A Christmas Carol

**Admin** Thu Aug 06, 2009 5:47 am

. A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (commonly known as A Christmas Carol) is a book by Charles Dickens that was first published on 19 December, 1843 with illustrations by John Leech. Dickens called it his "little Christmas Book". The first of the author's five "Christmas books," (a new literary genre created incidentally) the story was instantly successful, selling over six thousand copies in one week. Originally written in six weeks under financial duress to help Dickens to pay off a debt while he was writing Martin Chuzzlewit, the tale has become one of the most popular and enduring Christmas stories of all time.

. Some historians have suggested that its popularity played a significant role in redefining the importance of Christmas and the "spirit" of the holiday. William Makepeace Thackeray, in a review, called it “a national benefit, and to every man and woman who reads it a personal kindness.” "If Christmas, with its ancient and hospitable customs, its social and charitable observances, were in danger of decay, this is the book that would give them a new lease," said English poet Thomas Hood.

. Further Christmas books, essays, and stories followed annually (except in 1847) through 1867. However, none equaled A Christmas Carol in potency. Together they represent a celebration of Christmas attempted by no other great author. In 1870, a London costermonger’s girl was heard to exclaim, “Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?” a tribute both to Dickens' association with Christmas and the mythological status of his work.

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