Twas the Night Before Christmas

Key Takeaways

The authorship of 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' has been contested for nearly 200 years.
Major Henry Livingston Jr. has been proposed as the true author, challenging Clement Clarke Moore's attribution.
Literary forensics and stylistic analysis were used to argue for a reattribution of the iconic poem.
Significant counterarguments exist, questioning the methodology and conclusions of the reattribution efforts.

The host introduced 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' ('Twas the Night Before Christmas), noting its cultural significance and role in shaping the modern Santa Claus image.
The poem's initial publication in the 1823 Troy Sentinel included an editor's note questioning the author's identity.
Mary Van Dusen discovered online that her ancestor, Major Henry Livingston Jr., might be the true author, challenging the nearly 200-year attribution to Clement Clarke Moore.
The poem is widely recognized, with a high percentage of Americans reportedly having memorized it.

The Livingston family believed Henry Livingston Jr., a poet and farmer, authored the poem, claiming Clement Moore's later assertion was a mistake.
The family's initial evidence for Henry Livingston Jr.'s authorship was based on recollections of relatives who claimed he read the poem to them.
The pursuit of proving Henry Livingston Jr.'s authorship became a generational rite of passage, known as the 'Great Livingston Quest'.
Despite original documents burning in fires, the family's multi-generational search for an original manuscript in Henry's handwriting persists.

Early 19th-century Christmas was characterized as a period of social inversion and rowdiness, akin to a mix of Halloween and New Year's Eve.
Elite New Yorkers, known as the Knickerbockers, sought to reinvent Christmas traditions, focusing on St. Nicholas of Myra as a figurehead.
In 1823, Clement Clarke Moore, an academic and Knickerbocker associate, published his poem, recasting St. Nicholas as a gift-giver rather than a demanding figure.
Moore's reimagined Christmas, centered on children receiving gifts from adults, proved successful and contributed to the poem's growing legend.

In 1999, Mary Van Dusen contacted Professor Ian Lancashire, who recommended Don Foster, an English professor known for literary attribution, to examine her ancestor's claim.
In November 2000, Professor Foster presented his analysis, challenging established perceptions of literary authorship.
Foster gained prominence for using computer analysis to argue that an anonymous poem was written by William Shakespeare, leading to widespread media attention.
He applied his 'literary forensics' to identify Joe Klein as the anonymous author of 'Primary Colors' by analyzing stylistic preferences for adverbs, dashes, and adjectives.

Mary Van Dusen dedicated herself to proving Henry Livingston Jr.'s authorship, creating an extensive website with 15,000 pages of historical documents and text samples.
Don Foster's argument highlighted stylistic similarities, noting the poem's use of anapestic tetrameter, a rhythm also found in Livingston's other works.
Foster argued Livingston, portrayed as cheerful, was a more likely author than the 'curmudgeon' Moore, based on their differing personalities.
Foster further cited Livingston's stance as an independence fighter and friend to Native Americans, contrasting with Moore's alleged slave ownership.

Don Foster's theory garnered significant media attention, including features in The New York Times and television appearances.
A mock trial held in Troy, New York, where the poem was first published, resulted in a jury verdict favoring Henry Livingston Jr. as the author.
The city of Troy proclaimed 'Henry Livingston Jr. Day' following the mock trial verdict.
The claim that Henry Livingston Jr. wrote the poem gained traction, with mentions by musicians and an unambiguous credit on The Poetry Foundation website.

Seth Cowler, a dealer of historic documents, investigated Don Foster's book and became critical of the arguments against Moore's authorship, finding them dishonest.
Cowler's stylistic analysis, comparing phrases from 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' to other poems by Moore, argued that Moore's writing style was consistent with the poem.
Cowler challenged Foster's claims, citing misinterpretations, a retracted Shakespeare authorship claim, and a libel suit related to the anthrax letters.
Cowler presented evidence of two Christmas-themed poems by Moore, including 'Lines Written After a Snowstorm' from December 21, 1822, suggesting Moore's authorship is plausible.