Washington Irving: The Old English Christmas (London: T.N. Foulis)
November 28th, 2011
This is the book that helped nurture America’s recognition of the holiday of Christmas by celebrating English festive traditions. Written by the famous 19th century American author, essayist, biographer and historian Washington Irving, who produced the famous stories ‘Rip van Winkle’ and ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’, it was said to have even influenced Charles Dickens’ own Christmas writings, including the classic A Christmas Carol which came about a quarter of a century later.
Via a number of separate stories, Irving portrayed an idealised celebration of old-fashioned Christmas customs at a quaint English manor, which depicted harmonious warm-hearted English Christmas festivities he experienced while staying in Aston Hall, Birmingham. A consequence of the book was that it contributed to the revival and reinterpretation of the Christmas holiday in the United States.
This edition is published by London: T.N. Foulis with blue cloth and gilt lettering design to the front and gilt lettering on the spine. It features 17 cold plates by H.M. Brock on dark blue paper. It is a very clean and tight copy, priced at £20.
