C.S. Lewis letters recovered from Carlow residence to feature in upcoming auction

As part of their June sale, family-run Cavan auction house Victor Mee Auctions has been given the opportunity to find the next owners of an exquisite series of draft letters and documents written by one of the great writers of the twentieth century, C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis.

A Fellow and tutor at Oxford until 1954, Lewis spent the majority of his career as Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge.

He wrote more than thirty books, both popular and scholarly, including The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy and his connection to the island of Ireland is evident through much of his work.

Over the years, Lewis penned his innermost thoughts and scholarly learnings into a series of letters and documents, drafts of which have now been acquired by Victor Mee Auctions.

The pieces have been recovered from Rathvinden House in Leighlinbridge, Carlow, which for many years was the home of Lewis’s stepson Douglas Gresham.

With a growing global audience the high-quality pieces that will feature in the upcoming Decorative Interiors and Garden Sale are helping to further establish Victor Mee Auctions as a leading auction house within Ireland.

The Lewis letters are expected to be of significant interest to many scholars and literary lovers from around the world, with the collection listed in two Lots - Lot 213A, estimated to sell from €600 - €1200 and Lot 213B, estimated to sell from €400 - €600.

The culturally and historically significant documents will feature in Victor Mee’s upcoming Decorative Interiors and Garden Sale which will take place on Wednesday, June 26.

A Vintage Sale, which will feature a wide range of vintage cars, motorbikes, and vintage signage will also take place on Sunday 30th June.  

Letters of C. S. Lewis 

Put forward by the Graham family, recent sellers of Rathviden House, the Lewis documents have been safely kept since being discovered in 2012.

Throughout his lifetime Lewis comprised a vast collection of intimate letters written to friends, family, and fans, spanning from his youth to the weeks before his death.

The letters illuminate Lewis’s thoughts on God, humanity, nature, and creativity and delve into particular detail around his conversion from atheism to Christianity as well as his philosophical thoughts on spirituality and personal faith.

Lewis’s letters have been studied by many literary scholars over the years and developed into a series of books including Letters of C. S. Lewis – 1975, edited by Walter Hooper and Collected letters of CS Lewis- VOLUMES I, II AND III.

Victor Mee Auctions has attained what are thought to be draft, unpublicised letters written by Lewis, typed by an unknown source.

Dated from 1913 to 1949 Lot 213A includes original C. S. Lewis draft documents titled SUPPLEMENT, which the team at Victor Mee Auctions believe may have been placed within Volume III of his Collected Letters.

The third volume begins with Lewis, already a household name from his BBC radio broadcasts and popular spiritual books, on the cusp of publishing his most famous and enduring book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Volume III also explores Lewis’s relationship and marriage to Joy Davidman Gresham and includes personal letters written right up to his death on 22nd November 1963.

Lot 213B, titled THE GREAT WAR LETTERS contains Series one, letters one to seven and Series two letters one and two, 32 pages in total.

These potentially unseen Lewis documents were written in approximately 1927 between C. S. Lewis and Owen Barfield about the 'Great War'.

“We are very excited to be able to offer these fantastic C.S. Lewis letters to interested bidders. With his links to Carlow, Oxford and Cambridge, we imagine there will be significant interest across the UK, Ireland and possibly further afield.

"As these are draft documents it is virtually impossible for us to confirm exactly where the pieces have come from within Lewis’ collections, but they really do give a great insight in to Lewis’ world,” said auctioneer Victor Mee.