“Marley was dead: to begin with.”

A rather macabre start a Christmas story, and yet its legacy is such that almost everyone, whether they’ve read the book or not, can immediately place the sentence in its proper context.

I’m talking about A Christmas Carol, of course, one of the most well-known and beloved works by a most well-known and beloved author, Charles Dickens, which was first published on this day back in 1843.

But what few people realize is that this seminal tale, despite its themes of hope, love, and optimism, were written by a man dangling dangerous at the end of his proverbial rope.

1843 found Charles Dickens at a bit of a crossroads. When his father was thrown into a debtors’ prison in 1824, a 12-year-old Charles was sent to work in a factory, and it seemed as if his future had been decided for him: he would be counted among the nameless, faceless masses, scrabbling to maintain a roof over his head and a morsel or two in his belly. But the young Dickens was determined to rise above. By his late teens, he had become a reporter and started publishing humorous short stories, a collection of which, titled Sketches by Boz (later known as The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) was published in 1836. The same year, he married Catherine Hogarth, whose father also worked at the newspaper where Dickens was employed. The book was a runaway hit, and Dickens quickly became the most popular author of the day. His success continued with the publication of Oliver Twist in 1838 and Nicholas Nickleby in 1839. In late December of 1841, he began publishing his latest novel, Martin Chuzzlewit, as a monthly serial. Though he confided in a friend that the work was his favorite, the sentiment was not echoed by his friends. Sales were so disappointing, his publisher, Chapman & Hall, decided they would not produce any more of his works.

Less than 10 years into his career, it was over.

Or was it?

Facing with increasing financial pressure (his wife was pregnant with their 5th child at the time), Dickens decided he needed a new money-maker of a book, and he needed it fast. At the time, the idea of Christmas as we know it today was just starting to take shape; traditions such as cards and trees and colorful lights were beginning to grab hold of the public’s imagination. But, as Dickens walked the streets of London one night, he couldn’t help but notice the juxtaposition between the hope and optimism of the season with the reality of life: the streets strewn not only with litter, but also bawdy streetwalkers, pickpockets and beggars. Perhaps haunted by the painful memories of his own childhood spent in the gutter, he began to envision a story about Christmas…but also about social reform.

In late October 1843, Dickens began work on a new novel, one that, according to Michael Slater, Dickens’s biographer, would “open its readers’ hearts towards those struggling to survive on the lower rungs of the economic ladder and… encourage practical benevolence, but also…warn of the terrible danger to society created by the toleration of widespread ignorance and actual want among the poor.”

Nevermind he didn’t currently have a publisher. If Chapman & Hall wouldn’t publish it, he would do it himself. Slater describes the book as being “written at white heat”; it was completed in only six weeks, the final pages being written in early December. He built much of the work in his head while taking night-time walks of 15 to 20 miles around London. Writing the story was an almost manic experience for Dickens, with his sister-in-law claiming the man “wept, and laughed, and wept again, and excited himself in a most extraordinary manner, in composition.”

Upon completion, Chapman & Hall did ultimately agree to publish it–so long as Dickens himself financed the matter. He agreed. It was released on December 19, 1843, and the first run of 6,000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve. Chapman and Hall issued second and third editions before the new year. By 1844, the book had gone through 13 printings. It was-and remains to this day–Dickens’s most popular book, selling over two million copies in the hundred years following its first publication, and has been translated to film over twenty times.

The book also seemed to reignite his career. On the heels of the story’s success came such classics as David Copperfield (1850), Great Expectations (1861), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859).

So yes, Marley was dead: to begin with.

But thankfully Mr. Dickens was just getting started.