Chapter 3

Thackeray’s first Christmas book, Mrs. Perkins’s Ball (London: Chapman & Hall, 1847).

Attempting to capitalize on the popularity of Dickens’s Christmas books, Thackeray began publishing his own in 1847. (Reviewing A Christmas Carol in Fraser’s, Thackeray thought the book “a national benefit and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness…What a feeling this is for a writer to inspire, and what a reward to reap!”) Unlike the sentimental or melodramatic stories produced by Dickens, Thackeray’s stories were humorously written and colorfully illustrated.

Mrs. Perkins Ball was the first Christmas book Thackeray produced, published during the serial appearance of Vanity Fair, when he was becoming a household name. Bound in pink boards, and illustrated with Thackeray’s drawings, the book was moderately successful. Thackeray later reflected that it was the first book that made him popular.

HEW 12.6.13. Harry Elkins Widener Collection.