May was an employee, whose daughter chose the name Rudolph for his famous creation.
Seen here are two copies of that now scarce booklet, together with a 'push-out' Rudolph Puzzle Toy, still in its original envelope, that the store produced around the same time, and an undated but signed copy of the sheet music for the Johnny Marks song that immortalised Rudolph and all the other reindeers whose names you can't quite remember.
The lot was sold for $1800 (£920) as part of the Jock Elliott Christmas Collection at Sotheby's New York on December 12.
The original Red-Nose Day
Illustrated by Denver Gillen, Robert L. May’s poem about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was first issued in 1939 as a give-away booklet for children by a Chicago department store, Montgomery Ward.