Who illustrated the first edition of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?

Pauline Baynes illustrated the first edition of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Baynes was an English illustrator whose black-and-white drawings became closely associated with The Chronicles of Narnia. She illustrated all seven Narnia books, helping establish the visual identity of Lewis’s fictional world for generations of readers. Her work includes maps, chapter decorations, and character illustrations as well as major scenes.

Baynes had already worked with J.R.R. Tolkien before illustrating Narnia. She produced artwork for Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham and later illustrated other books connected with Middle-earth. This literary connection helped bring her to Lewis’s attention, although her Narnia illustrations developed their own distinctive style.

The answer is sometimes confused with famous illustrators of other British children’s books, particularly Arthur Rackham and E.H. Shepard. Those artists are associated with different classic works. Baynes’s name is specifically tied to the original illustrated editions of Lewis’s Narnia series.