The Children's Friend - 1821
The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve (L'Ami des enfants: un cadeau du Nouvel An, pour les petits de cinq à douze 12 ans) a été édité en 1821 à New York par William B. Gilley. Cet ouvrage est capital dans l'histoire des traditions de Noël car il s'agit du tout premier livre publié sur le continent américain à inclure des lithographies (au nombre de 8), en couleur, représentant le Père Noël moderne (habillé de rouge)... mais aussi son traineau ! C'est également la toute première œuvre faisant référence à la venue du Père Noël le 25 décembre (et non plus le 6 décembre). (1)
L'auteur du magnifique poème est le pasteur presbytérien Arthur J. Stansbury (1781-1845), également journaliste au Congrès Américain et écrivain (livres pour enfants).
On doit les superbes illustrations aux lithographes William Armand Barnet et Isaac Doolittle. Les deux hommes se sont rencontrés... en France ! Barnet vivait à Paris et était le fils du consul américain. Doolittle était mécanicien passionné de bateaux à vapeur. Ils étudièrent tous deux la lithographie en France avant de débarquer à New York à l'automne 1821 afin d'ouvrir un cabinet de lithographie. The Children's Friend fut l'une de leurs toutes premières publications.
L'éditeur et libraire William B. Gilley (1785-1830) était quant à lui un voisin et ami de... Clement Clark Moore à qui l'ont doit le désormais célèbre poème Twas the night before Christmas qui s'inspira du poème The Children's Friend ainsi que des travaux de Washington Irving. (1)
The Children's Friend:
A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve.
Auteur : Arthur J. Stansbury
Lithographie : William Armand Barnet & Isaac Doolittle
Editeur : William B. Gilley (1821)
Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night,
O’er chimney-tops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.
The steady friend of virtuous youth,
The friend of duty, and of truth,
Each Christmas eve he joys to come
Where love and peace have made their home.
Through many houses he has been,
And various beds and stockings seen;
Some, white as snow, and neatly mended,
Others, that seemed for pigs intended.
Where e’er I found good girls or boys,
That hated quarrels, strife and noise,
I left an apple, or a tart,
Or wooden gun, or painted cart.
To some I gave a pretty doll,
To some a peg-top, or a ball;
No crackers, cannons, squibs, or rockets,
To blow their eyes up, or their pockets.
No drums to stun their Mother’s ear,
Nor swords to make their sisters fear;
But pretty books to store their mind
With knowledge of each various kind.
But where I found the children naughty,
In manners rude, in temper haughty,
Thankless to parents, liars, swearers,
Boxers, or cheats, or base tale-bearers,
I left a long, black, birchen rod,
Such as the dread command of God
Directs a Parent’s hand to use
When virtue’s path his sons refuse.
Lithographie : William Armand Barnet & Isaac Doolittle
Editeur : William B. Gilley (1821)
His reindeer drives this frosty night,
O’er chimney-tops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.
The friend of duty, and of truth,
Each Christmas eve he joys to come
Where love and peace have made their home.
And various beds and stockings seen;
Some, white as snow, and neatly mended,
Others, that seemed for pigs intended.
That hated quarrels, strife and noise,
I left an apple, or a tart,
Or wooden gun, or painted cart.
To some a peg-top, or a ball;
No crackers, cannons, squibs, or rockets,
To blow their eyes up, or their pockets.
Nor swords to make their sisters fear;
But pretty books to store their mind
With knowledge of each various kind.
In manners rude, in temper haughty,
Thankless to parents, liars, swearers,
Boxers, or cheats, or base tale-bearers,
Such as the dread command of God
Directs a Parent’s hand to use
When virtue’s path his sons refuse.
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