What was the pseudonym used by C.S. Lewis for Spirits in Bondage?

C.S. Lewis published Spirits in Bondage in 1919 under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton.

The volume was Lewis’s first published book and consisted of poems written largely during his youth. Using a pseudonym allowed the young author to present the work without immediately foregrounding his personal identity. The name combined “Clive,” his familiar first name, with “Hamilton,” a surname associated with his mother’s family.

Spirits in Bondage appeared while Lewis was still establishing himself as a writer and scholar. Its poems often explore suffering, nature, captivity, and religious or philosophical doubt. The collection is very different in tone from the children’s fantasy for which he later became famous.

Lewis subsequently published another poetry collection, Dymer, in 1926, using the same pseudonym. He later became better known under his initials, C.S. Lewis, especially after works such as The Problem of Pain and The Chronicles of Narnia brought him a wide readership.