A Ghost Story of Christmas. Being a Christmas Carol
New York / London: Caliban Press / Mark McMurray, 2017. A new edition of A Christmas Carol. The complete text from the first edition of 1843 with minor corrections. Contains: Marley's ghost; The first of the three spirits; The second of the three spirits; The last of the spirits; The end of it. Textual advisor: Robert DeGraaff. Images: Guy Berard, Greg Lago, Melissa Schulenberg and Gregory McMurray. Type: 12 point monotype Bell cast: Michael & Winifred Bixler in Skaneateles, New York. Plus numerous 19th century foundry and wood types. Printed entirely from metal and wood. Printed on a variety of handmade and mould-made papers, including Zekral Ingres and the ever ghostly handmade papers from La Papeterie St-Armand on the banks of the Lachine Canal in Montreal. Sewn by Anastasia Osolin, Saranac Lake, New York. Red morocco leather spine, black ribbed flexible covers and slipcase. McMurray & Marley, printers. Colophon reads: Somewhere around 110 copies have been printed by your faithful friend & servant Mark McMurray, Canton, New York, Christmas, 2017. It seems there were actually 104 numbered and signed copies. Signed to colophon by Mark McMurray, this is copy 36 of 104. Errata slip laid in. All in fine condition. 107 pages: illustrations include collages, wood engravings and pochoirs. 270 x 200 mm (10¾ x 7¾ inches).
In the detailed prospectus McMurray writes: We know the story, we know the characters, but the language of the text offers new rewards with each reading. This edition of Dickens' classic returns to the dark, sleep-deprived angst of the original complete text. Who among us has not experienced sleepless nights, peopled with regrets about past choices made and unmade; unwillingly recalling a thousand hurts bestowed and incurred: a lifetime of karmic wheels sent spinning off through Time.
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