DICKENS, Charles. A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas. (FIRST EDITION - FIRST ISSUE - 1843 - IN ORIGINAL CLOTH)

AUTHOR: DICKENS, Charles

TITLE: A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.

PUBLISHER: London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.

DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION FIRST ISSUE. 1 vol., 6-5/8" x 4-3/8", chapter heading reading "Stave I", illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton. Bound in the publisher's original gilt and blind stamped mauve cloth.

CONDITION: Spine expertly relined with the original spine laid down, back corners square, green pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt, internally fine, small neat paper repair to upper edge of frontis, ownership signature to recto of frontis, overall still a GOOD first issue copy in original cloth which is becoming increasingly difficult to find in nice condition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed.