Who wrote "The night before Christmas"? : analyzing the Clement Clarke Moore vs. Henry Livingston question / MacDonald P. Jackson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jackson, MacDonald P. (MacDonald Pairman), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Moore, Clement Clarke, 1779-1863. Night before Christmas--Criticism, Textual.

Moore, Clement Clarke.

Livingston, Henry, 1748-1828--Criticism, Textual.

Livingston, Henry.

Livingston, Henry, 1748-1828.

Criticism, Textual.

Physical Description:

viii, 194 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2016]

Summary:

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction to the problem

Moore and Livingston: external and internal evidence

Reindeer names, exclamations and other clues

The question of sources

The evidence of meter

Statistical interlude

Attributive adjectives

Rhyme links with Moore and Livingston

Shared three-word sequences and parallels

Phoneme pairs

Categories of phoneme pairs

Individual phoneme pairs more favored by Moore or Livingston

Definite and indefinite articles

Very high-frequency words

Favorite expressions and quirks of style

Ccommon words that discriminate

Words of medium-high frequency

Checking the tests: Moore's manuscript poems

The Moore creation myth

The Livingston version

Further considerations: claims and connections

"Old Santeclaus" and Moore

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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781476664439

1476664439

OCLC:

949760216