Sold out within days of publication, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas was written by Charles Dickens in just six weeks in order to pay off debt. Its subject matter, as in his previous works, is motivated by Dickens' real concern for the plight of the poor, based on his own personal experience during his upbringing. He personally commissioned John Leech, chief cartoonist for Punch from 1841-1861, to produce four hand coloured etchings and four wood engravings to illustrate the tale. It was this commission, coupled with the sale price of five shillings and Dickens' insistance on high-quality end-papers and a coloured title page, that resulted in the book failing to make a profit, despite the very favourable sales.

Many contemporary and subsequent observers consider A Christmas Carol to have reawakened the importance of Christmas, as old Christmas traditions had begun to wane in early Victorian times:

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