Old Christmas

This handsome edition of Washington Irving's Old Christmas contains all of the 110 illustrations that Randolph Caldecott originally prepared for it. The text of Old Christmas first appeared as five chapters in Irving's Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., published in 1819-20. This is the classic that contained his Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - a cornucopia, indeed. Irving's "celebration of the celebration" preceded Dicken's Christmas Carol by nearly a quarter century and helped to nurture America's recognition of the holiday. An early review of the 1875 edition claimed, "the book is intended for the fireside of the reading folks of all classes. Surely it has seldom happened in the history of illustration that an author should be so very closely followed-if not overtaken-by his illustrator."