A presentation copy inscribed to poet Thomas Hood was sold at auction in 1997 for $50,000. Truly a staggering valuation that would certainly bring a smile to any Scrooge!Ī review of auction prices within the last two decades shows how quickly the value of A Christmas Carol has appreciated in modern times. The value of The Carol skyrockets when you consider the very rare inscribed presentation editions (the ones that Dickens gave to his friends) that range from $50,000 to $280,000. Any edition that was masterfully bound in fine leather and jewels by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, the premier bookbinders in London since 1901, is sure to fetch more than $30,000. A true first edition (from the first printing) is generally worth from $18,000 to $45,000.

The first edition of A Christmas Carol (or The Carol, as it is known to collectors of Dickens’s works) has benefited from all these factors, and hence has consistently risen in value. As bibliophiles and antiquarian booksellers know, there are many factors that contribute to a book’s value - condition, uniqueness, beauty, quality of binding, history, and inscription and/or signature.

Bah humbug!įor almost two centuries, Dickens’s “ghostly little story” about redemption and charity has grown in our hearts - and just as significant, has grown in value exponentially. Unfortunately, due to its high production costs, A Christmas Carol was not as profitable as Dickens had hoped. Over the next few years, the book went through a total of 24 printings of that particular edition. Dickens’ publisher, Chapman and Hall, quickly printed a second and third edition, bringing the total of books sold to 9,000 by the end of the year - a remarkable achievement in Victorian England.

Dickens received his allotment of presentation copies on December 17, and immediately sent inscribed copies to his close friends and colleagues. The first printing of 6,000 copies, each book priced at a mere 5 shillings (about $2 in 1800s currency about $40 in today’s currency) was sold out by Christmas eve. When Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol on December 19, 1843, he wanted to make sure the book was affordable.

First edition of the christmas carol