First edition. Signed by illustrator without inscription. An excellent copy. 1998 Large Hardcover. The story of the birth of Christ, celebrated around the world at Christmas, is one of the most beautiful in the New Testament. From Mary's meeting with the angel Gabriel to the birth of baby Jesus in a stable, to the visit of the shepherds and the three wise men, the story is rich in imagery and symbolism. Here, in a triumph of glorious art, is that wondrous story excerpted from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew from the King James Bible. Gennady Spirin has been described in the Boston Globe as an artist who truly represents the picture book as an object of art. In The Christmas Story, his paintings are luminous and reverent. Drawing on both his classical training at the Stroganov Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow and his Orthodox Christian faith, Mr. Spirin has created a work of art to be passed from generation to generation.