What was C.S. Lewis’s first academic book, published in 1936?

C.S. Lewis’s first academic book was The Allegory of Love, published in 1936.

The book is a scholarly study of medieval and Renaissance literature, especially the development of allegorical love poetry. Lewis examines the tradition known as courtly love and discusses major writers including Ovid, Chrétien de Troyes, and Edmund Spenser.

The work established Lewis as a serious literary historian before his later fame as a Christian apologist and novelist. Its scholarship helped support his academic career at Oxford, where he taught English literature and became known for his powerful lectures and clear prose.

A Preface to Paradise Lost is another important Lewis literary study, but it was published in 1942. The Discarded Image appeared in 1964, after his death, so neither is his first academic book.