A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings (Penguin Classics) [Hardcover]

Charles Dickens (Author), Coralie Bickford-Smith (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 28, 2010 | Series: Penguin Classics

Dicken's Christmas writings-in a new, sumptuous, and delightful clothbound edition.

Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol has had significant influence on our ideas about the Christmas spirit, and the season as a time for celebration, charity, and memory. This handsome edition features appendices on A Christmas Carol and The Haunted Man, an essay on Dickens and The Arabian Nights, and Dickens's prefaces to the collected editions of the Christmas books.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Coralie Bickford-Smith's] recent work for Penguin Classics is...nothing short of glorious Anna Cole Co.

About the Author

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors’ prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and “slave” factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years’ formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney’s clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work.

Michael Slater is an emeritus professor at Birkbeck College, London, and past president of the Dickens Fellowship and the Dickens Society of America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics Hardcover (September 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141195851
• ISBN-13: 978-0141195858
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.3 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful hardback...but will it last? December 23, 2011

By K. W. Lowery

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As far as the content in this book, it is fantastic - Dickens work easily earns fives stars.

This review is mainly on the book itself. I have five of these style of books from "Penguin Classics" and, although beautiful, I do wonder what they will look like in five years and after a few handlings by friends or family. Of the two I have read so far, the ink designs are starting to rub off slightly in some places. With some hardbacks, the ink is pressed at least a bit into the hard cover. With these books, it is just printed directly onto the clothe.

I have some leather bound books and so I do know how take care of my books. Perhaps the covers could have worn some will carrying in my bag. I am not sure, but my advice is to just be cautious to protect the covers if you choose these hardback editions of the classics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book July 19, 2012

By tracy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We all know what kind of a text we are getting here, so instead I will talk about the physical features. The binding on this and the cover are beautiful. I love the foiled look of the snow flakes. The pages are standard book pages, not glossy and a bit rough to the touch, compared to say printer paper, but not at all the yellow-ish cheep stuff you see in some books. The cover has a canvasy/fabric feel. It made a very nice gift and I was happy to get it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous addition to my collection December 7, 2011

By ECB

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm going to need a second shelf soon, but I love these clothebound classics. It also makes for a great go-to gift from my husband for the small holidays :)