THE PERSONAL HERESY | By C. S. Lewis
The Personal Heresy (PH)
A Controversy
The Personal Heresy is a series of articles, three each by C.S. Lewis and E. M. W. (Eustace Mandeville Wetenhall) Tillyard, first published on April 27, 1939 by Oxford University Press and later reprinted, also by Oxford University Press, in 1965. The book has been reprinted in 2008 by Concordia University Press with an Introduction by Lewis scholar Bruce L. Edwards and a new Preface by the editor, Joel D. Heck. The central issue of the essays is whether a piece of imaginative writing, particularly poetry, is primarily a reflection of the author’s personality (Tillyard’s position) or is about something external to the author (Lewis’s position). The two positions may be summarized briefly as the subjective position (Tillyard) and the objective position (Lewis). In general, Lewis attempts to keep poetry within the reach of the common person, while Tillyard thinks of the poet as a person who is “a cut above the common person.” Three settings of the work currently exist.
SETTING 1
O1a
Oxford University Press (27 April 1939)
Printing: Humphrey Milburn
Green fabric hardback with gold title/author on spine
Jacket: Dark green authors and title on green field.
150 pages
Printing History:
Sold for 6s.
PH1-O1a-1-39-Jacket Front
PH1-O1a-1-39-Cover
O1b
Oxford Paperbacks (1965)
Printing: Vivian Ridler of the University Press, Oxford
Lithograph of O1a
Paperback: White title/author on blue fields, feature photos of Drs. Tillyard and Lewis.
150 pages
Printing History:
Sold for 6s. ($1.50)
PH1-O1b-1-65-Cover
SETTING 2
CP
Concordia University Press (2008)
Printing: Morgan Printing, Austin, TX
Edited by Joel D. Heck
Introduction by Bruce L. Edwards
Paperback: Cover by Progressive Information Technologies. Red title/author on black field with grey and red flourishes above black editor on grey field.
ISBN: 978-1-8818481-0-3
129 pages
Printing History:
Print run of 500
PH2-CP-1-08-Cover.
SETTING 3
HC1
HarperOne of HarperCollinsPublishing (February 14, 2017)
Printing: Morgan Printing, Austin, TX
Paperback: Blue and yellow crayons on navy blue field over blue title on white field over white author over light blue field – Deckle-edged
ISBN-10: 0062565621
ISBN-13: 978-0062565624
Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.4 x 8 inches
192 pages
Printing History:
Sold for $14.99
PH3-HC1-x-x-Cover