Phantastes

Featuring all thirty-three original illustrations by Arthur Hughes and the 1905 Preface by Greville MacDonald

The immortal classic Phantastes (subtitled “A Faerie Romance for Men and Women”) marked George MacDonald’s debut as a writer of prose fiction. Released originally in 1858, it is also widely recognised as the first fantasy novel written in English, and in addition to launching MacDonald’s writing career, it went on to famously “baptise” the imagination of the greatest Christian apologist of the succeeding century. The story, so remarkably different to any that followed, concerns young Anodos, as he enters Fairy Land the day after his twenty-first birthday, to embark on a series of adventures that leave their impress on him for all his life to come.

This new edition features the complete and unabridged text, all of the original illustrations by MacDonald’s long-time artist friend Arthur Hughes, as well as a Preface by his son Greville MacDonald. Inspired by two vintage editions from 1870 and 1905, it offers the best of both worlds, with a classic style but with a clearer print size to suit all readers.