World’s first Christmas Card (from London 1843) being auctioned off! (Thurs. Dec. 05, 2024) Freeman’s | Hindman auction house NYC

A very rare example of the first printed Christmas card, designed by John Calcott Horsley for Sir Henry Cole.

Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant, prominent educator, and patron of the arts, he helped found the Victoria and Albert Museum, and was on committees that developed the first postage stamps and public toilets. He commissioned Horsley to create this design, executed in the form of a triptych composed of a rustic trellis of vines, enclosing a central panel showing three generations of a Victorian family with raised wine glasses toasting the cards’ recipient, and flanked on each side with scenes depicting charity toward the poor.

Cole’s idea for the Christmas card is said to have sprung from his need to quickly and easily send holiday greetings to his numerous friends, family, and acquaintances, which was prevented due to the pressures of his many business and civil pursuits. This was exacerbated by the rippling effects of the expansion of Great Britain’s postal system in the mid-19th century, especially with the advent of the Uniform Penny Post in 1840 (which he helped devise), which greatly increased the number of holiday cards Cole received each year. Using Horsley’s design, Cole had this card printed in around 1,000 copies by London lithographer J.R. Jobbins and published by his friend Joseph Cundall at Summerly’s Home Treasury Office, an imprint Cole had used previously to publish his own children’s books.

According to antiquarian Kenneth Rowe’s census of these cards, created for the Ephemera Society of Great Britain (The Ephemerist, December 1997), he identified only 24 surviving examples, including four proofs. Of the 20 non-proofs, their locations were roughly split between private collections and institutions, with nine either not located or not seen by him. Only one example listed by him was unused like this copy, and it does not appear that this copy is one those listed on his census. Furthermore, this example is perhaps a salesman or publisher’s sample due to the pricing notations on the verso.