Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1844, American edition

DICKENS, CHARLES

A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1844

12mo (156 x 97mm.), frontispiece ("Mr. Fezzwig's Ball") and 3 plates hand-coloured by P.S. Duval after John Leech, and 4 woodcut plates after Leech, half-title printed in blue, title-page printed in red and blue, publisher's rib-grain purple cloth, stamped in blind, spine gilt, cream endpapers, collector's blue morocco folding box, minor browning, boards slightly scuffed, leaning

This has often been described as the first American edition, but Walter Smith's recent bibliography of the first American editions of the Christmas Books now assigns that to the New York Harper and Brothers edition which was published on 24th January 1844. According to Smith the Carey & Hart edition did not appear until 19th April.

REFERENCE:

Gimbel A80

PROVENANCE:

Smith First American Editions: The Christmas Books p.32