1823 version of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," reprinted in Philadelphia from Troy SENTINEL

Just found this previously unrecorded item in the great collection of newspaper archives at genealogybank.com, a very early reprinting in Poulson's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA) of Clement C. Moore's immortal Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" from the Troy Sentinel where it first appeared in print, anonymously published, on December 23, 1823. On the following Tuesday (exactly one week later), and duly credited to the "Troy Sentinel," the complete "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" appeared in Poulson's American Daily Advertiser for December 30, 1823 along with Troy editor Orville L. Holley's original introduction. Melville aficionados may be interested to know that the now-classic Christmas rhymes appeared on page 2, immediately above an advertisement by J. W. Corlies for "Sperm. Oil, Candles, Cheese, Mackerel, &c."

Honored as the first daily newspaper in the United States, Poulson's American Daily Advertiser was edited and published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Zachariah Poulson.

On New Year's Day 1824 the New-York Spectator copied "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and commended it to readers as fine fanciful poetry. That January 1, 1824 Spectator version has long been considered the earliest known reprinting of "Visit" from the Troy Sentinel. Nancy H. Marshall listed the Spectator reprinting as number 2 in her magnificent Descriptive Bibliography of The Night Before Christmas (Oak Knoll Press, 2002). Now, however, we need to make room for the earlier Philadelphia item, first copied from the Troy Sentinel by Zachariah Poulson. Let's call it 1a: the reprinting of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" in Polson's American Daily Advertiser on Tuesday, December 30, 1823.

Poulson's American Daily Advertiser
December 23, 1830

Poulson's American Daily Advertiser
December 23, 1830

Poulson's American Daily Advertiser
December 23, 1830

Headed "Christmas Times," a slightly different version of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" appeared in Poulson's American Daily Advertiser on December 24, 1828. This later copy has the children being "nested" instead of "nestled" and gives the last two reindeer names as "Dunder and Blixen" where the earlier reprinting on December 30, 1823 had followed the Troy Sentinel reading "Dunder and Blixem." As previously noted on Melvilliana

• https://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2019/12/now-dasher-in-1826.html
• https://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2019/12/charleston-mercury-early-printings-of.html

the "Christmas Times" version of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" aka 'Twas the Night Before Christmas enjoyed a wide circulation in the later 1820's and 1830's, with distinctive textual variants that may derive from the Charleston Mercury.

Neither reprinting of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" in Poulson's American Daily Advertiser is listed in Nancy H. Marshall's bibliography or the online inventory of Some early printings at merrycoz.org, compiled by Pat Pflieger.

Related posts:

• First printing of A Visit from St. Nicholas
  https://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2019/04/first-printing-of-visit-from-st-nicholas.html

• Fine fanciful poetry
  https://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2018/12/1824-spectator.html

• How we know Clement C. Moore wrote The Night Before Christmas
  http://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2017/05/how-we-know-that-clement-c-moore-wrote.html

• Dunder-Donder, Blixem-Blixen, Dunder Mifflin, Donder and Blitzen
  https://melvilliana.blogspot.com/2017/03/dunder-donder-blixem-blixen-dunder.html