Which edition of A Christmas Carol should you read?
A Christmas Carol is short, it was written in English, and it has been out of copyright for a long time, so every edition below prints the whole story. What they differ on is what comes with it: Dickens’s other Christmas writing, notes, his handwriting, pictures, or a voice.
So the question is not which text. It is what you want around the text, and who you are reading it with.
| Edition | What comes with the story | Format | Made for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penguin Classics, ed. Michael Slater | Dickens’s other Christmas writings, including “The Haunted Man” | Paperback, 336 pp | Reading the Carol among the other things Dickens wrote for Christmas |
| Oxford World’s Classics, ed. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst | All five Christmas Books, with introduction and notes | Paperback, 496 pp | A reader who wants notes, and wants to keep going after the Carol ends |
| The Annotated Christmas Carol, ed. Michael Patrick Hearn | Running notes, the 1843 Leech illustrations, and Dickens’s Public Reading text | Hardcover, 379 pp; out of print new | Someone who knows the story and wants to read it slowly |
| The Original Manuscript Edition | A facsimile of Dickens’s manuscript, with a typeset text alongside | Hardback, 160 pp | Seeing the story as it left his desk |
| Illustrated by P. J. Lynch | Paintings, and the full text | Hardcover, 160 pp | Reading it aloud to someone |
| Tim Curry’s recording | One actor reading the story | Audiobook | Hearing the book itself |
| Patrick Stewart’s reading | One actor performing an abridged version | Audiobook, 1 hr 57 min | Hearing it as a performance |
Two more keep Dickens’s words in a different form: the Classical Comics graphic novel uses his text in the speech balloons, and Jefferson Mays’s filmed performance has one actor speak it all. The text alone is free on Project Gutenberg.
Each edition, in more detail
The Penguin Classics edition, ed. Michael Slater (2003)
You want to read the book itself, and to see it next to the other things Dickens wrote for Christmas. the complete text of A Christmas Carol.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Oxford World’s Classics edition, ed. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (2008)
You want the Carol with notes you can check, and four more Christmas Books for when it ends. the complete text of A Christmas Carol, the first of the five.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Annotated Christmas Carol, ed. Michael Patrick Hearn (2004)
You know the story by heart and want to read it again slowly, with someone pointing at things in the margin. the complete text, with John Leech’s original wood engravings and hand-coloured etchings.
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
A Christmas Carol: The Original Manuscript Edition (2016)
You want to see the story as it left Dickens’s desk, with every change he made still visible. the manuscript held by the Morgan Library & Museum, reproduced page by page, with Dickens’s corrections, deletions and insertions.
Buy the hardcover — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Hardcover — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
A Christmas Carol, illustrated by P. J. Lynch (2006)
You want to read the real story aloud to someone, with pictures to look at while you do. the full text. Candlewick’s edition is unabridged.
Buy the hardcover — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Hardcover — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Tim Curry recording (Audible, 2009)
You want the book itself by ear, read by one voice, on a dark evening. Dickens’s text, read by one actor.
Other ways to get it: Listen — Audible · Audio CD — Amazon
Borrow it free: Find at your library — WorldCat
Patrick Stewart’s reading (Simon & Schuster Audio)
You want to hear the story performed, by an actor who toured it on stage alone, in under two hours. Dickens’s words, cut down for one performer.
Other ways to get it: Audio — Amazon
Borrow it free: Find at your library — WorldCat
Common questions
Which edition of A Christmas Carol should I read?
For the story with notes, the Oxford World’s Classics edition: it prints all five of Dickens’s Christmas Books with Robert Douglas-Fairhurst’s introduction and notes. The Penguin Classics edition sets the Carol beside Dickens’s other Christmas writings. To read it aloud to children, P. J. Lynch’s illustrated edition is unabridged.
Is there an annotated edition of A Christmas Carol?
Yes. Michael Patrick Hearn’s The Annotated Christmas Carol (W. W. Norton, 2004) annotates the story, reprints John Leech’s original illustrations and includes the Public Reading text Dickens prepared for his 1867–68 American tour. It is out of print new; Amazon sellers and libraries have it.
Can I see Dickens’s original manuscript of A Christmas Carol?
Yes. W. W. Norton’s Original Manuscript Edition (2016) reproduces the manuscript held by the Morgan Library & Museum, with his corrections, alongside a typeset text and a foreword by Colm Tóibín.
Is the Patrick Stewart audiobook of A Christmas Carol abridged?
Yes. Simon & Schuster lists it as abridged, 1 hour 57 minutes. Stewart also performed the story on stage as a one-man show. Tim Curry’s recording for Audible is a reading of the story by one actor.
Is A Christmas Carol a novel?
It is a short book, published in 1843 and divided into five staves rather than chapters.
Or see every version — all 35 of them.