"THE BIBLE OF CHRISTMAS": BEAUTIFUL FACSIMILE OF THE 1843 FIRST EDITION OF DICKENS' A CHRISTMAS CAROL
DICKENS, Charles. A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. [Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1920]. Small octavo, early 20th-century full red calf gilt, elaborately gilt-decorated spine with mistletoe and holly motifs, raised bands, green and blue morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $2200.
A beautifully accomplished facsimile of the first edition of this Christmas classic, with four color-printed plates reproducing the hand-coloring of the original steel-engraved plates by John Leech, distinctively bound by Riviere and Son in crimson calf with holly and mistletoe spine motifs.
"It may readily be called the Bible of Christmas… A Christmas Carol was issued about ten days before Christmas, 1843, and 6000 copies were sold on the first day… the number of reprintings have been so many that all attempts at the figures have been futile" (Eckel, 110). "Written at the height of Dickens' great powers, A Christmas Carol would add to his considerable fame, bring a new work to the English language, increase the festivities at Christmastime, and contain his most eloquent protest at the condition of the poor" (John Mortimer). "There was instruction for those who wished to find it at the time of this religious festival, but there was also enough entertainment to render it perfect 'holiday reading'; it is rather as if Dickens had rewritten a religious tract and filled it both with his own memories and with all the concerns of the period. He had, in other words, created a modern fairy story. And so it has remained" (Ackroyd, 413). This copy is a facsimile of the first issue, with uncorrected text ("Stave I" as the first chapter heading); all preliminary leaves noting the facsimile status, including the introduction, were removed during binding , leaving this volume a convincing reproduction.
Pages and plates crisp and bright; binding with spine head slightly worn and darkened. A beautiful copy.