A First Edition of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'

You would be hard-pressed to pick a more iconic Christmas story—Bible excepted—than Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The novella continues to define the holiday, boasting over 100 movie adaptations (Muppets! Looney Toons! Bill Murray!), as well as video games, tv shows, operas and even a ballet. Dickens’ book even launched the phrase “Merry Christmas,” which was not in common Victorian parlance before the novella’s release in 1843.

When Dickens released “A Christmas Carol,” the festivities we consider to be fundamental were still in their infancy. The idea of the Christmas card was born in 1843, the same year as “A Christmas Carol” was published. Christmas trees were coming into fashion, thanks to Queen Victoria’s husband Albert, who brought the German tradition with him to England. “A Christmas Carol” arrived at a time when audiences were hungry for Christmas-themed content, and the book shaped the idea of the holiday as a time for giving and togetherness. The book was heralded by the Victorians as “a new gospel,” and reading it has become an important tradition for many.