Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Rudolph Shines Again.

MAY, Robert L.

Item Number: 137063

Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1954.

First edition and signed Christmas greeting edition of the author’s beloved Christmas tale together with its sequel. Quarto, original pictorial boards, illustrated by Marion Guild. Signed by the author on the limitation page: A very Merry Christmas with special greetings from Rudolph and “Robert L. May.” In good condition. Very rare.

Early in 1939, May's boss at Montgomery Ward asked him to write a "cheery children's book" for Christmas shoppers, suggesting "it should be an animal story, with a character like Ferdinand the Bull", which was then recently released as a short film by Walt Disney. In writing the Christmas giveaway, May decided to make a reindeer the central character of the book because it was a Christmas animal. It had to be a sort of "ugly duckling" who had a lot of heart to make it with Santa. This first edition Rudolph poem booklet was first distributed by Montgomery Ward during the 1939 holiday season to an overwhelmingly positive response, selling 2.4 million copies. The story has been adapted several times, perhaps most notably in the form of the song by Johnny Marks, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the classic stop-motion "Animagic" Christmas television special of 1964.