What is the first book in the 'Chronicles of Narnia' series in publication order?

The first book in The Chronicles of Narnia in publication order is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. C. S. Lewis’s fantasy novel was published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950, introducing readers to the Pevensie children and their discovery of a magical land beyond an ordinary wardrobe. It was the first Narnia book Lewis wrote and the first one released.

The story follows Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy after they are evacuated from wartime London to the English countryside. Lucy discovers the wardrobe’s entrance to Narnia, where the White Witch has imposed a long winter. The children join Aslan, the great talking lion, in the struggle to restore Narnia.

A frequent source of confusion is The Magician’s Nephew. That novel is first in the internal chronology of Narnia’s history, but it was published in 1955 as the sixth book. Some later editions number the books by chronological setting and place it first. Publication order, however, begins with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, followed by Prince Caspian in 1951. The question’s wording therefore makes its intended answer clear.