The Archangel Fragment and C. S. Lewis’s World-Building Project

Abstract

In this article, we argue that, from a few hints in the Bodleian archive and elsewhere, we have discovered C. S. Lewis’s singular attempt at an Archangelic sequel to The Screwtape Letters. By analyzing this small fragment and its contextual clues, we can hear the heaven-scented voice of this anti-Screwtape world. Through this discovery we can unlock hidden links among Lewis’s fiction project of the late 1930s and early 1940s and the ways he created the speculative worlds of those stories, including a spirit of playfulness and discovery, themes critical to his theological perspective, and potential links that draw his 1937–1945 work together into a cohesive whole. Finally, considering this fragment provides an opportunity to test the Lewis Handwriting Chart and open possibilities for further archival research.