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Christmas Presence

hristmas is not only about the presents, but also the presence of words virtually invented Christmas as
Christmas. That is to say, the joy it inspires in our hearts from we know it. And even though it was
Cthe fellowship and goodwill not to mention the giving and first published in 1823, it is written
receiving presents. in words that a child can easily
And yes, Christmas also means presents and the presents are often understand today.
books. Even if someone is not a book collector then it is likely there has The poem is credited to Clement C.
been a book printed about whatever subject is that they are interested in Moore although there is some doubt
and in whatever price range the giver wants. Books have been given as about that because the author, whoever
Christmas presents for many generations although it is uncommon to find he or she was, remained anonymous
them dated before the Civil War. The earliest I’ve made a note of is in an for many years until someone credited
1854 first edition of Thoreau’s Walden inscribed “Virginia N. Taylor it to Moore, who apparently never
December 25th 1854 Washington City DC.” But what’s better than a denied authorship.
book given as a Christmas present, but a book about Christmas that was For more information about it see
given as a Christmas present on Christmas. Marshall, The Night Before Christmas A
Descriptive Bibliography which lists one
thousand and one different editions up The Night Before Christmas: A
to 2000, and The Annotated Night Descriptive Bibliography of
Before Christmas with an introduction Clement Clarke Moore's Immortal
and notes by Martin Gardner printed Poem by Nancy H. Marshall, first
by Summit Books in 1991. edition sold for $91.99
The first Christmas story in the U.S.
was Washington Irving’s Bracebridge
Hall printed in 1822. Although it prob-
ably started the interest in celebrating
Christmas, the book itself is virtually
forgotten today.
Not so with A Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens which was a sensation
when published in 1843. We are all
familiar with the story from the many
movies, if not the book. After being
visited in succession by three spirits,
including the chain dragging ghost of
his former partner, Scrooge the skinflint
is reborn to generosity on Christmas
morning. The little book was a huge
success and has inspired hundreds of The Annotated
reprints and really fixed the celebration Night Before Christmas
of Christmas in our consciousness. by Martin Gardner
St. Nicholas and Santa Claus sort of
morphed into the same person. Saint
Nicholas was a real person who lived in
the 4th century and legend has it that he
threw coins down the chimney of
A Visit from Santa Claus by Clement C Moore three poor sisters which landed in the
Published by White, Stokes, & Allen, New York, stockings that they had hung by the
1887 selling for $517.50 at Abebooks.com fireplace to dry. The tale spread to other
countries. In Dutch, his name was
The nicest I’ve ever seen is a copy of A Visit from St. Nicholas (a.k.a. The Sinter Klaus, which then became Santa
Night Before Christmas) that is inscribed “Mary E. Farwell A Christmas Claus. St. Nick’s Feast Day was
Present from Father & Mother 1864.” Of the many, many editions of December 6th that was celebrated
The Night Before Christmas printed this is a nice early one and has 12 color as a children’s festival. December
lithographs of Santa’s various activities including children hanging stock- 6th soon merged into December 25th.
ings by the chimney with care, Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, Santa coming St. Nicholas is not only the patron
down the chimney leaving gifts and finally the last panel is Santa calling saint of children, but of bankers, pawn-
out the unforgettable “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night” brokers, brewers, and robbers (and one
which in the early printings was “a happy Christmas to all …” might add shop keepers and toy stores,
Santa is smoking his pipe, too but we will forgive him that as smoking but I’m not going to touch that with a A first edition copy of
was not thought to be harmful then. This little poem of 56 lines and 550 10-foot reindeer prod). Bracebridge Hall sold for $950

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