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The printing
history of this book is complex, mainly because there was a
pre-publication trial printing, which differed from the actual printing
for publication. This is one of the first copies that rolled off the
press for actual publication, identifiable by the following issue
points:
On the front board of the
cover the "D" of "Dickens" is perfectly formed, and there is a 1.4 cm.
distance between the blind-stamped border and the gilt on the cover.
The bar of the "D" broke on the printing block as the first edition was
being printed, pushing the whole block slightly out of alignment, and
later copies have the broken letter and
the border slightly askew.
The first part of the text is
headed "STAVE I". The other staves are headed with the numbers spelled
out, and
the "I" was changed to "ONE" in later copies.
The year of publication is
given as MDCCCXLIII (i.e., 1843). The pre-publication trial issue was
dated 1844.
The endpapers are pale
yellow. The trial issue had green endpapers.
The half-title is blue. In
the trial issue it was green.
The title-page is blue and
red. In the trial issue it was green and red.
For these differences between
the trial issue and the first issue for publication see, e.g., Richard
Gimbel, The Earliest State of the First Issue of Charles Dickens' A
Christmas Carol, which states:
...in examining printed
copies prior to publication, Dickens was disappointed with the
appearance of the green titles, which turned drab, and the hand-colored
green endpapers, which dusted off and smudged, and had the title page
changed to red and blue, the half title to blue, the date on the title
page changed from 1844 to 1843, and the endpapers changed to yellow,
which did not require hand work. Dickens's changes were completed by
December 17 and all presentation copies of that date (two days prior to
publication) have the above changes.
However, recent scholarship
has shown that, despite Dickens's new instructions, the printers used
up the remaining green endpapers before moving on to the yellow ones,
and there are quite a few "mixed state" copies, which combine some of
the features of the pre-
trial issue with some of the features given in Dickens's final
instructions to the printers.
This copy, usually referred to
these days as "first issue, second state" has all the features given in
Dickens's final instructions to the printers, and is the rarest of all
the early issues.
A Christmas Carol was issued in a
delicate cloth binding, and a lot of surviving copies of the book have
been rebound. This is in its original cloth binding with gilt titles on
the spine and cover, and all edges gilt. The illustrations by John
Leech are coloured by hand.
CONDITION
- The condition of the book itself is very good indeed.
There is a small, professional - and almost invisible - repair to the
head of the spine and another to the bottom inside corner of the second
plate. The boards are very clean, retaining some of the original salmon
colour (which generally fades to brown), the spine is in beautiful
condition (no rubbing of the spine ends), and there is extremely slight
rubbing of corners (only the lower rear corner is clearly worn
through). Unlike the other Christmas books, which came out in a red
binding, A Christmas Carol was issued in a light brown –
almost salmon-coloured – cover, which tends to fade with time; this
copy retains much of the original salmon cover. The book is very, very
slightly cocked, but nice and tight in its binding, and the contents
are bright and clean, with a bit of light spotting. There is a
lightly-inked 1843 inscription on the half-title.
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