The Doctor's Christmas Eve

A handsome 1910 first edition of The Doctor’s Christmas Eve by American novelist James Lane Allen, published by The Macmillan Company of New York.

The copyright page states “Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1910,” identifying this as the original first printing. The book is bound in dark blue publisher’s cloth with attractive gilt title panels to both the front cover and spine.

James Lane Allen was a prominent American regionalist writer closely associated with Kentucky literature. Here he turns his attention to a more reflective Christmas story, exploring family, marriage, memory, and the emotional undercurrents surrounding the holiday season.

An interesting piece of the book’s publishing history is that Allen notes it was originally announced under a different title, A Brood of the Eagle, before appearing as The Doctor’s Christmas Eve.

More than a century after publication, this remains an appealing example of an early American Christmas novel—and an affordable genuine first edition with particularly nice shelf presence.