Twas' the Night Before Christmas: An Exhibition
- First Floor Exhibit Cases, Hunt Library
- November 8, 2019 - January 10, 2020
More than 300 editions of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas—spanning a publication history of 150 years—were collected by author and bibliophile Anne Lyon Haight and housed in the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries’ Special Collections on the 4th Floor of Hunt Library in 1982. She began collecting all known publications of the poem in the 1930s and the collection was exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York in 1962.
Inspired by the folklore and imagery surrounding this poem, this exhibit focuses on themes such as the origins of Santa, his everchanging appearance, and his place in technology, material culture and nostalgia. The Anne Lyon Haight Collection of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas showcases an impressive list of illustrations by political cartoonist and caricaturist Thomas Nast, original illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, W.W. Denslow, famed illustrator of the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, Jessie Wilcox Smith, and many more. Carnegie Mellon University Libraries are proud to present this exhibit in celebration of the holiday season, and as the last line of the poem reads:
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”