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 First edition | |
| Author | Philip Pullman |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Lawrence |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy short story |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers |
Publication date | 28 October 2003 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 64 pp |
| ISBN | 0-375-82819-2 |
| OCLC | 53317246 |
| [Fic] 22 | |
| LC Class | PZ7.P968 Ly 2003 |
Lyra's Oxford is a 2003 novella by Philip Pullman depicting an episode involving the heroine of His Dark Materials, Pullman's best-selling trilogy. Lyra's Oxford is set when Lyra Belacqua is 15, two years after the end of the trilogy.[1]
The book consists mainly of an illustrated short story, "Lyra and the Birds". A fold-out map of "Oxford by Train, River and Zeppelin" is bound in the book, a fictional map of Oxford that exists in Lyra's world. It also includes some advertisements for books and travellers' catalogues. Two pages from a Baedeker published in Lyra's world (including entries for the Eagle Ironworks, the Oxford Canal, the Fell Press and the Oratory of St Barnabas the Chymist, all in the Jericho area of Lyra's Oxford), a postcard from the character Mary Malone, and a brochure for the cruise ship Zenobia are also included. The postcard contains four images of sites in the His Dark Materials trilogy: the physics lab in which Mary Malone works, the house occupied by Lord Boreal, the row of hornbeam trees where Will first discovered a window between the worlds, and the bench where Lyra and Will have pledged to visit each other in spirit once a year.
The preface by Pullman begins:
"This book contains a story and several other things. The other things might be connected with the story, or they might not; they might be connected to stories that haven't appeared yet. It's hard to tell."
- ^ Lyra's Oxford, page 30: "Since she and Will parted two years before"