"Stave I," bearing the date 1844. These were evidently trial pages, and the green border was abandoned in favor of a border printed in blue. On account of their great scarcity, these red-and-green "Carols" are much more costly—I forget what I paid for mine. Charles Sessler, the Philadelphia bookseller, who specializes in Dickens, tells me that $450 would not be high for a really fine copy. Charles Plumptre Johnson, in his "Hints to Dickens Collectors," says, "I have in my possession a copy, absolutely uncut, which I believe to be the first copy printed and sent to the binder for his guidance." Oh, joy! Oh, joy!
Not everyone can read the book as it ought to be read, as I have frequently read it, on Christmas Eve in London; but it is a book which should be read, if not in an early edition, at least in such a format as, reader, the one you hold in your hand. I have always resented this book being got up in modern fashion, however beautifully illustrated, printed, and bound; nor should it be read in a large volume out of a "set," or expensively bound in leather. No, as my friend Dr. Johnson has said, "a book that can be held easily in the hand and carried to the fireside is the most useful after all," and this is especially true of the "Carol," which is a fireside book, if there ever was one. Originally it sold for five shillings, but this was almost eighty years ago, and shillings went further in those days than dollars do to-day. I have no idea what the price of this book will
