Burnside Rare Books

[The Christmas Books] A Christmas Carol; The Chimes; The Cricket on the Hearth; The Battle of Life [and] The Haunted Man

Dickens, Charles; John Leech, Daniel Maclise, John Tenniel et al [illustrators]

London: Chapman & Hall / Bradbury & Evans, 1843.

1843, 1845, 1846, 1846, 1848. First editions of all five of Charles Dickens' Christmas Books (Smith II.4-6, II.8-9). A Christmas Carol is the first issue with title page printed in red and blue, dated 1843 in Roman numerals; half title and verso of title page printed in blue; "Stave I" on page [1]. The Chimes, first edition, second issue with the publisher's name below the plate on the vignette title page. The Cricket on the Hearth, first edition, second issue with [2pp.] ads. The Battle of Life, first edition, Todd's fifth state of the engraved title page with "A Love Story" in a scroll held by a cupid; terminal ads announce the publication in parts of Dombey and Son and the bound volume of Oliver Twist. The Haunted Man, first edition, first and only issue.

All five volumes bound in full polished calf with elaborate gilt seasonal stamping unique to each book. Morocco title labels to ribbed spines, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt. Sangorski & Sutcliffe stamp in gilt to front turn-in of each volume. Original cloth covers and spines bound in rear of all volumes but the last. Housed in an open-ended slipcase, moderately rubbed and toned, covered in the same floral gilt-embellished paper used for endpapers. Near Fine with slightly rubbed spines. Light edge toning to interiors, occasional thumbing and staining and spots of foxing.

No writer is more closely associated with Christmas than Charles Dickens, who began with the immortal A Christmas Carol in November 1843. It was published on December 19 and sold so well there were seven editions by the following May. The Chimes followed in December 1844, and three more books appeared in 1845, 1846, and 1848 (two of the title page dates follow the then-common practice of dating a book published in November or December with the coming year).

The enduring appeal of Dickens’ Christmas stories lies in his unmatched ability to combine sentimentality with melancholy or righteous fury, a balancing act of light and dark. A Christmas Carol, composed as Dickens walked weeping through the dark London streets, was intended to draw attention to the plight of the working poor in London. The Chimes attacks the cruelty and hypocrisy of the rich, and the protagonist of The Cricket on the Hearth contemplates murder. The Haunted Man, the last novella, emphasizes the need to remember past sorrows and hardships.

Dickens wanted his Christmas books to be pretty – his specifications for the first cut severely into his profits – and it is appropriate that these copies have been given jewel-like bindings by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, one of the most famous fine binderies in the English-speaking world. A beautiful set of beautiful stories, illustrated by the leading artists of the day. Item #140947309

Price: $30,000