DICKENS, Charles (1812-1870). A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. 8vo (165 x 102 mm). Half-title printed in blue, title-page printed in red and blue, hand-colored etched frontispiece and 3 hand-colored plates by John Leech, 4 in-text wood engravings by W.J. Linton after Leech, 2pp. publisher's advertisements at end. (Some very mild browning or stains, otherwise fine.) Publisher's brown ribbed cloth, upper cover with decorative blind border surrounding a central gilt cartouche, spine gilt-lettered and decorated, all edges gilt, green endpapers (corners slightly bumped, spine ends slightly chipped with minor losses, split to top half of upper hinge).FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, second state, with "Stave I" as the first chapter heading, balance of the text uncorrected, red and blue title-page dated 1843, green endpapers; binding with the upper serif of "D" of Dickens in tact. Philo Calhoun and Howell J. Heaney, "Dickens' Christmas Carol After a Hundred Years: A Study in Bibliographical Evidence," in: Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 39 (Fourth Quarter, 1945); Smith II:4.