A prodigious essayist, it is this area of C.S. Lewis’ work that I find the most provocative—even more so than the fiction and apologetics books (though there is overlap in the latter category). Whether inspirational or controversial, his brevity, clarity and wit strike through his reviews, lectures, published letters, editorials, sermons, public controversies, paper, and critical essays.
Essay writing was an area that Lewis excelled in. After the onset of WWII, and not including book reviews, Lewis published essays, sermons, lectures or editorials at a rate of about one every 8 weeks. Beyond these pieces that appeared 
in local and international journals and collection, much of his popular nonfiction began as essays, lectures, or addresses. Mere Christianity (1952) is a collection of 33 WWII-era BBC talks, and much of the material of Miracles (1947) was tested out on the public during WWII as individual articles, Socratic Club papers, and sermons. Beyond his essay collections proper, the centre of many of his books began as lectures, including A Preface to Paradise Lost (1942), Abolition of Man (1943), The Four Loves (1960), Studies in Words (1960), The Discarded Image (1964), the commentary of Arthurian Torso (1948), and some part of English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (1954). Lewis used short pieces and talks to form the base of much of the nonfiction we enjoy the 
most–and as the foundation of some of the fiction.
One of the struggles as a C.S. Lewis reader is trying to navigate the essay collections. I have 19 anthologies and collections on my shelf, and a quick internet search is going to send you scurrying to about 25 different sources all told. Those sources come from separate UK & US publication streams, as well as a series of revised editions, abridgements, gift editions, selections, and reprints under different names.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a mess.
Fortunately, though, C.S. Lewis sleuth Arend Smilde has worked it all out. Arend wrote “A History of C. S. Lewis’s Collected Shorter Writings, 1939-2000” for the Journal of Inklings Studies (JINKS), and then expanded the essay for web publication after a new volume of essays and book reviews came out in 2013 (called Image and Imagination). In the essay, Arend walks you through the pretty peculiar publication history of Lewis’ shorter pieces. Perhaps even more valuable for the C.S. Lewis reader, Arend has taken the time to list the table of contents of each of the 23 major essay collections, and has reordered the shorter pieces in both alphabetical and chronological order (see this impressive 
work here).
Arend’s lists were important as I set up my schedule to read Lewis chronologically (though I had to redate things by time of writing, rather than publication), and I find myself frequenting his webpage whenever I need to look something up.
As I have been rereading Lewis this year according to topic instead of chronology, I started to think differently about the shorter pieces. The question finally came to me: How could I read almost every Lewis piece while buying as few volumes as possible? It 
isn’t just about being cheap! It is tough when someone asks what to read next and there is this whole mess of collections floating around. So what is the simplest way to get the vast majority of Lewis’ shorter pieces in book form?
Using a sohpisticated analytical tool (basically the MS Excel version of pencil crayons), I have determined that you can read every single published Lewis short pieces except one if you have 9 books. My fancy chart at the bottom of the page pretty much maps it out for you. To make the list short enough for the screen I’ve left out most of the short book reviews in Image a
nd Imagination (#9). Except for the four-page essay “Christian Reunion” published in 1990–which you can read here–you can read all of Lewis’ published literary critical pieces, editorials, sermons, addresses, lectures, and essays in these nine books:
- The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (revised and expanded edition, US, 1980): This is a beautiful collection that shouldn’t be confused with the 1949 collection of the same name (or Transpositions and Other Essays in the UK).
- God in the Dock (US, 1970); Undeceptions (UK, 1971): This is the classic collection of essays on theology and ethics.
Beware of the tiny abridged God in the Dock (1979). Other abridgements include The Grand Miracle (1982), First and Second Things (1985), and Christian Reunion (1990) with that essay that’s missing from my list below. - Christian Reflections (UK/US, 1967): These are Christian pieces that are a little lighter in tone, and offer cultural criticism and encouragement to Christian growth. The Seeing Eye (1986) has most, but not all, of these pieces.
- Present Concerns (UK, 1986): While the introduction suggests these are “journalistic,” it is best to think of them as cultural critical and editorial pieces. They are more timely
than other things Lewis has written, which also makes some of them dated. Still, fascinating to read. - Of This and Other Worlds (UK, 1982); On Stories and Other Essays on Literature (US, 1982): This is the most full collection of Lewis’ popular-level pieces on writing, literature, and science fiction. Don’t confuse it with the excellent collection Of Other Worlds (1966), which has about half the essays plus four of the stories that are in The Dark Tower and Other Stories (1977).
- The World’s Last Night and Other Essays (US, 1960): This is a volume that Lewis himself put together with his publisher but has been reprinted in a couple of series. These essays are within the apologetics and popular philosophy category (like God in the Dock part 1).
- Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (UK/US, 1966): This volume contains some essays that introduce the reader to literature from the late middle ages through the time of Milton (roughly 11th-17th centuries), as well as some studies of individual books in that period.
- Selected Literary Essays (UK/US, 1969): A diverse collection that runs from Jane Austen to the King James Bible and all the way back through Tasso to the medieval storytellers.
- Image and Imagination: Essays and Reviews (UK/US, 2013): Although published last, this might be the best place for the reader new to Lewis’ academic literature essays. A lot of the books he reviews are great reads, and even the more obscure reviews contain Lewisian wit and knowledge. It also includes some essays that have been out of print for decades.
Some notes: The version I put first in the list is the one I have on my shelf (and typically the most accessible to others); the 3 literary collections (#s6-9) are the same on either continent. You’ll notice there is almost no overlap, so what looked like a complete mess falls into place in 2013 with the release of Image and Imagination. Arend divides the essays between academic (#s7-9) and popular (#s1-6), but the 1st section of God in the Dock (#2) is a bit of a challenge, and much of Image and Imagination (#9) is fairly accessible. We could also divide the books between “Christian” (#s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6) and “literary” (#s 5, 7, 8, 9). There are likely some errors here (a lot of the essays are named various things and I might have messed it up); let me know if you see something.
Wherever your interests lie, I hope this list supplements Arend Smilde’s excellent work to give you the resources you need to track down Lewis’ shorter work. For the burgeoning C.S. Lewis scholar, these are the nine core books that cover the majority of the short pieces you’ll need for your bibliography.
Full Excel Sheet: How to Read CSL Essays Public
Thank you for this, much appreciated. I have often wondered how I would know if I had read all of his essays or not.
Sort of a lengthy checklist!
This is splendid: well done, and thank you very much! A very useful addition to Arend Smilde’s two pieces you link!
Two sudden thoughts:
Do you happen to know what the state of affairs is with respect to that wartime lecture on records, half of which Professor Poe happily rediscovered not so very long ago?
And, Arend Smilde once showed me (as I recall) an edition of the Socratic Club papers (by various hands, including Lewis’s), the details of which I forget – and have not paused to try to rediscover. Speaking of more hands than one’s, there is of course The Personal Heresy which began as an exchange of separately published essays by Lewis and Tillyard.
Another footnote: there is (I understand) a recording of Lewis reading his Cambridge Inaugural address, and (I further understand) its text differs from the printed one: Arend Smilde made use of both, for his Dutch translation!
I have not hear this recording (though I heard there were some differences). Is it secret?
In his translation (published in 1997) Arend Smilde notes that in April 1955 Lewis read a slightly revised version for BBC radio broadcast, under the title ‘The Great Divide’, and that it was then still available from The Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation Inc. in a collection called C.S. Lewis: Comments and Critiques. While there is also a 2001 note by the late Bruce Edwards online to the effect that it was then still the case, I am, bizarrely, having no luck searching online a bit to see if that is still the case, now!
I did find a little more detail about its first broadcast:
http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/03568ecb9cd24764a1dee7bbbfe2d93e
I wish it was available. It isn’t the words so much as the sense of humour. I’d be curious to know whether his voice ever cracked when he was telling a joke. Was he ever sly. Did he wink where the text winks? That’s it.
So where is the recording?
I fear the answer may be along the lines of ‘who (which library) owns a copy?’ – but maybe I’m just not handy enough at searching…
Just a partial answer–I don’t know on Poe–but Joel Heck has published as much of the Socratic Digest as is possible. Here is the US link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/joel-d-heck-editor/socratic-digest/paperback/product-20373348.html.
Also, Heck as edited and re-produced the Personal Heresy–a book I enjoyed a lot.
Thanks for the publication details! – I’m sure that’s what Arend Smilde showed me one time, but I couldn’t remember any more details!
I don’t remember hearing about his Personal Heresy edition! I’ll try to follow that up. It certainly is a fascinating, enjoyable book to my mind, too.
Personal Heresy is also being re-released this week by Harper Collins in the US. I suspect the Euro scene will follow.
Good to hear!
Not sure if I’ve understood right, but this seems to be missing “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” (with replies and a rejoinder) from 1954:
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/ResJud/1954/30.html
Fascinating – thank you! I have never seen this publication of the essay (though I have read about it). What I am especially curious about is the lecture on “The Norse Spirit in English Literature” which Lewis prepared for the Joint Broadcasting Committee, part of which Harry Lee Poe encountered on a 78 rpm recording and wrote about in December 2015 in Christianity Today.
It’s in the one volume “Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces” (Harper Collins, ISBN 0-00-628157-5)
Hi Leonna, David, and Oliver,” I believe I have “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” at 1949, which is in God in the Dock.
David, we have about 1/2 of the Norse Spirit talk in Hal Poe’s second Lewis biography from a couple of years ago. It is neat to read.
Almost everything is in the Wamsley essay collection! But it is very hard to find.
Wow. That’s a cool compilation.
I too have frequently availed myself of Smilde’s work, and appreciate your new aid which offers the new timeline information.
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Wow, talk about nerdy-love! I had no idea Lewis wrote essays, let alone wrote so many. This is wonderful. You’ve opened a whole new door of thought for me. Thanks for making the spreadsheet, I can only imagine how much time it took to collate all that information together. Go you! 🙂
Thanks. I suppose you have disregarded the Essay Collection (one-volume 2000, two-volume 2002) because it is no longer available — is that right?
David — All of Lewis’s five surviving papers for the Socratic Club have long found their way into the various collections. Even his 1943 Preface for the first Socratic Digest was reprinted (“The Founding of the Socratic Club”, in God in the Dock, 1970). See Walter Hooper’s list in his essay “Oxford’s Bonny FIghter” in James Como’s CSL at the Breakfast Table (1979, 2nd ed. 1992; re-issued in 2005 as Remembering CSL). The only thing that might be called an exception is the Socratic secretary’s account of CSL’s address on 8 Feb 1943, “If We Have Christ’s Ethics, Does the Rest of the Christan Faith Matter?”: but this short text is included in Hooper’s essay.
By the way, Hooper’s list unaccountably omits “Is Theism Important?”, i.e. Lewis’s reply to H. H. Price, probably read in Michaelmas Term 1951 and also reprinted in God in the Dock, 1970.
Hi Arend, no thank you for your work! Mine was a few hours of playing; your work has been years of commitment.
Yes, I left out the super big collections which are not impracticably expensive. I have also left out the non-US/UK editions that are floating around (partly because they are incomplete, and partly because though they may not break copyright in their country, it is not blessed by the CSL Co.).
Your mentioning “Is Theism Important?” makes me realize I left off the question mark in the chart.
It is worthy of note that Joel Heck edited the Socratic Papers that are available and that’s for sale online.
This is excellent; thank you! I’ve passed it on to other people who will appreciate it.
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Seeing this got me wondering how early Lewis wrote about science fiction – from your list, it looks like later than this (unless I’m forgetting some content of earlier essays):
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/15/winston-churchill-essay-alien-life-discovered-us-college-are-we-alone-in-the-universe
It also got me wondering if Churchill knew (of) any of the Ransom books: he could have read OSP before writing this!
Well, I don’t know that Churchill knew much about Lewis except what was in his version of the street, which was probably something like this, spoken over brandy in the 22 hours that Church hill was awake each day, “Pip pip, old boy. Have you heard of that medieval chap at Magdalen. Got religion, it seems. Good face for radio though.”
Sorry, that’s how my mind works.
Lewis’ first SF I think was Out of the Silent Planet after reading David Lindsay and Charles Williams, and after the bet with Tolkien.
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You may have responded to this above. I have a large collection called: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces, edited by Lesley Walmsley, and published by Harper Collins Publishers. It is the UK version published in 2000 (says Text copyright 2000 C. S. Lewis Pte Ltd). I was wondering, how many of the essays that you mention above are contained in this collection, and which other essay collections would I need to get in order to have a full collection of Lewis’s essays. I already have almost every essay collection, but there are a couple that I haven’t yet purchased, and am wondering about whether it is necessary.
I think someone mentioned it, David. I don’t have that book, but I have a PDF that was built off of it. Because it is out of print and wasn’t released in the U.S., I left it out.
As Canada, Australia and a few others have Lewis in public domain, I suspect these essays might become available there. Our version of gutenberg in Canada has the fiction.
I haven’t compared the collection, but Arend Smilde has. Take a look at his links and he’ll lead you well.
There’s the one single hardback volume ed. / complied by Lesley Walmsley called “C. S. Lewis Essay Collection: and other short pieces” that had everything in. It was also available in two paperbacks — “Faith, Christianity & The Church” and “Literature, Philosophy and Short Stories”, which basically split the one book into two. I think if you have those two (or the single volume) then you have everything. I hope so!
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There is a new collection that would be useful to add to your chart:
https://www.amazon.com/Essay-Collection-Faith-Christianity-Church/dp/0007136536/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=cs+lewis+essays+faith+christianity&qid=1568650019&s=books&sr=1-3
It contains the following essays:
1. The Grand Miracle
2. Is Theology Poetry?
3. The Funeral of a Great Myth
4. God in the Dock
5. What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?
6. The World’s Last Night
7. Is Theism Important?
8. The Seeing Eye
9. Must Our Image of God Go?
10. Christianity and Culture
11. Evil and God
12. The Weight of Glory
13. Miracles
14. Dogma and the Universe
15. ‘Horrid Red Things’
16. Religion: Reality or Substitute?
17. Myth Became Fact
18. Religion and Science
19. Christian Apologetics
20. Work and Prayer
21. Religion Without Dogma?
22. The Decline of Religion
23. On Forgiveness
24. The Pains of Animals
25. Petitionary Prayer
26. On Obstinacy in Belief
27. What Christmas Means to Me
28. The Psalms
29. Religion and Rocketry
30. The Efficacy of Prayer
31. Fern-seed and Elephants
32. The Language of Religion
33. Transposition
34. Why I Am Not a Pacifist
35. Dangers of National Repentance
36. Two Ways With the Self
37. Meditation on the Third Commandment
38. On Ethics
39. Three Kinds of Men
40. Answers to Questions on Christianity
41. The Laws of Nature
42. Membership
43. The Sermon and the Lunch
44. Scraps
45. After Priggery-What?
46. Man or Rabbit?
47. ‘The Trouble with “X”…’
48. On Living in an Atomic Age
49. Lilies That Fester
50. Good Work and Good Works
51. A Slip of the Tongue
52. We Have No ‘ Right to Happiness’
53. Christian Reunion
54. Priestesses in the Church?
55. On Church Music
56. The Conditions for a Just War
57. The Conflict in Anglican Theology
58. Miracles
59. Mr. C.S. Lewis on Christianity
60. A Village Experience
61. Correspondence with an Anglican who Dislikes Hymns
62. The Church’s Liturgy, Invocation and Invocation of Saints
63. The Holy Name
64. Mere Christians
65. Canonisation
66. Pittenger-Lewis and Version Vernacular
67. Capital Punishment and Death Penalty
That is a strong collection. I see that it is available now, so I’m glad you linked it. I didn’t initially use it because, frankly, I couldn’t find it for a reasonable price. I do see it now! Most of the other volumes are pretty cheap used.
Also I’ve converted your chart to a PDF that is searchable for ease of finding essay titles – I’ve made the link available via Google Docs:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qe9aLtLmoK-HPIwMQtfnx7k5J0LvYJeJ
Thanks for all your work on this!
Thanks Tyler! I hope that is helpful to readers too.
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As long as the road is right, you are not afraid of the road
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There’s the one single hardback volume ed. / complied by Lesley Walmsley called “C. S. Lewis Essay Collection: and other short pieces” that had everything in. It was also available in two paperbacks — “Faith, Christianity & The Church” and “Literature, Philosophy and Short Stories”, which basically split the one book into two. I think if you have those two (or the single volume) then you have everything. I hope so!
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