DICKENS (CHARLES)
A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with title-page dated 1843 and printed in red and blue, the text uncorrected, 'Stave I' on p.[1] and light green endpapers, hand-coloured etched frontispiece and 3 plates after John Leech (one slightly foxed), 4 wood-engravings by W.J. Linton after Leech in the text, 2pp. advertisements at the end, occasional light soiling, publisher's cinnamon vertically-ribbed cloth, stamped in blind and gilt, g.e., shaken with a few gatherings working loose, covers and spine dampstained and with much of decoration worn or faded, preserved in solander box [Eckel pp.110-115; Smith II:4; William B. Todd, in The Book Collector, Winter 1961, pp.449-454], 12mo (164 x 100mm.), Chapman & Hall, 1843
Footnotes:
FIRST EDITION OF DICKENS'S FIRST AND MOST ENDURING CHRISTMAS BOOK. A Christmas Carol was published on 19 December 1843, priced at 5s. Dickens initially requested green endpapers but discarded them due to the colour rubbing off. Demand for the book probably grew at such a pace that the stock of yellow endpapers was soon exhausted, necessitating the use of the discarded green endpapers. So although the green endpapers were produced first, the first copies issued had yellow endpapers.

William B. Todd concluded that priority was impossible to determine due to the use of different stocks of text and plates, but that priority could be determined by the state of the binding. This copy appears to be his first impression, first issue, first state, with a gap of 14-15mm. between the closest points of the blind-stamping and gold wreath on the upper cover, and the 'D' of 'Dickens' unbroken, but it is hard to be sure due to the condition.

Provenance: W. Jones, ownership signature on front paste-down.
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