Paper Session 3-C: Charles Williams and Friends

The Place of the Lion - The book that sparked Lewis and Williams\u27s friendship - Dan Hamilton Although the deep and creative friendship of C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams is well known, the precise way that friendship came into being is less well known though highly significant. In fact, before the two men knew each other, they knew each other\u27s books. Of course, Lewis and Williams might say, What\u27s the difference? The outlandish but profound Williams novel, The place of the Lion, first attracted Lewis to the ideas and writings (and, eventually, the person) of the eccentric, even by Oxford standards, London writer and editor, Williams. This paper will show the place the novel played in sparking their friendship, especially suitable for a friendship colloquium about bookish people. Further, their story will be used as an example of true friendship in crisis. C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and an Esemplastic Friendship - Paul E. Michelson An exploration of C. S. Lewis\u27s idea on friendship through the perspective of his friendship with Charles Williams, who he described in 1945 as my great friend Charles Williams, my friend of friends.... The paper will be based primarily on correspondence, Lewis\u27s comments in the Williams festschrift, Lewis\u27s Four Loves, and the fiction of the two men. The Image of the Library in the Life and Work of Charles Williams - Michael J. Paulus, Jr. Charles Williams, the third or oddest Inkling, was an author and a publisher whose life was significantly shaped by books. But every book he read, wrote, published, or discussed was a compromise--of meaning, form, or craft. Yet each book participated in the hope of redemption and reconciliation through its connection with other books. The way these connections co-inhere suggests an important image for understanding Williams\u27s books as well as his life: the library. Focusing on the Masques of Amen House, a trilogy of plays set in the library of the Oxford University Press London office, this paper explores the central role of the library--real and mythical--for Williams. Though he would have suppressed any references to these midlife masques in a biography, because of his relationship with the figure of the librarian (who compared Williams to a perfect, heavenly sort of library), the image of the library in these plays was one that had been present in Williams\u27s past and remained present in future years. Due to the premature end of Williams\u27s life and work, the image of the co-inherent library that is continuously transforming communication into communion provides a richer perspective for understanding Williams than any book by or about him