Dickens began A Christmas Carol in October 1843 at the age of 31. It was completed in six weeks; the final pages being written in early December. He built much of the work in his head while taking night-time walks of 15 to 20 miles around London. Dickens's sister-in-law wrote how he "wept, and laughed, and wept again, and excited himself in a most extraordinary manner, in composition".
Dickens arranged to pay for the publishing himself, in exchange for a percentage of the profits. The final product was bound in red cloth with gilt-edged pages, completed only two days before the publication date of 19 December 1843. Priced at five shillings (equivalent to £31 in 2023), the first run of 6,000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve.
The novella was adapted for the stage almost immediately. Three productions opened on 5 February 1844, By the close of February 1844 eight rival A Christmas Carol theatrical productions were playing in London.
The author of Vanity Fair, William Thackeray wrote:
Who can listen to objections regarding such a book as this? It seems to me a national benefit, and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness. The last two people I heard speak of it were women. Neither knew the other our the author and both said by way of criticism, “God bless him”. A Scotch philosopher who nationally does not keep Christmas Day, on reading the book sent out for a Turkey and asked two friends to dine. This is a fact. Many men were known to sit down after perusing it and write off letters to their friends, not about business but out of the fullness of heart, and to wish old acquaintances a happy Christmas. Had the book appeared a fortnight earlier, all the prize cattle would have been gobbled up in pure love and friendship. Epping denuded of sausages and not a Turkey left in Norfolk. His Royal Highness’s fatstock would have fetched unheard of prices and Alderman Bannister would have been tired of slaying.
As for Tiny Tim, there is a certain passage in the book regarding that young gentleman, about which a man could hardly venture to speak in print or in public, any more than he would of any other affectations of his private heart. There is not a reader in England, but that little creature will be a bond of union between the author and him, and he will say of Charles Dickens, as the women said just now. “God bless him”. What a feeling is this for a writer to be able to inspire, and what a reward to reap.
In 1874, Robert Louis Stevenson, after reading Dickens's Christmas books, vowed to give generously to those in need. One American businessman was so moved by attending a reading that he closed his factory on Christmas Day and sent every employee a turkey. The Queen of Norway—sent gifts to London's crippled children signed "With Tiny Tim's Love"
0 comments:
Post a Comment