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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis probably needs no introduction. It’s a part of the beloved Chronicles of Narnia series, which anyone who began reading fantasy at a young age should be familiar with.
The edition we’re showing here is the 1965 Puffin edition. The more recent full-color collector’s edition actually reused this cover, though it added a gaudy medallion to let readers know about the 2005 movie.
This art was done by Pauline Baynes, who also created the illustrations for the inside of the book. Baynes’ art is such an integral part of these books that for many readers, it’s difficult to imagine Narnia without them.
Baynes was a favorite illustrator of J.R.R. Tolkien, having worked on Farmer Giles of Ham, so it only seemed natural that she would go on to do work for C.S. Lewis, who was close friends with Tolkien.
This 1965 Puffin edition contains some noteworthy features. For instance, the cover art wraps all the way around the book.
Another interesting feature is a detailed cross-section of the Dawn Treader in the beginning of the book, which is absent in many other editions (including the full-color collector’s edition mentioned earlier).
Newer fans to the Narnia series might recognize this as Book 5 in the series, but that’s only because the series was renumbered after C.S. Lewis’ death. The new numbering system puts the books in chronological order rather than by published date. Back in 1965, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader would have been the third book in the series.