Thursday, December 03, 2009

What the Dickens?

On Wednesday, I came across an article in the New York Times which I'm so excited to share with you!

Each holiday season, The Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan displays the original handwritten manuscript of A Christmas Carol (in a sealed glass case, of course) for public viewing. Only one page can be seen each year, but it's fascinating to see the edits Mr. Dickens made on the page. For example, when Scrooge sees Marley's ghost, he tries to dismiss the apparition as brought about by something he ate. At some point during the writing of this classic, Dickens changed a "spot of mustard" to a "blot of mustard", I'm sure because it sounds a tad grosser.

I love that!

You can check out a few high-res pages of the manuscript by clicking here.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

Donna Gambale said...

Excellent link! That's so cool. Thanks!

Bethany Wiggins said...

Thanks! What a rare chance for a glimpse into the mind of Dickens, a true writing master.

Bethany Wiggins said...

BTW, I linked to your post in my blog www.suzettesaxton.blogspot.com, in case you're interested.

Anonymous said...

That's so cool! Thanks :-)