Dickens's Christmas Carol Manuscript On Display
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol handwritten manuscript has gone on display showing the authors rushes with the writing.
One of the most famous Christmas stories will be on display at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. English author, Charles Dickens, wrote the classic story A Christmas Carol in the beginning of October 1843. In six-weeks Dickens's wrote the story and released it just in time for Christmas publication.
The speed is evident in the manuscript. Morgan's curator Declan Kiely told the BBC, "It's a mess because Dickens was trying to get everything down on paper really fast." The manuscript shows Dickens revisions, corrections, and removals. The author's notes give insight into the way Dickens plotted the story. Kiely tells the BBC it is "one of the most revealing and exciting manuscripts" in the Morgan's collection.
The manuscript has passed through several owners before Morgan museum founder Pierpont Morgan acquired it during the 1890s. The Morgan has a number of Dickens's letters and manuscripts, including Our Mutual Friend, his last completed novel.
The collection includes watercolor scene illustrations from A Christmas Carol by John Leech. The Cricket on the Hearth and The Battle of Life, two later Christmas manuscripts, will also be on display.
A Christmas Carol is the Christmas tale set around the miserable Ebenezer Scrooge and his redemption after being visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. The story has inspired numerous TV, radio, film, opera and theatrical adaptation since its publication.
The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 10, 2010.
