Old Christmas

From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving

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Pages: 90

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Listen to Old Christmas Audiobook Free

Read by Greg Giordano · 1 h 59 min · 5 parts

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Christmas
15:42
The Stage Coach
16:55
Christmas Eve
25:51
Christmas Day
29:46
The Christmas Dinner
31:38

Old Christmas (1886) is a public domain work.

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About this book

Winter firesides and familiar holiday rituals draw Washington Irving's attention to the ties that hold families and neighbors together. These Christmas sketches from his Sketch Book combine reflections on English customs with scenes of country life. Church music, seasonal games and the warmth of hospitality give the narrator a way to consider traditions he believes are fading under the pressure of changing fashion.

At the old mansion, that affection for earlier times takes an amusingly precise form. Master Simon corrects the narrator's name for a group of peacocks and draws on old hunting books to explain their supposed qualities. Frank Bracebridge describes Simon's favorite reading, while the Squire's taste for the birds links the household to memories of formal banquets. The illustrated edition pairs Irving's prose with Randolph Caldecott's designs. Readers can enjoy both the festive atmosphere and the small social observations that give these recollections their humor.

About the author

Washington Irving

Washington Irving was an American essayist, biographer, historian, and short-story writer whose polished prose helped establish an international audience for literature from the young United States.