With 354 footnotes to explain obscure words and literary referencesġ50th Anniversary Edition, edited by Nick Page, illustrations by Arthur HughesĬullen Collection edition, with introduction by Michael Phillips OTHER MEDIA In addition to the text, there are 184 pages containing an authoritative introduction, life chronology, textual notes, book reviews, and comparative source materials. Recommended Editions and Adaptions WRITTEN WORKSįrom Johannesen Printing & Publishing (hardcover)Īnnotated Scholarly Edition, edited by Pennington and McGillis In spite of its poor initial reception among Victorian readers, Lewis’s affection for it established Phantastes as one of MacDonald’s most enduring and studied works in literary and academic circles. Lewis discovered Phantastes in 1916, within a few hours he said he knew he “had crossed a great frontier.” MacDonald’s unusual fantasy set Lewis on the road toward his eventual conversion to Christianity, and forever after he referred to MacDonald as his “master.” Sales of Phantastes, however, proved a disappointment, and thus MacDonald ultimately turned to the writing of realistic fiction in the 1860s. Two volumes of poetry prior to this had set MacDonald apart as a talented young author to watch in England's literary circles. From that beginning, he embarks on a dream-like series of encounters that follow the form of an epic quest, though the purpose and destination of his journey remain obscure and are never fully clarified. The book’s narrator, Anodos, enters Fairy Land through a mysterious old wooden secretary. This unusual fantasy, subtitled A Fairie Romance, is one of MacDonald’s most mysterious and esoteric titles.

George MacDonald’s first major fiction work, in his words “a sort of fairy tale for grown people,” Phantastes was published in 1858 by Smith, Elder & Co., London.

Phantastes a faerie romance