Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in six weeks at the end of 1843, during a particularly intense time of creativity. He was having financial difficulties and was determined to have the manuscript ready for publication for the Christmas market. This book contains a clear copy Dickens' one and only manuscript, written by his hand, with his revisions and corrections evident on every page. The revisions show how Dickens made the verbs become more active, the number of words became fewer, achieving greater immediacy and vividness. This manuscript was handed to the printer in this form and was published on 19th December 1843. This edition has each of the 66 pages of the original manuscript copied onto the left hand page and the corresponding words typed on the right hand page. The book also contains the eight original illustrations by John Leech, the four color illustrations are on the cover of the book.

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Includes illustrations from the original 1843 edition by "The Man Who Invented Christmas" - Charles Dickens! This paperback edition of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol recaptures the charm of the first edition - a perfect stocking stuffer. A lovely gift book for anyone who doesn't yet own the timeless classic. Who can resist the story of the bad-tempered Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation into a kinder and more loving version of himself? The visiting ghosts of past, present, and future? The deeply good Bob Cratchit and his son Tiny Tim? Create or revive a tradition and gather to read this classic tale each and every year. The original engravings by John Leech make this a gift that all will treasure!

With illustrations by Edward Landseer, Daniel Maclise, Clarkson Stanfield, Frank Stone, Richard Doyle, John Leech and John Tenniel, and with a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. In these five long stories, written specifically for Christmas, Dickens combines his concern for social ills with the myths and memories of childhood and traditional seasonal lore. A Christmas Carol, the first of the selection, has become a touchstone of English festive fiction and an enduring favourite internationally. Repeatedly adapted, parodied, staged and filmed, this richly influential tale is powerfully vivid and moving. The other stories, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man, blend whimsy, sentiment, comedy, satire, the didactic and the fantastic, developing resourcefully the theme of individual and social regeneration.

Without question, The Annotated Christmas Carol is the most authoritative and entertaining edition ever produced.

What would Christmas be without A Christmas Carol? Charles Dickens's famous ghost story is as much a part of the season as plum pudding and mistletoe, and Michael Patrick Hearn, the celebrated annotator of The Wizard of Oz and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has now prepared a sumptuous new edition of the Dickens classic. This latest contribution to the Norton annotated series delves into the engrossing history of the book's publication, when it first captivated Victorian England. This is the first edition to combine the original text of 1843 with Dickens's Public Reading text, which had its world premiere in America in 1867 and has not been reprinted in nearly a century. Also included are rare photographs as well as the original Leech wood engravings and hand-colored etchings. These are supplemented by other contemporary illustrations by George Cruikshank, Gustave Doré, John Tenniel, and "Phiz." The Annotated Christmas Carol will be a literary feast for the whole family for generations. 2-color, 100 black-and-white illustrations, and 8 pages of color.