Twas the Night Before Christmas: A Visit from St. Nicholas
Boston and New York / Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Company / The Riverside Press, 1912. Smith, Jessie Willcox. First Thus. Hard Cover. Good / No Jacket - Pictorial Cover. Item #2332321
First thus. Edges rubbed with paper splitting at spine, text block loose from boards but stapled binding holding firmly, pencil name and small dealer bookplate on front endpaper.
Unpaginated. Color illustrations, decorated initials, and illustrated endpapers by Jessie Willcox Smith. The Night Before Christmas was first published in 1823 and is considered as being largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-19th century to today. The enchanting poem tells the story of a man who, while his wife and children are fast asleep, awakens on Christmas Eve to curious noises outside of his house. As he looks out of the window he witnesses a sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer, flying high across the sky before landing, to the man s great surprise, on the roof of his very own house. The events that follow mark the beginning of the tradition of Santa Claus and the joy that he brings on Christmas night.
Price: $350.00