A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was first published on December 19, 1843. The book hasn't been out of print since then and the story has been adapted to stage and film countless times.  The perennial favorite in this house is the 1970 musical Scrooge starring dreamy, handsome, young Albert Finney. We watch it almost every year.  I know the dialog by heart and like to blurt my favorite lines with the actors, making other viewer in the room sigh and turn up the sound.

Jacob Marley:  I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?

A Christmas Carol helped restore the season as one of merriment in Britain and America, after a long period of somberness and sobriety following the Protestant Reformation. It presented a more secular (fun) vision of the holiday, celebrated with family gatherings, seasonal food and drink and a generosity of spirit.    The phrase "Merry Christmas" was popularized following the story, and "Scrooge" and "Bah! Humbug!" entered the English language.

I found some vintage book illustrations by an artist I'd never heard of named Jake Hartz.  There is another Jake Hartz out there, apparently very famous for photographing male body-builders, and his pictures hog up the first pages if you search on that name.  (Google at your own risk.)

Jake Hartz is certainly multi-talented if he's the same person who drew these charming illustrations!  It's confusing because Fine Art America links the body-builder photographer to the Christmas Carol drawings they offer for sale as cards.  Well, the Internet is not perfect and some things should remain a mystery. This librarian is too tired and busy this morning to dig deeper. Enjoy.