‎"ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN.‎
‎A Christmas Greeting to my English Friends.‎

‎London, Richard Bentley, 1847. 8vo. Uncut in the original somewhat worn printed paper binding. Boards rubbed. Rebacked in white cloth, with the remnant of the original spine pasted on. Title page printed in red. Year of publication removed from title page. Internally clean. Housed in a recent clamshell box. IV,(2),100 pp. ‎

Reference : 61232

‎The rare first printing of Andersen's 'Christmas Greeting'. Upon his visit to England in 1847, Andersen issued the present publication to express his gratitude towards his English friends. In the short preface, addressed to Charles Dickens, Andersen states that he produced seven short stories during his visit (five of which were printed here for the first time): ""Whilst occupied with a greater work, there sprung forth - as the flowers spring forth in the forest - seven short stories."" Of the seven short stories contained in the volume, the following appear here for the first time: ""The Old House"" (""Det gamle Huus""), ""The Drop of Water"" (""Vanddraaben""), ""The Happy Family"" (""Den lykkelige Familie""), ""The Story of a Mother"" (""Historien om en Moder""), ""The False Collar"" (""Flipperne""). The present copy belonged to the Danish writer Elias Bredsdorff (1912-2002), Reader in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Bredsdorff passed on the copy to the renowned Andersen collector Erik Dal.‎