The Christmas card in spite of some continental ancestors is an English invention. Its introduction coincides with a newly kindled interest in the festival of Christmas. The birthright of the first English card is disputed, but it seems that a Royal Academician can put forward the most reasonable claim. In November 1843 Mr Henry Cole—later Sir Henry Cole—the inaugurator and first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, noted in his diary, 'Mr. Horsley came and brought design for Christmas card'. 'Mr. Horsley' is John Calcott Horsley, R.A., painter and illustrator, who designed a card for Cole of which, in 1846, one thousand copies were lithographed, hand-coloured and sold by Felix Summerly's Treasure House in Bond Street.
(1843)
