Who Wrote "The Night Before Christmas"?: Analyzing the Clement Clarke Moore vs. Henry Livingston Question

by MacDonald P. Jackson

Overview

Published anonymously in 1823, "The Night Before Christmas" has traditionally been attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), who included it in his Poems (1844). But descendants of Henry Livingston (1748-1828) claim that he read it to his children as his own creation long before Moore is alleged to have composed it.

This book evaluates the opposing arguments and for the first time uses the author-attribution techniques of modern computational stylistics to settle the long-standing dispute. Both writers left substantial bodies of verse, which have been computer analyzed for distinguishing characteristics.

Employing a range of tests and introducing a new one--statistical analysis of phonemes--this study identifies the true author and makes a significant contribution to the growing field of attribution studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476624259
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/27/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

MacDonald P. Jackson is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Auckland and a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
MacDonald P. Jackson is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Auckland and a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Introduction to the Problem
2. Moore and Livingston: External and Internal Evidence
3. Reindeer Names, Exclamations and Other Clues
4. The Question of Sources
5. The Evidence of Meter
6. Statistical Interlude
7. Attributive Adjectives
8. Rhyme Links with Moore and Livingston
9. Shared ­Three-Word Sequences and Parallels
10. Phoneme Pairs
11. Categories of Phoneme Pairs
12. Individual Phoneme Pairs More Favored by Moore or Livingston
13. Definite and Indefinite Articles
14. Very ­High-Frequency Words
15. Favorite Expressions and Quirks of Style
16. Common Words That Discriminate
17. Words of ­Medium-High Frequency
18. Checking the Tests: Moore’s Manuscript Poems
19. The Moore Creation Myth
20. The Livingston Version
21. Further Considerations: Claims and Connections
22. “Old Santeclaus” and Moore
23. Summary and Conclusions
Appendix I: Henry Livingston: Selected Poems and Prose
Appendix II: Lists of the Poems of Livingston and Moore
Appendix III: Printer’s Copy for “Visit” in Moore’s Poems (1844)
Notes
Bibliography
Index