A Visit From St Nicholas

Description for A VISIT FROM ST NICHOLAS ('TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS) by Clement C Moore and illuminated by Mary C Ogden, daughter of Clement C Moore: He was a classical scholar, a generous philanthropist, devoted husband, father of nine, and author of a host of "serious" poems.  A quiet, unassuming man, Clement Clarke Moore's eulogy described him as a "large-minded scholar and an open-handed Christian...content to be overlooked by the world.," Yet history had other ideas, for one December day in 1822 Moore sat down to create what would become one of the first "American children's classics."  Written to delight his own children at Christmastime, Moore's poem "A Visit From St Nicholas: has established our modern vision of Santa Claus as a "jolly old elf" dressed in red---arriving on the roof with a reindeer-drawn sleigh and slipping down the chimney with gifts on Christmas Eve! Santa Claus' modern creator was born into comfortable circumstances in New York City on July 15, 1779.