A Christmas Carol Mass market paperbound - 2005

About this book

First line

MARLEY WAS DEAD, to begin with.

From the rear cover

SCROOGE was a foul old man who wrapped his cold, uncaring heart in chains. Chains of greed. Bigotry. Contempt. Apathy. Selfishness. He detested the world, and was alone. Until the night his long-dead partner Marley appeared.

A hideous spectre forced to walk the earth forever, Marley was damned. As Scrooge would be...unless he agreed to face three ghosts. One would take Scrooge back to the memories he'd buried. One would show Scrooge the world of joy and friendship he'd rejected. One would force Scrooge into the dreadful shadows of the future he'd forged.

A last chance to give love.

First Edition Identification

The initial publication of A Christmas Carol was challenged by several issues, and those issues are evident in some of the first edition identification notes. The final product of the first edition was printed with a red cloth binding with gilded pages and yellow endpapers. The very first copies were printed with green endpapers, and those copies are exceptionally rare.

The first edition contains four colored illustrations and four black and white illustrations. In the first edition, Stave I is printed with the roman numeral, while later editions spell out the number to be printed as Stave One.