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Bashir Osman's Photography/Getty Images
The world's first Christmas card – printed several years before the idea would finally take off – is going on display.
Dated 1843, the hand-colored card depicts a large family gathering for Christmas, drinking wine and carving a turkey.
<p>A child also appears to be gulping down some of the beverage at the crowded table in the design by Henry Cole, Joseph Cundall, and John Calcott Horsley.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTQzNTU4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTE0NTU2OH0.lZkXq0zWwBjHJOY4CPrWRF-vBkNYMsDcuNvnPhnzCMs/img.jpg?width=980" id="e50f2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c4b278a486434103ee92795698a1378e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The world's first printed Christmas card (Brick Row Book Shop, San Diego, California/PA)</small></p>
<p>The lithographed cards, published in Old Bond Street, London, were sold for one shilling each.<br></p><p>But it took another five years for the next card designed for Christmas to appear.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vY29udGVudC5hc3NldHMucHJlc3Nhc3NvY2lhdGlvbi5pby8yMDE5LzEwLzA4MTQxNjA5Lzc4NTBmZmIzLWU1YzctNGU4OC04NjQyLTEwODM4ZDdlNjVhMi5qcGciLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjU2MTcyMDU4fQ.0Rv9ea8d-Q-TI6uvz4oRkwMaAa6xCGbV5q1rdddwpn4/img.jpg" id="e95a8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ff3689f283133773ff842571423abfb3" alt=""><small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Books going on display at The Charles Dickens Museum (Charles Dickens Museum)</small></p><p>The idea did eventually take off – in 1877, 4.5 million Christmas cards were posted.</p><p>The Christmas card will go on display at the Charles Dickens Museum in an exhibition on the novelist's enduring influence on how Christmas is celebrated today.</p><p><div id="insticator-container" class="embedid-c230ccfe-b34e-4c23-8bb0-aaf80e33dfdf"><div id="div-insticator-ad-1"></div><div id="insticator-embed"></div><div id="div-insticator-ad-2"></div><script data-cfasync="false" type="text/javascript">Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-1");Insticator.ad.loadAd("div-insticator-ad-2");Insticator.load("em",{id : "c230ccfe-b34e-4c23-8bb0-aaf80e33dfdf"})</script></div></p><p>It also examines how Dickens fell out of love with the season he helped to create.</p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p>Cindy Sughrue, director of the museum, said: “Dickens and Christmas will forever be linked and his influence on the season remains as strong as ever.</p><p>“In the 19th century, Dickens became king of the commercial Christmas.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vY29udGVudC5hc3NldHMucHJlc3Nhc3NvY2lhdGlvbi5pby8yMDE5LzEwLzA4MTQxNjU5L2Q0MGNjM2ZhLTQ5ZjUtNDNlZi1hOWJjLTc1YzhmOTdkMjJiOS5qcGciLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjc3MjUwOTg4fQ.PMH6ArKQjE80wo1gMxtJSKY-deIzV-w134k5b_-aL4Q/img.jpg" id="51722" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b63112a0efcc4383a9635aab0e6ef27d" alt=""><small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">An exhibition from the Charles Dickens Museum exhibition (Charles Dickens Museum)</small></p><p>“Changes in the country created the perfect conditions for him to publish <em>A Christmas Carol</em> – a thing of beauty, both in content and presentation.</p><p>“While his tale celebrates the importance of family, loved ones, and generosity of spirit, it was part of a massive commercial Christmas explosion, a dichotomy which would come to irritate Dickens later in his life."</p><p>The card, which will go on display alongside its proof copy, was printed in the same year as the publication of <em>A Christmas Carol</em>.</p><p>The exhibition will feature decorated editions, cloth-bound books, gift books, and a collection of tiny books by different authors.</p><p>It was announced as the British Museum shows the earliest example of a travel book.</p><p>The illustrated travel guide, "Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam" by Bernhard von Breydenbach, was made in 1486.</p><p>It features the first accurate printed illustrations of some of the most important European and middle eastern cities such as Venice and Jerusalem.</p><p>"Beautiful Books: Dickens And The Business Of Christmas" opens on November 20 this year at the Charles Dickens Museum in London.</p>
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