On the first day of Christmas, Overlook Press gave to me...

...Charles Dicken's Christmas Stories! (We know that rhyming that is a bit of a stretch...)

Welcome to the Overlook Press Holiday Celebration, where we prove that books make great gifts by giving away some of our best titles from now through December 21! Whether it's for you, for a friend, a family member, or your office Secret Santa, there's something for everyone on this list. These are not Christmas-exclusive--the song just happens to have the perfect number of gifts for us to give away to our readers!

On our first day of holiday celebrating, we'll be giving away Charles Dickens' Christmas Books. These Nonesuch Press editions should definitely be judged by their covers--or more specifically, their leather and linen bindings, which are a beautiful throwback. (Throwbook?) Dickens said he wept, then laughed, then wept again while writing his iconic story "A Christmas Carol," and this edition also includes "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life," and "The Haunted Man."

While you're probably familiar with these stories (especially all of the fantastic versions of "A Christmas Carol" that exist--we personally love the "Muppet Christmas Carol" the best, although "Mickey's Christmas Carol" is truly a classic), the Nonesuch Press edition is a keepsake that will make both a perfect holiday gift and an heirloom to be treasured for years.

We're giving away TWO copies of this wonderful book. Good luck!
TO WIN: Leave a blog comment, Tweet this contest, or leave a comment on our Facebook page. You can enter once in every area and we'll announce the winners tomorrow morning as we announce what you can look forward to for the Second Day of Overlook Christmas! (Spoiler alert: it will be MUCH better, and less messy, than turtledoves).

Giveaways will include signed books, limited editions, art books, early copies of books not available for sale, and sets of books by various Overlook authors. Check back each business day to see what we're giving away!

Happy holidays to everyone from the Overlook Press!

Overlook Publisher Peter Mayer on THE NONESUCH DICKENS in Columbus Dispatch

Bill Eichenberger, book editor of the Columbus Journal-Dispatch, recently spoke to Peter Mayer about the publication of The Nonesuch Dickens:

"Peter Mayer, owner of Overlook Press in New York, purchased the rights to the Nonesuch catalog in 2005 and decided it was high time to revisit the definitive Dickens. The publisher recently released nine books −−available individually or in two sets. Mayer spoke recently with The Dispatch by e−mail:

Q: Why publish the Nonesuch Dickens now?

A: We issued Nonesuch Dickens first in a group of six and now with an additional three, and we have organized our publication to coincide with the BBC television shows, which are broadcast on the PBS Masterpiece Classic series, hosted by Laura Linney. (The series will run from February to May on PBS.)

Q: Is the Nonesuch Dickens an investment?

A: Well, it's probably a good investment to buy these books; they generally appreciate in value. Of theoriginal books published by Nonesuch, the edition that was limited to 877 copies, based on recent auction prices, is about $5,000. However, the Nonesuch Dickens is the most readable and beautiful edition available.The books are bound in leather and bound in linen. I love paperbacks, but this is one for physical book lovers as much as readers.

Q: Why does Dickens endure, do you think?

A: I think the thing about Dickens is he is a brilliant storyteller who creates characters who are truly unique. They appear on his pages, but they are so famous −− whether it's Pip, Oliver Twist, Scrooge or David Copperfield −− that they enter our lives. But underlying it all was Dickens' extraordinary social concerns, and, therefore, the books are loved all over the world.1

Q: Do you feel a responsibility as a publisher to keep great books in print?

A: Well, every publisher hopes his books are read, not only in the season they are published but as part of a backlist. Dickens is quintessentially backlist, as there are other editions available, in paperback, etc. What we realized as we embarked on the Nonesuch project is that we had to make the books truly brilliant examples of the bookmakers' art, and because they are hardcover they have to be so beautiful that they represented good value for the money.

Q: What other gems will you publish from the Nonesuch catalog?

A: We are thinking of publishing the Nonesuch Shakespeare and the Nonesuch Bible. These books cost a fortune to produce, so we really have to take our time when we embark on these projects.

Holiday Gift Books: THE NONESUCH DICKENS

The magnificent Nonesuch Dickens is a favorite of book editors and critics this holiday season. Here's a sampling of some recent notices:

"This six-volume set spotlights some of the author's greatest works: Bleak House, the Christmas Book series, David Copperfield, Great Expectations/Hard Times, Nicholas Nickleby, and Oliver Twist. And the books — modeled after 1937's Nonesuch Dickens collection — don't look too shabby on shelves either." - Entertainment Weekly

"As we catapult into the Age of the Kindle, it's heartening to know that there are still publishers willing to embrace the grand bookmaking projects of an earlier age. In 1937, Nonesuch Press published a limited-edition set of the complete works of Charles Dickens, using the rare woodblock and steel plates fashioned by Dickens' original printers. Only 877 copies were made - you can score a set on AbeBooks.com for $12,500 and up. Overlook Press is launching a series of facsimile editions of "The Nonesuch Dickens," beginning this fall with nine novels, including "David Copperfield," "Bleak House" and "A Tale of Two Cities." The books are handsomely made, with sewn bindings and leather spines, but they're worth the price if only for the crisply reprinted illustrations - of such legendary characters as Miss Havisham, Mr. Pecksniff and Wilkins Micawber - by Dickens' collaborators Phiz, George Cruikshank and others." - Newsday

"The Overlook Press has just published a new set of Dickens called the Nonesuch Dickens, based on an 1867 edition supervised by the man himself. The original Nonesuch Dickens, featuring illustrations selected by Dickens, came out in 1937 as a limited series and sold out fast. These new ones aren't cheap — the "Christmas Books" that include "A Christmas Carol" is $35 and "Little Dorrit," the Dickens novel for true Dickens lovers, is $40 — but they do look and feel great. " - Portland Oregonian