Climb into Ed’s on-air sleigh as he takes us on a snowy tour of ‘Old America’ as depicted in the iconic prints of Currier and Ives. Founded in 1835 by Nathaniel Currier and reaching its apogee after 1857 when James Ives became partner, the firm’s hand-colored lithographs became the visual testament to America’s growth in the 19th century. Among the 7,500 prints created, it would be the winter scenes that would prove most popular. A clever blending of Hudson River School idealism and Transcendentalist introspection, the prints simultaneously celebrated America’s past and present, and would influence the arts – and Hollywood – up to our own day.

On January 1, 1818, a book was published by the London firm of Lackington & Hughes. Only 500 copies were printed of the three-volume work, and its author’s name was omitted. Its chronicle of a young scientist’s pursuit to create life – a life he would cruelly disown – would ignite the imagination (and moral wrath) of Regency England and beyond. Join Ed as he describes the fateful “summer without sun” of 1816, when Mary first conceived the story, during a contest initiated by Lord Byron to outdo German ghost stories. Later, joined by her husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, the two would craft a tale reflecting the era’s fascination with science and its perceived ethical boundaries.

Enjoy a reprise of Ed’s interview with award-winning author Louis Bayard (Roosevelt’s Beast, The School of Night, etc.), who describes how Charles Dickens reminded his fellow Victorians in 1843 to ‘open their shuttered hearts’ in a tale as relevant to us today. He also explains how A Christmas Carol inspired his own novel, Mr. Timothy (2003), about the struggles of a mature Tiny Tim.

More at: louisbayard.com