1844 A CHRISTMAS CAROL CHARLES DICKENS 1ST AMERICAN EDITION 1ST ISSUE ILLUSTRATED VERY RARE $$$ by Charles Dickens - 1844

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Charles Dickens; 1844; First American Edition, First Issue; Philadelphia, Carey & Hart; Illustrated by John Leech; 158 Pages; w4.3"xh6.6"; Original Cloth; Custom Made Green Cloth Case; EXTREMELY RARE!!!

Great For any Fan of the Famous Author/Classic.  Perfect Xmas Gift; Only 3 or 4 Copies Available Worldwide!!!

Attributes:

A Brilliant, sleek Original dark brown/purple ribbed cloth cover design with pretty floral stamped boards, with lovely gold labeling/flowers to binding, half title in blue, with a brilliant hand colored frontispiece and title page in red/blue, with three other Excellent hand colored plates and four wonderful b/w illustrations, and a Legendary Classic from the Famed Author; First Issue with "Stave I" instead of "Chapter I"; With a nice green cloth folding case with red morocco leather spine label and gold labeling!!!

Summary:

A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens, first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. It tells the story of bitter old miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation resulting from supernatural visits by Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim.

Dickens divides the book into five chapters, which he labels "staves", that is, song stanzas or verses, in keeping with the title of the book. The tale begins on a "cold, bleak, biting" Christmas Eve exactly seven years after the death of Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge, an old miser, is established within the first stave as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" He hates Christmas, calling it "humbug"; he refuses his nephew Fred's Christmas dinner invitation, and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the poor. His only "Christmas gift" is allowing his overworked, underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off with pay – which he does only to keep with social custom, Scrooge considering it "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December!"

Background:

Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period.During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

Dickens began writing his "little carol" in October, 1843 finishing it by the end of November in time to be published for Christmas with illustrations by John Leech. Feuding with his publishers, Dickens financed the publishing of the book himself, ordering lavish binding, gilt edging, and hand-colored illustrations and then setting the price at 5 shillings so that everyone could afford it. This combination resulted in disappointingly low profits despite high sales. In the first few days of its release the book sold six thousand copies and its popularity continued to grow. The first and best of his Christmas Books, A Christmas Carol has become a Christmas tradition and easily Dickens' best known book.

Condition:

Condition is Very Good.  Some wear to edges, bumped front corners/lesser to back corners, some lightening/browning near edges of boards, little wear to top/bottom cloth, May 28th 1871 inscription Ms. or Mr. Eliot Hubbard with love of Uncle Waldo to first end page, some light blemishing in beginning, and margins here and there, pgs. 14/15 are a little heavier, but majority are very good, hinges/text block are very good for 170 years old!!!