A Christmas Carol.

First American Edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol.

DICKENS, Charles.

Item Number: 52003

Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1844.

First American edition of Dickens’ classic work, A Christmas Carol. Small octavo, bound in contemporary three quarters calf over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, morocco spine label, marbled endpapers, with colored illustrations, eight illustrations in all, the frontispiece plate is “Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball,” as in the first London edition. In near fine condition.

A Christmas Carol "may readily be called the Bible of Christmas It 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. Altogether 24 editions were issued in the original format" (Eckel, 110). "It was a work written at the height of Dickens’ great powers, which 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). "Suddenly conceived and written within a few weeks, [A Christmas Carol] was the first of Dickens’ Christmas books (a new literary genre thus created incidentally) it was an extraordinary achievement—the one great Christmas myth of modern literature."

We're sorry, this item has sold.

Ask a Question SHIPPING & GUARANTEE