The Gift of the Magi

by O. Henry

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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1,861	41	7,895	(3.95)	8
A husband and wife sacrifice treasured possessions in order to buy each other Christmas presents.

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▾Member reviews

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Showing 1-5 of 41 (next | show all)

This is not the version of my book I wanted to add here today. I recently acquired a very old copy of this story, in a hard cover, box version, with lovely illustrations by Kevin King that was owned by either my stepfather in his childhood or his mother.

I still kind of both love and do not love this story. It's such a great love, to each give up their most precious object because they decide the joy of the one with them is worth even more than that, and yet it is a story ridiculed to irony. So I'm just....waffly on it.

It gets a three. But I'm still insanely pleased to have this specific copy of it, with it's age and person history. (

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wanderlustlover | Dec 26, 2022 |

The other reviwers have done a fine job, so this review will be tiny.

This book will always be engraved into my thoughts and into my memory. It's one of the tales that helped define me and strangely seems to surface quite frequently in my conversations.

If you haven't yet READ IT NOW! (

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Silenostar | Dec 7, 2022 |

I read this long ago, but forgot about it until now after reading a review. So, finding out it was free and short, I reread it. It took about 5 minutes, and was well worth it. It is a perfect illustration of what gift giving and love should be.
(

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MartyFried | Oct 9, 2022 |

It's a good story with a good message. (

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NorthElliot | Sep 14, 2022 |

I find that I love this story just as much now as I ever did. It is about unconditional love that puts the beloved first. The world could use a little more of that...a willingness to part with what we most value in order to please another. (

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mattorsara | Aug 11, 2022 |

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▾Published reviews

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (23 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
O. Henry	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Danowski, Sonja	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lynch, P. J.	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Zwerger, Lisbeth	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Creative Classics

Insel-Bücherei (Nr. 1453)

Is contained in

100 Selected Stories by O. Henry

The Best Christmas Stories Ever (Apple Classics) by Apple Classics

Stories to Remember, Volume I by Thomas B. Costain

Stories to Remember {complete} by Thomas B. Costain (indirect)

Stories to Remember {complete} / More Stories to Remember {I & II} by Thomas B. Costain (indirect)

The greatest American short stories by A. Grove Day

(show 23 more)

Wonderment: The Lisbeth Zwerger Collection by Lisbeth Zwerger

Great American Short Stories: From Hawthorne to Hemingway by Corinne Demas

The Second Christmas Megapack: 29 Modern and Classic Christmas Stories by Robert Reginald

Round the Christmas Fire: Festive Stories by Various Authors

Selected English Short Stories: XIX and XX Centuries (Second Series) by Humphrey Sumner Milford

Christmas in Two Acts: The Gift of the Magi & Christmas by Injunction by O. Henry by O. Henry

Traveling Home for Chirstmas: Four Stories that Journey to the Heart of the Holiday by Philip Glassborrow

The Big Christmas Basket: 200 Christmas Novels, Stories, Poems & Carols by Robert E. Howard

Inspiration Three: Three Famous Classics in One Book, Volume V [The Story of the Other Wise Man, A Christmas Carol,The Gift of the Magi] by Henry Van Dyke

Pearl S. Buck's Book of Christmas by Pearl S. Buck

The Anthology of Love and Romance by Kate Alexander

El cuento literario by Antonio del Rey Briones

Americans All: Stories of American Life To-Day by Benjamin Heydrick

LibriVox Christmas Short Works Collection 2007 by Arnold Bennett

Christmas Short Works Collection 2014 by Joseph Ashby-Sterry

LibriVox Christmas Short Works Collection 2020 by L. Frank Baum

Christmas Short Works Collection 2022 by B. B. Warfield

Fireside Christmas Short Stories by Clement C. Moore

Christmas Short Works Collection 2021 by George Wither

LibriVox Christmas Short Works Collection 2013 by Rainer Maria Rilke

LibriVox Christmas Short Works Collection 2012 by G. Lenotre

Librivox Christmas Short Works Collection 2008 by Mary Griggs van Voorhis

Librivox Christmas Short Works Collection 2006 by O. Henry

Has the adaptation

The Gift of the Magi by Rob Sauber

Classics Illustrated #15: The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories by O. Henry

The Gift of the Magi by Joel Priddy

O. Henry's Full House [1952 film] by Henry Hathaway

(show 2 more)

The Gift of the Magi (French's musical library) by O. Henry

The Gift of the Magi by Anne Coulter Martens

Has as a student's study guide

A Study Guide for O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" by Kathleen Wilson

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Original title

The Gift of the Magi

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1905-12-10 (in magazine)

1906-04 (in anthology)

People/Characters

Della Young

James Dillingham Young

Mme. Sofronie

Important places

Important events

Christmas

Awards and honors

Western World's Greatest Books - Project Gutenberg

Геном русской души (86)

New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (1982)

Epigraph

Dedication

For Evie
with special thanks to Ciara Cullen and Ken Hughes
P. J. L.

First words

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

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▾Book descriptions

A husband and wife sacrifice treasured possessions in order to buy each other Christmas presents.

▾Library descriptions

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

On Christmas Eve, a poor couple sells their most precious possessions to buy gifts for one another - only to discover that the greatest gift they have for each other is their sacrificial love.

The Gift of the Magi: Special Church Edition features a new version of this classic Christmas story - not only including O. Henry's original tale, but also providing Christian insights by Stephen Skelton.

Celebrate the Christ of Christmas with The Gift of the Magi: Special Church Edition—and discover how one of our most touching Christmas stories is also a profound Christian parable.

Plus, four discussion sections relate how we are supposed to give to God and to others based on how the wise men gave to the Christ child - with sacrifice, with thought, with joy, and in person (if possible).

This booklet may be reproduced for everyone in your group.

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