CLEVELAND — On this day in 1843, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published, launching what would become a holiday classic for close to 200 hundred years to come.
The story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future took hold and Charles Dickens trended on Twitter on Thursday to celebrate the anniversary of the first print edition of the tale.
Twitter user @UlteriousFilm, identified as Daniel Marley who describes himself as a "cinephile, up to nothing precisely," shared images from the original print on Twitter.
Perhaps predictably, he wrote: "Because I'm partial to Marley's Ghost: here's the first illustration & page of the original edition, taken from a facsimile I've long cherished."
The user credited the artwork to John Leech.
The book came out to rave reviews, with The Caledonian Mercury in Edinburgh, Scotland singing high praises on that following Christmas day, 176 years ago.
The review, as posted on Newspapers.com, read in part: "We would not by a single quotation or even comment mar the exquisite pleasure which the perusal of this delightful little work must give to all."
The lasting classic has been remade time and time again, with one playing right now in Cleveland's Playhouse Square.
You can catch the Great Lakes Theater's rendition of "A Christmas Carol" playing now through Sunday at the Mimi Ohio Theater, with tickets available online.
