A CHRISTMAS CAROL

A perennial holiday favorite is immortalized with a singular trade edition of the original manuscript.

In association with the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan, which places the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’ timeless Christmas classic on public display each holiday season, this collectible reprint “represents the most faithful transcription to date.” The edition includes a foreword by acclaimed author Colm Tóibín, who adds factual commentary about Dickens’ writing inspiration and how the author designated the past, the present, and the future as the “unearthly protagonists” in his redemptive and morally purposeful story of Scrooge. Tóibín believes the tale itself, a “dark journey of the soul,” derives much of its power from its grim portrait of London. The book is introduced by the Morgan Library’s chief literary curator Declan Kiely, who explores Dickens’ determination in writing the story—while he suffered through a miserable cold—and the many pivotal personal (financial anxiety), professional (prior book sales), and political issues (his advocacy for social reform) affecting his life of “ecstatic restlessness” leading up to the drafting of the story in the fall of 1843. Kiely artfully describes the tale’s five theatrical “staves” and scrutinizes the author’s creative process and heavily edited composition. He also notes several minute details in Dickens’ writing style, the original manuscript’s trail of sale, and the intricate disbinding and preparatory processes taken to produce this special volume. Dickens’ original manuscript in his cursive penmanship—with some of the author’s spelling “peculiarities” corrected)—is featured opposite its verbatim translation. The storybook, impressively produced and crisply analyzed by both Tóibín and Kiely, harbors the potential to joyfully transform a burdensome year of “misery to merriness.”

A unique, ageless Yuletide treasure for fans and collectors alike.