C.S. Lewis' Wardrobe Goes on Display

Movers will be packing up a special Westmont wardrobe this week for a brief engagement at the Cerritos Library in hopes of inspiring youngsters to read. Westmont’s wardrobe was once owned by C.S. Lewis and closely matches the description of the one in his book, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

“The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” hits the big screen, Friday, Dec. 9. Westmont’s wardrobe was featured in this month’s National Geographic.

Westmont acquired the famed wardrobe in 1974 with the help of former professor Arthur Lynip who was in England studying British literature. The wardrobe was taken apart and shipped to the United States, and it has been housed in Westmont’s Reynolds Hall.

“I think people are so fascinated by the Narnia stories because they open a door, as it were, to another world,” says Paul Delaney, professor of English. “The wardrobe is real. But it opens a door to a world not merely real but true.”

The wardrobe will be on display from Dec. 5 through Dec. 9 as part of the library’s Operation Read—C.S. Lewis Exhibit. Other Lewis artifacts will also be on display.

Movers will be packing the wardrobe, Wednesday, Nov. 30, for its moving date the following day.