Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol November 20, 2009, through January 10, 2010
John Leech, Mr. Fezziwig's Ball (detail), original watercolor illustration for Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol, first edition, 1843. Purchased by J.P. Morgan Jr., 1934; PML 30615.
Listen to curator Declan Kiely and New York Times reporter Alison Leigh Cowan discuss the manuscript.
Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Mr. Fezziwig, Bob Cratchit, the
Ghost of Christmas Past—in the age of film and television these characters from Charles Dickens's A
Christmas Carol are universally familiar. The story has been told as a stage musical, a serious dramatic film,
and a modern comedy.
But, in the end, it all comes back to a magical book written by Dickens in
a six-week flurry of activity in late 1843. Greeted with universal acclaim
at the time of publication, A Christmas Carol might rightfully be called an
"instant masterpiece." William Makepeace Thackeray called it a "national
benefit" and an American factory owner gave his workers an extra day's
holiday when he had finished reading it.
When the manuscript was returned after printing Dickens arranged for it
to be finely bound in red morocco leather and presented it as a gift to his
solicitor. It was purchased by Pierpont Morgan in the 1890s. Visitors to The Morgan Library & Museum can view
the original manuscript by Dickens in a special presentation in the
museum's famed McKim Building.
The manuscript reveals the author's method of composition: the pace of writing and revision, apparently
contiguous, is rapid and boldly confident. Revisions are inserted for vividness and immediacy of effect.
Deleted text is struck out with a cursive and continuous looping movement of the pen, and replaced with
more active verbs and fewer words to achieve greater concision. Dickens's manuscript shows vividly his
efforts to create the highest-quality literary work in the shortest possible time.
The Morgan's holiday programming will also include the presentation of traditional and popular holiday
music by singers from the Mannes College The New School for Music on Fridays, December 11 and 18,
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The museum is free during these hours.
