The Lost Princess or The Wise Woman

For over 150 years, the childlike of all ages have delighted in this classic story by George MacDonald (1824-1905), the grandfather of modern fantasy fiction. He was revered by G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien in the last century, and by Andrew Peterson, author of The Wingfeather Saga, in our own--to name just a few of many! MacDonald was the single greatest influence on C.S. Lewis (author of The Chronicles of Narnia), who wrote "I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed, I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him." Indeed, The Lost Princess-or-The Wise Woman was one of Lewis’ very favorite books.

This edition of The Lost Princess-or-The Wise Woman is based on a wonderful version published in 1895, with twenty-two illustrations by artist and sculptor A.G. Walker, all of which have been faithfully reproduced. To the contents of the original we have added a preface by Christopher MacDonald, the author's great-great-grandson; an introduction by George MacDonald himself—his timeless essay on the mythmaking art, “The Fantastic Imagination”—and the author’s eerily atmospheric short story, “The Gray Wolf.”