Other Fiction Dickens, Charles: Christmas Books (Illustrated). v6. 1 Apr 2010

HarryT · 08-21-2009, 07:48 AM

Between the years 1843 and 1848, every Christmas (with the exception of 1847), Dickens released what he called a "Christmas Book". These five books are all short works with a "Christmasy" theme and (with the exception of one) a "supernatural" element. The only one well-known today is "A Christmas Carol", but it may surprise people to learn that, until the start of the 20th century "The Cricket on the Hearth" was at least as popular as "A Christmas Carol", if not more so.

The five books are:

A Christmas Carol (1843)
The Chimes (1844)
The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
The Battle of Life (1846)
The Haunted Man (1848)

As is standard in printed editions of Dickens, I have collected these together in a single volume called "Christmas Books".

If you think Dickens is heavy going, give these a try. They are all wonderful stories, each can be read in an hour or so, and they are very different fare to his "heavy" novels.

They have all been carefully compared to a printed edition (that of the "Oxford Illustrated Dickens") and manually formatted accordingly. All the books are fully illustrated.

Enjoy, and comments are, as always, very welcome.

EDIT: 24 Dec 07
Created a properly formatted MobiPocket version of the book with large images, a working "Table of Contents" link, etc. Looks much better. Uploaded v3.

EDIT: 15 Mar 08

Reformatted "The Battle of Life" to correct a problem with paragraph breaks. Uploaded v4.

EDIT: 25 Oct 09

Thoroughly proof-read against the "Oxford Illustrated Dickens". Added 60 missing illustrations to the four later books in the volume ("A Christmas Carol" was already illustrated). Some of the illustrations are of fairly poor quality - I will attempt to obtain better ones in the future. The book is now in a pretty good state - please let me know if you find any remaining errors. Uploaded v5.

EDIT: 1 Apr 10

Several more small errors corrected. Uploaded v6.

Previous download count: 148

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HarryT · 10-25-2009, 09:43 AM

Thoroughly proof-read against the "Oxford Illustrated Dickens". Added 60 missing illustrations to the four later books in the volume ("A Christmas Carol" was already illustrated). Some of the illustrations are of fairly poor quality - I will attempt to obtain better ones in the future. The book is now in a pretty good state - please let me know if you find any remaining errors. Uploaded v5.

HarryT · 04-01-2010, 10:12 AM

Several more small errors corrected. Uploaded v6.

Namekuseijin · 06-22-2011, 04:45 PM

much appreciated, HarryT!

JSWolf · 11-27-2011, 10:33 PM

I did find an issue with toc.ncx. It's incomplete. It should be multi-level for each book. We should not be forced to rely on the internal ToC.

Billi · 11-28-2011, 05:15 AM

Jon, how about correcting it yourself if you think the toc is incomplete? The texts are public domain, the format is open, so if you think it necessary please provide us with a version with a complete table of contents.

For me personally the book as it is works fine, thanks, Harry, for all your labour!

HarryT · 11-28-2011, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

For me personally the book as it is works fine, thanks, Harry, for all your labour!

You're very welcome

.

JSWolf · 11-28-2011, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

Jon, how about correcting it yourself if you think the toc is incomplete? The texts are public domain, the format is open, so if you think it necessary please provide us with a version with a complete table of contents.

For me personally the book as it is works fine, thanks, Harry, for all your labour!

The book was made the Mobipocket way, not the ePub way. Made the ePub way, it would not have internal ToC and it would have a multi-level ToC.

It's not mine to fix and repost. It's Harry's to repost after it's fixed.

HarryT · 11-28-2011, 03:35 PM

I have no intention whatsoever of doing anything to it merely to satisfy your whims, Jon. It's absolutely fine the way it is, in my view. And my view is the only one that matters, since it's my book. The text is in the public domain; as Billi very righly said, you are entirely at liberty to create your own version that meets your desires.

JSWolf · 11-28-2011, 03:38 PM

It's not a whim. It's an ePub best practice.

HarryT · 11-28-2011, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not a whim. It's an ePub best practice.

That's very nice, but it's not my practice.

kwork · 12-24-2012, 01:27 PM

Thank you very much. I was looking for a place to get all five Dickens Christmas novellas in one place. This is hugely appreciated.

issybird · 12-16-2015, 07:46 PM

I needed The Chimes; thanks, Harry!

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10-25-2009, 09:43 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Thoroughly proof-read against the "Oxford Illustrated Dickens". Added 60 missing illustrations to the four later books in the volume ("A Christmas Carol" was already illustrated). Some of the illustrations are of fairly poor quality - I will attempt to obtain better ones in the future. The book is now in a pretty good state - please let me know if you find any remaining errors. Uploaded v5.

04-01-2010, 10:12 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Several more small errors corrected. Uploaded v6.

06-22-2011, 04:45 PM	#4
Namekuseijin affordable chipmunk Posts: 1,290 Karma: 9863855 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brazil Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite	much appreciated, HarryT!

11-27-2011, 10:33 PM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I did find an issue with toc.ncx. It's incomplete. It should be multi-level for each book. We should not be forced to rely on the internal ToC.

11-28-2011, 05:15 AM	#6
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	Jon, how about correcting it yourself if you think the toc is incomplete? The texts are public domain, the format is open, so if you think it necessary please provide us with a version with a complete table of contents. For me personally the book as it is works fine, thanks, Harry, for all your labour!

11-28-2011, 03:35 PM	#9
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I have no intention whatsoever of doing anything to it merely to satisfy your whims, Jon. It's absolutely fine the way it is, in my view. And my view is the only one that matters, since it's my book. The text is in the public domain; as Billi very righly said, you are entirely at liberty to create your own version that meets your desires.

11-28-2011, 03:38 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	It's not a whim. It's an ePub best practice.

12-24-2012, 01:27 PM	#12
kwork Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 12800 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: none	Thank you very much. I was looking for a place to get all five Dickens Christmas novellas in one place. This is hugely appreciated.

12-16-2015, 07:46 PM	#13
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 20,226 Karma: 222235366 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5	I needed The Chimes; thanks, Harry!