Books

London: Chapman and Hall, 1845-60. First edition, early printings of all five of Charles Dickens' Christmas Books, finely bound. Octavo, 5 volumes, bound in full calf with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, black and green morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, double gilt ruled panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Illustrated with sixty-three engravings altogether, four in color, by Leech, Maclise, Stanfield, Doyle and Landseer. In fine condition. An exceptional set. 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,…

A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens. It was first published by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy, greedy, and cold-hearted old miser who is transformed into a kind, generous man after visits by the ghost of his former business partner and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.