A Christmas Carol
The literature of Christmas is vast, and well represented in the Chapin Library, from the Nativity related in early manuscripts and printed books to the image of Santa Claus in contemporary illustration. Among these works, A Christmas Carol, in Prose by Charles Dickens holds a place of special renown. It was the first of Dickens’ Christmas stories, and remains his most celebrated.
Dickens wrote the novella in only six weeks. It was first published in London by Chapman and Hall on 17 December 1843, and was immediately popular. Its first printing of 6,000 copies sold out by Christmas eve. Many further printings and editions followed. The costs of production – borne by the author himself – were so high that the book brought Dickens disappointing profits. Its artistic success, however, was enormous. Critics praised it, and readers took it to their hearts. Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and the phrase “Bah! Humbug!” became part of Western culture. A Christmas Carol also helped to raise public awareness of the plight of the poor, contrasted with the rich but miserly Scrooge who, in the course of the story, finds his social conscience; and it fostered the secular idea of Christmas as a festival of generosity centered on the individual and the family.
The Chapin Library has several editions of A Christmas Carol, most notably the first, illustrated with black and white wood-engravings and hand-colored etchings drawn by John Leech; the first American edition, by Harper & Brothers, 1844; and the 1868 Ticknor and Fields edition of A Christmas Carol adapted by Dickens for public reading. These are part of a sizeable collection of Dickens’ works, formed principally by Alfred C. Chapin, Class of 1869, Donald S. Klopfer ’22, and William E. Park ’30. Visitors interested in seeing A Christmas Carol, or a copy of a Dickens novel as originally issued in monthly parts such as David Copperfield or Bleak House – fascinating examples of publishing to suit impecunious readers (and to generate advertising revenue for the author) – are welcome at our temporary quarters in the Southworth Schoolhouse. – WGH
Shown is the frontispiece by John Leech, Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball, from the 1843 first edition of A Christmas Carol, in Prose.