A Child's Christmas in Wales

Norfolk: New Directions, 1954 First edition, first printing. Publisher's cream paper boards, lettered in red and black; in the original matching dust jacket. Near fine book, with very minimal bumping to top corners, light offsetting to endpapers, some spotting to edges of text block, and Paul Elder's Books bookseller ticket to recto of rear free endpaper; near fine unclipped dust jacket, with a 1-inch closed tear to top right corner of front panel, a touch of toning to edges, and some soiling to rear panel. Overall, a charming copy, much nicer than usual. In A Child's Christmas in Wales, an adult nostalgically looks back at the Christmases he experienced as a child, back when "one Christmas was so much like another." Among the sights and sounds that the narrator recounts are specific anecdotes, like when firemen came to his friend Jim's house on Christmas Eve. The prose piece, one of Dylan Thomas' most beloved works, came out of two earlier works of his - a 1945 BBC radio piece and a 1947 article titled "Conversation about Christmas" for Picture Post magazine. In 1950, Thomas combined these two into "A Child's Christmas in Wales," published in Harper's Bazaar magazine. In 1952, he made a voice recording of the piece for the B-side of a Caedmon LP. Thomas passed away just one year later. The recording of the work was extremely popular and has been "credited with launching the audiobook industry in the United States." . First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included.