Moore, Clement C. ; DARLEY; A Visit from Saint Nicholas ( A NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ) TWAS
NY, GREGORY, JAMES G, 1862 , PAPER BACK
Overall Condition is: GOOD
General slightly soiled cover, few finger smudges on cover, corners bent, creased at corners, 2 split in foot of spine, light age-toning to pages, a few sloil stains, cover detached from text, foxing. The poem appeared earlier in some newspapers and almanacs. This copy is published alone in it's complete form as a single poem in book format as one the first illustrated editions of A Visit from Saint Nicholas, or; Night before Chistmas. 1862. Cover has title in red and green ink with St. Nicholas in center of letters, Illustrated from Drawings by F.O.C. Darley, entered into the Act of Congress in 1862. Holly berries and leaves are the background for an inch and a half circular image of a lit long pipe smoking full bearded Santa. Each page has an illustrated image occuping a third of the page ( signed N. Orr & Co.I assume this is the engraver or printer). 6 different images of Santa. . Title:The Night Before Christmas: A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Clarke Moore's Immortal Poem with Editions from 1823 through 2000.........The entry number is 54 for this edition '‘Twas the Night before Christmas', also known as 'A Visit from St Nicholas' was written in 1822 by Clement Clarke Moore and was originally written for his family (supposedly on Christmas Eve, but this may have just been part of a marketing strategy from the publishers). It was first published in the Troy (New York) Sentinel on 23rd December 1823. From that date onwards it has been published in many magazines, newspapers, books, and anthologies, as well as being used as the basis for films, radio and television programmes. The poem was first printed as a book in 1837. The poem paints a perfect, romantic image of the ideal family Christmas, from the stereotypical picture of the family on Christmas Eve to the make-believe image of St. Nicholas landing his sleigh on the roof of the house and slipping down the chimney, and the reading of this poem on Christmas Eve is a tradition in families all over the world. It takes the reader into the realms of fantasy and at the same time it gives child readers something exciting to believe in, because of course most children are taught to believe in Father Christmas from a very young age. This poem historically appears to be the first mention of St. Nicholas actually having a sleigh and reindeer, which seems to be almost unbelievable in today’s society with all of the Christmas merchandise sold with a picture of a sleigh or reindeer on them. Even the description of St. Nicholas as a plump man with ‘cheeks like roses’ (line 38), a smile, a wobbly belly, and a bag full of toys on his back has been carried forward through history to give the present day conception of Santa Claus / Father Christmas / St. Nicholas http://poetry.suite101.com/article.cfm/history-of-twas-the-night-before-christmas
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