The Night Before Christmas

First published in 1823 as A Visit from St. Nicholas, this short narrative poem describes a household on Christmas Eve. The speaker is settling the children when a clatter draws him to the lawn; he sees St. Nicholas arrive in a miniature sleigh drawn by eight named reindeer, then come down the chimney with a pack of toys. St. Nicholas fills the stockings, lays a finger aside of his nose, and departs wishing a happy Christmas to all. The poem fixes the names of the reindeer and the look of the gift-bringer. The work is a seasonal narrative poem, not a novel of Christmas and not a life of its author.

Bound in dark blue smooth-textured paper blocked with wrap-around images and with glow-in-the-dark varnish. Dark blue endpapers printed with a pattern of stars. Blue slipcase printed in silver with images and with glow-in-the dark varnish.