THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...
So began “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which appeared anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel newspaper on December 23, 1823.

The poem — retitled The Night Before Christmas by its author, Clement Clarke Moore — would within decades transform how America and, eventually, the world celebrates and experiences the Christmas holiday. Today those opening lines are the most famous verse ever written by an American.

Easton Press is delighted to present a fully-illustrated edition of the first and greatest Christmas classic: The Night Before Christmas, an exclusive leather-bound Collector's Edition personally signed by the award-winning artist, Dennis Lyall.

The poem that invented Christmas.
When Moore, a wealthy New York City divinity professor, wrote the poem for his six children in 1822, America had few Christmas traditions. Christmas was a somber occasion for some, a raucous festival for others, and ignored by many. There were folk tales about a gift-giving St. Nicholas, but no consensus as to his appearance or how he traveled or even when he arrived.

Drawing on Dutch folklore and to a surprising degree his own imagination, Moore found in Christmas a joy and sense of wonder that we now cherish. He established the season as a time for children and family and portrayed St. Nick as the portly and jolly driver of a reindeer-drawn sleigh traveling the rooftops on Christmas Eve to enter homes and deliver toys to children.

To illustrate the Collector's Edition The Night Before Christmas, Easton Press turned to Dennis Lyall, an artist with a deep love for the American tradition. Lyall is renowned both as a commercial illustrator and as a gallery artist specializing in portraits and paintings of the American West. As a special passion, he is also an accomplished painter of Santa. For this exclusive edition, Lyall has created a wealth of dynamic full-color illustrations that perfectly capture Moore's timeless holiday story.