The Birds' Christmas Carol

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916. Cloth. Very good +. Katharine R. WIREMAN. [HOLIDAY: CHRISTMAS] [WOMAN AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR]. Katharine R. WIREMAN, illustrator. Later printing. 8vo square; xvi, 90, [2]pp; dark green cloth over board, lettering in orange on front and spine, pale green borders of birds, two sets of green candles and holly on front; gift inscription dated 1918 on ffep; illustrated caps, tailpieces and headlines; illustrated half-title and title page; 4 plates in including fp in b&w and red; illustrated throughout in b&w; a few fingermarks, rubbing to corners; very good plus. BAL 22664. A lovely copy of Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin's classic tale of Christmas, lushly illustrated throughout in black and white on cream-colored stock. This reprint of the 1889 edition includes a "Prefatory Letter" dated April 1912 in which Wiggin addresses the book as "my dear first-born" and "in an altogether new dress" bids it blessing on its "second journey into the world."

Wiggin (1856-1923) was an American author, composer, and educator, at one time serving as the head of a Kindergarten Normal school in California. The Story of Patsy was her first book, but A Birds' Christmas Carol brought her literary success. She is best known for her children's novel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

Katharine Richardson Wireman (1878-1966) was a prolific and successful artist and illustrator, working for many of the early 20th century periodicals.