"DOWN THE CHIMNEY ST. NICHOLAS CAME WITH A BOUND…": LOVELY EDITION OF CLEMENT MOORE'S THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED BY FERN BISEL PEAT, IN ORIGINAL PICTORIAL WRAPPERS FEATURING SANTA CLAUS

MOORE, Clement C. and PEAT, Fern Bisel, illustrator. The Night Before Christmas. Akron, Ohio: Saalfield, 1932. Slim folio (10-1/4 by 13 inches), staple-bound as issued, original pictorial paper wrappers; pp. [12]. $325.

Beautifully illustrated edition of the beloved Yuletide poem, the first printing to feature the wonderful full-color illustrations by talented mid-century American artist Fern Bisel Peat, in original pictorial wrappers.

"Clement C. Moore, a professor of Hebrew, wrote the poem in 1822 as a Christmas gift for his children. A house guest copied it in the fall of 1823, and later sent her copy to the editor of the Troy Sentinel, where it was first published, anonymously, December 23, 1823… Not until St. Nicholas passed through the crucible of Doctor Clement Clarke Moore's mind and imagination did the patron saint of childhood ever ride in a sleigh, or have eight tiny reindeer… Nor was he dressed in furs, nor did he smoke a pipe, nor did he ever get into the homes of good little boys and girls by going down chimneys" (Grolier American 100, 52). This edition of Moore's poem is charmingly illustrated by American illustrator Fern Bisel Peat, "[a]n unsung hero of commercial and educational art" (Collectors Weekly). Marshall 300.

Interior bright and fresh, upper outer corner very slightly bumped; wrappers showing minor wear to spine and edges, with small sticker to upper outer corner of front wrapper. A lovely, near-fine copy.