Excerpt from Charles Dickens in Chancery: Being an Account of His Proceedings in Respect of the "Christmas Carol" With Some Gossip in Relation to the Old Law Courts at Westminster The Christmas Carol was published on the 19th of December 1843. Six thousand copies were sold on the first day, and before the end of 1844 the number had risen to fifteen thousand. For a book, costing five Shillings and offering very little bulk for the money, this sale was enormous. There was, of course, the attraction of Leech's pictures, but taking the Carol as a whole five shillings was a stiff price for the slim foolscap octavo, with holly on the cover. A sale of six thousand on the mere strength of a writer's name Speaks volumes for his popularity. The new voice had made itself heard in Pickwick, some eight years earlier; and Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge, following in quick succession, had each attracted an ever-increasing audience. At thirty-one Charles Dickens was already a public character. His name was a household word wherever the English language was spoken; Edinburgh had feasted him and had made him a freeman of the City, and the American people had received him as their nation's guest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.