist.