The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Witch and the Wardrobe" was complete by the end of March 1949. Lucy Barfield received it by the end of May. When on 16 October 1950 Geoffrey Bles in London published the first edition, three new "chronicles", "Prince Caspian", "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Horse and His Boy", had also been completed. Lewis's publisher, Geoffrey Bles, allowed him to choose the illustrator for the novel and the "Narnia" series. Lewis chose Pauline Baynes, possibly based on J. R. R. Tolkien's recommendation. Baynes had greatly impressed Tolkien with her illustrations for his "Farmer Giles of Ham" (1949). However,
The Chronicles of Narnia book: Lewis's interest in the literary symbolism of medieval and Renaissance astrology is more overtly referenced in other works such as his study of medieval cosmology "The Discarded Image", and in his early poetry as well as in "Space Trilogy". Narnia scholar Paul F. Ford finds Ward's assertion that Lewis intended "The Chronicles" to be an embodiment of medieval astrology implausible, though Ford addresses an earlier (2003) version of Ward's thesis (also called "Planet Narnia", published in the "Times Literary Supplement"). Ford argues that Lewis did not start with a coherent plan for the books, but Ward's book answers this