VARIOUS: Abraham Lincoln letter mystery 'almost certainly' solved, experts say

Press/Media: Research

Description

Now, researchers at the University of Manchester and Aston University in the U.K. have deployed cutting-edge technology in an attempt to find out who actually wrote the letter. Harnessing a technique called N-gram tracing that searches for linguistic sequences, the team developed a series of computer programs to analyze hundreds of texts from Lincoln and Hay.

Period20 Jul 2017 → 20 Jul 2017

Media coverage

5

Media coverage

  • TitleLincoln's civil war letter "almost certainly" written by secretary: UK experts
    Media name/outletXinhua
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryChina
    Date20/07/17
    DescriptionLONDON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- British forensic language experts revealed Thursday that one of the most famous letters to emerge during the American civil war had almost certainly not been written by Abraham Lincoln but his secretary John Hay.

    The University of Manchester said the Lincoln mystery had been solved using a technique which unmasked J.K. Rowling, who penned the Harry Potter stories.
    URLnews.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-07/20/c_136459773.htm
    PersonsAndrea Nini
  • TitleCivil War-era letter from Abraham Lincoln to a mother whose five sons were killed was actually written by his SECRETARY, researchers say
    Media name/outletMail Online
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date20/07/17
    DescriptionA historic letter said to be penned by then-President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 sparked decades of debate after some historians claimed it may, in fact, have been written by his secretary John Hay.

    It’s a hauntingly powerful consolation written to a woman named Lydia Bixby, whose five sons were killed while fighting in the Civil War, and is said to be one of the best letters ever written in the history of the English language.
    URLwww.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4715698/1864-letter-Abe-Lincoln-written-SECRETARY.html
    PersonsAndrea Nini
  • TitleAbraham Lincoln letter mystery solved 150 years later
    Media name/outletNew York Post
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date20/07/17
    DescriptionForensic linguists say they have likely unraveled the mystery surrounding a famous Civil War-era letter, long believed to have been written by President Abraham Lincoln.

    Historians have argued for years about the famed 1864 “Bixby letter” that was sent to Lydia Bixby, a mother in Boston grieving the loss of her five sons in the war. The beautifully written letter was signed A. Lincoln, although it has been suggested that the note was actually written by John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary.
    URLnypost.com/2017/07/20/abraham-lincoln-letter-mystery-solved-150-years-later/
    PersonsAndrea Nini
  • TitleAbraham Lincoln's Bixby Letter Mystery Finally Solved After 150 Years
    Media name/outletNewsweek
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date20/07/17
    DescriptionWhat do J.K. Rowling and Abraham Lincoln have in common, other than a penchant for producing quotable lines? Both have (probably) been unmasked for literary deception using similar forensic linguistics techniques, according to a team of academics investigating a letter from the president.

    In November 1864, a woman named Lydia Bixby received a letter purportedly written by President Abraham Lincoln telling her that her sons had died in the Civil War.
    URLwww.newsweek.com/abraham-lincoln-bixby-letter-john-hay-jk-rowling-639788
    PersonsAndrea Nini
  • TitleAbraham Lincoln letter mystery 'almost certainly' solved, experts say
    Media name/outletFox News
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date20/07/17
    DescriptionNow, researchers at the University of Manchester and Aston University in the U.K. have deployed cutting-edge technology in an attempt to find out who actually wrote the letter. Harnessing a technique called N-gram tracing that searches for linguistic sequences, the team developed a series of computer programs to analyze hundreds of texts from Lincoln and Hay.
    URLwww.foxnews.com/tech/2017/07/20/abraham-lincoln-letter-mystery-almost-certainly-solved-experts-say.html
    PersonsAndrea Nini

Keywords

  • linguistics
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Bixby letter