Most people enjoy hearing about mysteries because they know that the mystery will get solved. But what about those who enjoy solving great mysteries? C.S. Lewis Scholar Dr. Charlie W. Starr spent many years analyzing the manuscripts of C.S. Lewis in order to reveal the unknown.
Tuesday evening Starr delivered a lecture in Hyder Auditorium, detailing his findings of a C.S. Lewis manuscript that mysteriously surfaced two decades after Lewis’ death. The manuscript “Light” seemingly appeared out of nowhere in 1985 after a previous version of the same story “Man Born Blind” was published in 1977. The new manuscript prompted controversy regarding the date of the story and allegations of forgery.
“Light is a mystery,” Starr said.“We are going to solve some of that that mystery tonight.”
His presentation was based on his new book titled “Light: C.S. Lewis’s First and Final Short Story”, which featured the never-before-published C.S. Lewis manuscript. Starr analyzed the “Man Born Blind” manuscript and the “Light” manuscript, hoping that he could date the previously hidden manuscript and interpret its meaning.
The “Light” manuscript differs from the “Man Born Blind” manuscript in a few ways, however, both share the same storyline. In “Man Born Blind” The main character’s name is Mary and the text is handwritten inside a notebook. In “Light” the main character’s name is Anne and the text is handwritten on foolscap paper. In addition the name Mary is scribbled out in “Light” and replaced with Anne.
After thorough research, Starr confirmed that both manuscripts were written by Lewis, but he also sought to discover which manuscript came first and which story was intended for publication.
Starr spent years analyzing Lewis’ handwriting and noticed that Lewis’ handwriting had changed gradually. The change in Lewis’ handwriting was the key to dating the manuscripts.
“I have spent 200+ hours looking at the letter ‘F’ and every other letter in the alphabet,” Starr said. “I am not an expert on handwriting; I am just an expert on Lewis’ handwriting.”
Lewis’ handwriting changed in the early 1920s and again in the 1930s and 1940s. His letters leaned different directions over time and other letters such as the letter “F” changed from cursive to print over the years. Starr compared the letters, linking them to an approximate time period.
Starr also gathered that Lewis wrote chronologically. Since Lewis wrote “Man Born Blind” in a notebook, Starr was able to compare the previous writings in the notebook with stories that followed “Man Born Blind.”
Starr estimates that Light was written in 1944 after “Transposition” or in 1945. He said discovering the date of the manuscript was essential in determining the meaning of the story.
“That’s why we pin the date–to figure out what it means,” he said. “ If ‘Light’ was written before Lewis was a Christian, it would have a different meaning than if it was written after.”
Given the written dates between 1944 and 1945, Lewis was a Christian when he wrote “Light”.
Starr believes that because Lewis was a Christian during this time, the story has a positive theme. The story ends with the blind man leaping off the edge and into the light. Starr think this leap may not have been written as a negative leap toward death, but rather a positive one.
Readers can interpret light as a metaphor for knowledge or a higher and more concentrated reality, Starr believes. When the character leaps for death, he could in fact be reaching for something the world can not provide.
Starr Has taught English, Humanities and film at Kentucky Christian University for 20 years. He is the author of five books, two biblical studies and a children’s book. Starr first heard of C.S. Lewis during his freshman year of college, and later decided to study his novels, manuscripts and handwriting.
“I wrote a 350-page dissertation about one sentence of C.S. Lewis’ and I was hooked,” he said.