Imagine a Christmas book for children so beautifully made that its illustrations required as many as a dozen separate woodblocks to print each picture! Published in 1875 by the renowned Catholic publishing house of Frederick Pustet & Company, The First Christmas is a remarkable example of the care and craftsmanship once lavished upon books for little ones.
The exquisite illustrations, originally painted by Leonhard Diefenbach and translated into richly colored woodcuts by Heinrich Knöfler, bring the story of Our Lord's Nativity to life in extraordinary detail. Their vivid colors, delicate lines, and intricate shading make these pictures treasures to contemplate as well as to admire. Accompanied by verses from Rosa Mulholland, a contributor to Charles Dickens's All the Year Round, they tell the story of that first Christmas with beauty and reverence.
For this new edition, we have carefully restored the original illustrations and compared different historic versions of the text, bringing together the finest elements of this beloved nineteenth-century work in a handsome hardcover volume.
Curious how such extraordinary illustrations were made? Read the story behind The First Christmas on our blog, where we explore the fascinating art of chromoxylography and share before-and-after glimpses of the restoration process.
8.5" x 11" hardcover 32 pages
