THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH – A FAIRY TALE OF HOME is a facsimile reproduction made from the original manuscript in Dickens's hand, published as a limited edition of 250 copies hand-bound in full leather.

To twentieth-century readers, A Christmas Carol has long seemed to be not merely the best but the only Christmas book by Charles Dickens. In fact, the custom of a Christmas tribute, whether a book, story, or a special number of Household Words or All the Year Round, was one that Dickens faithfully maintained for over a quarter of a century, sometimes alone, sometimes in collaboration. And nearly every year the task of writing his Christmas contribution crept up on him before he was quite ready. Though 1845 was exceptional by virtue of the fact that Dickens had no major novel underway at the time.

For the first time this important document is reproduced in facsimile enabling the reader to see the many deletions and alterations made by Dickens to the script. An introduction has been added by Andrew Sanders, and Verlyn Klinkenborg has contributed a note on the manuscript. Nine of the engravings from the first printed edition are included in this volume.