The New York Public Library, Berg Collection of
English and American Literature
"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us every one!"
The famous closing words of A Christmas Carol were written out by Charles Dickens, and signed and dated by him "Friday Fourth October 1861," no doubt at the behest of one of his countless admirers. For the critic Francis Jeffrey, a great admirer of the Carol, Tiny Tim was "almost as sweet and
touching" as Little Nell, whose pathetic demise in The Old Curiosity Shop had reportedly caused Lord
Jeffrey to collapse in grief. But as everyone knows, Tiny Tim "did NOT die."