A letter purported to be written by C.S. Lewis and written to schoolchildren at Grittleton House School in Wiltshire was auctioned off on September 12th according to The Daily Mail and was to have sold for 5,000 pounds according to the blog A Pilgrim in Narnia.

Several topics are covered and several questions are answered. Much of the letter speaks about the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the story that will become the Magician’s Nephew, and Lewis’s plans to call the series “The Chronicles of Narnia”.

The Letter, which was transcribed by A Pilgrim in Narnia, reads as follows:

May 22d. 1952

My dear Grittletonians—Thanks for your nice and interesting letters. Like you, I am sorry that Peter and Susan are not coming back to Narnia, but I think, being the two eldest, they are now getting to the age at which people stop having that sort of adventure for a time—they may start having it again later, but not for some years. The new book is called The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lucy and Edmund find Caspian (now King of course) on board ship, sailing to the Eastern end of the Narnian world. There will be lots about Reepicheep. And there will be a Sea Serpent, and a Dragon, and lots of strange islands. I do hope you will all like it. I intend to have seven of these stories altogether—that is, four more after the next one. They will be called The Chronicles of Narnia. The fifth sixth book goes right back to the beginning and explains how there came to be that magic Wardrobe in the Professor’s house—for of course you will have guessed that the old Professor must have known something about things like that himself, or else he would never have believed what the children told him. I don’t know yet what will happen in the seventh. What do you think would be a good thing to end the whole series with? Of course Aslan will come into them all.

I wonder what other books you all like. I like George MacDonald’s two Curdy books, and Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and The Wind in the Willows. Do you write stories yourselves? I did at your age: it is the greatest fun.

Love and good wishes to all,

yours ever

C.S. Lewis

P.S.       E. Nesbitt’s books are splendid, I think: especially The Phoenix and the Wishing Carpet and The Amulet.