"EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE CHRISTMAS IS COMING, TO CHILDREN OF MANY LANDS": FIRST EDITION OF THE TALL BOOK OF CHRISTMAS

SMITH, Dorothy Hall, editor. The Tall Book of Christmas. New York: Harper & Brothers, (1954). Very tall octavo (5-1/2 by 12-1/2 inches), original pictorial paper boards, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. $550.

First edition of this collection of Christmas stories, poems and songs, beautifully illustrated in both black-and-white and color by 1950s artist Gertrude Elliott Espenscheid, in scarce pictorial dust jacket.

Immediately popular from its first publication in 1954, this book is a compilation of stories, songs, and Christmas carols (both familiar and less so) including "The Christmas Story" (according to St. Luke and St. Matthew), "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Away in a Manger," "The Holly and the Ivy," "The Night Before Christmas," and much more. Stray pen marks to margins of pages 15 and 31.

Book near-fine, with only light wear to extremities of bright pictorial boards. Scarce dust jacket with small spot to front panel, light wear including a few chips along bottoms edge, and several tape repairs to verso. A most attractive copy.