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A Christmas Carol

By Charles Dickens

A retelling of the story about a miser whose life is changed by Christmas.

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Project Gutenberg eBook #46 — 1843 text; use text-only body
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44 jurisdictions · latest check 31 Aug 2026

author; writer of the Preface (signed "C. D.") Charles Dickens died 1870. All identified copyright-relevant edition contributors are beyond the conservative expiry cutoff applied from the cited jurisdictional duration rule as of 2026-08-31.

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A Christmas Carol

Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including--which is a bold word--the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven years' dead partner that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change--not a knocker, but Marley's face.

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