PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE




The E-Sylum:  Volume 4, Number 52, December 23, 2001, Article 11

OFFHAND NUMISMATICS IN "A CHRISTMAS CAROL"

  Joel Orosz sends an appropriate note for the season:  "Charles
  Dickens mentions US numismatics, albeit pejoratively, in his
  classic Christmas Carol.  In Stave [chapter] one, the spirit of
  Jacob Marley tells Ebenezer Scrooge that Scrooge will be
  visited by three spirits, on three successive nights, each upon
  the stroke of 1.  Scrooge then falls asleep, and does not waken
  until the beginning of Stave 2, when he hears the clock striking
  12.  Scrooge is concerned because it is too dark to be noon,
  and yet it does not seem possible that he has slept through the
  next day until 12 midnight. He looks through the window, in
  an effort to determine the time of day.  What follows is Dickens'
  description of what happened next, found in the fifth paragraph
  of Stave 2:

  All he could make out was, that it was still very foggy and
  extremely cold, and that there was no noise of people running
  to and fro, and making a great stir, as there unquestionably
  would have been if night had beaten off bright day, and taken
  possession of the world.  This was a great relief, because
  "three days after this First of Exchange pay to Mr. Ebenezer
  Scrooge or his order" and so forth, would have become a
  mere United States' security if there were no days to count by.

  Dickens, of course, had no admiration for the United States,
  the inhabitants of which he considered coarse and buffoonish.
  Apparently, he had no better opinion of the soundness of
  American financial obligations.  Happy holidays--humbug!"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

Google
 
coinbooks.org Web
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum
Copyright © 2005 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE


Copyright © 1998 - 2005 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
All Rights Reserved.

NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster