"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT": CLEMENT MOORE'S THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, 1935, ILLUSTRATED BY KEITH WARD

(WARD, Keith, illustrator) MOORE, Clement C. The Night Before Christmas. Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman, 1935. Slim folio (9-1/2 by 12-1/2 inches), original illustrated "linen-like" self-wrappers, staple-bound as issued; pp. [16]. $350.

First Ward-illustrated edition of Clement Moore's cherished Yuletide poem, with bright full-color wrappers and full-color illustrations by noted artist and illustrator Keith Ward from his watercolors.

"One of the world's most widely read poems…'Twas the Night Before Christmas' recast St. Nicholas as a cheerful, rosy-cheeked elf and established Christmas as a time for giving gifts to children" (Carnegie Mellon University). For this edition, Keith Ward created a wonderful series of watercolor illustrations of the "right jolly old elf." Ward worked in a remarkable range of styles, from realism to caricature, and counted among his clients not only publishers of children's books but also some of the largest advertising agencies of his day. His illustrations for The Night Before Christmas evokes the "Dick and Jane" readers of the 1940s—no wonder, as Keith Ward illustrated them, too. Small inked "1935" to corner of one leaf.

Faintest edge-wear, mere trace of soiling to bright wrappers. A fine copy.