Some scholars argue that the idea of a magical being bringing gifts and good cheer can be traced all the way back to the Greek goddess Artemis. St. Nicholas, an early Christian bishop in what is now Turkey, was said to have destroyed a temple to Artemis, which he believed was idolatrous. Afterward, some of Artemis’ traits began showing up in legends as characteristics of St. Nicholas. He became known for generosity, such as giving children presents and gifting dowries to young women in need.

His feast day, Dec. 6, became a popular celebration in medieval Europe. By the modern era, images of St. Nick portrayed him as a tall, thin, stern man in a bishop’s hat who brought children both gifts and punishments. In German legend, he was accompanied by Krampus, a half-goat, half-demon creature that meted out a range of punishments to bad children, from mild to violent.

In Victorian Britain, Christmas became a festive holiday, with much feasting and drinking in addition to a religious celebration. In the early 19th century, Santa was sometimes depicted as a reveler from the lower classes – someone in need of charity, rather than a gift-giver himself.

As Christmas began to evolve into a family holiday, the image of Santa changed as well. Now, his jolliness came from the Christmas spirit, not feasting, and his rosy cheeks were the result of joy, not alcohol.

"'Twas the Night before Christmas" was instrumental in crafting the modern American version of Santa Claus. The poem describes St. Nicholas as "dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot," with twinkling eyes, rosy cheeks, a snow white beard and a round belly. Throughout the poem, Santa is depicted as a jolly elf bringing joy with his reindeer-led sleigh to both children and adults.

Thomas Nast, a Civil War-era cartoonist with the magazine Harper’s Weekly, created the enduring image of Santa Claus in a series of 33 drawings published between 1863 and 1886. The first of these drawings is inspired by the poem’s depiction of Santa carrying a sack full of presents with his sled pulled by reindeer.

Our library holds a copy of Nast’s book "Christmas Drawings for the Human Race," containing his illustrations for "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The introduction to our copy is written by Nast’s grandson, Thomas Nast St. Hill, who inscribed and donated it to the library in 1971. In some images, Nast used Santa to send a political message – such as one illustration that depicts him with toys related to battle, showing his support for Union soldiers.

Authorship debate

Two hundred years after the poem debuted, one fundamental question remains: Who is its true author?

The poem first appeared anonymously in a New York newspaper, the Troy Sentinel, on Dec, 23, 1823, and was reprinted many times. The New York Book of Poetry cited Moore, the 19th-century biblical scholar, as the author in 1837, and in 1844 he included it in his book of poems. Several years after the poem’s publication in the Sentinel, editor Orville Holley wrote that the author was "by birth and residence [belonging] to the city of New York, and that he is a gentleman of more merit as a scholar and writer than many of more noisy pretensions." That’s an apt description of Moore, according to Niels Sonne, a librarian at General Theological Seminary in the 20th century who published an article about the authorship controversy. Moore was officially cited as the author in The New York Book of Poetry in 1837.

But the descendants of Henry Livingston Jr., a poet and farmer from an influential New York family, argue that he wrote the famous poem as early as 1808 and was never properly credited. Relatives of Livingston have claimed that his manuscript was brought to Wisconsin, where it was destroyed in a fire in 1847. His defenders point to similarities with other poetry and witty satires he wrote, and argue that his fun personality was much more in keeping with "A Visit from St. Nicholas" than Moore’s. His grandson, William Sturgus Thomas, spent years collecting evidence in his grandfather’s favor, and his papers are housed at the New York Historical Society.

The story continues

Every December, the Seminary library displays all the original copies of the poem we own in addition to more modern retellings and illustrations. Our copy of Moore’s 1844 "Poems" has one significant detail: it’s signed by Moore to the Reverend Samuel Seabury, who was a professor at General Theological Seminary and also the grandson of the first Episcopal American bishop, Samuel Seabury. The inscription says: "To the Reverend Dr. Seabury, with the respect of his friend the author, July 1844."

The library also owns Moore’s rare follow-up work, titled "The Night after Christmas," which was published after his death in 1863. In this version, the children are visited by their doctor after having too many treats delivered by Santa – and the physician shares some similarities with Santa himself:

"His eyes how they twinkled! Had the doctor got merry? His cheeks looked like Port and his breath smelt of Sherry…

But a wink of his eye when he physicked our Fred Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread…"

Links

• "Who Wrote 'Twas the Night Before Christmas? A Literary Debate" by Jennifer Ciotta, Literary Traveler, December 1,2017
• "Who really wrote 'The Night Before Xmas'" by Frederick M. Winship, UPI, December 5, 2002
• The Trial Before Christmas 2013, 2014, created by Jack Casey and Duncan Crary. 
       The first mock trial took place in Troy, New York, where the poem was originally printed in 1823. The trial featured lawyers, plaintiffs, the judge, witnesses back from the dead, and a room full of spectators. After the 90 minute trial the jury returned a deadlocked verdict 3 to 3. So no decision in 2013. The trial engaged folks in local Troy history and created holiday spirit.
       The 2014 trial, held in the Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy, watched by folks in the courtroom, strollers outside on a big screen, and around the world on YouTube. The two-hour trial yielded a unanimous verdict this time: Henry Livingston.
       The Trial Before Christmas website includes information about the trial, videos to watch, and more. 
• Hallmark made a 2-hour Christmas movie, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, loosely based on the trial.
• 'Night Before Christmas' Trial: 'Twas the Verdict Surprising?, by Jenny Tsay, Esq, FindLaw, Last updated March 21, 2019,
• Exhibit: Revisiting "A Visit from St. Nicholas", New York State Library, December 2015
• "The Night After Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore, FreshReads

For further reading

Who Wrote "The Night Before Christmas"? Analyzing the Clement Clarke Moore vs. Henry Livingston Question by MacDonald P. Jackson, McFarland & Company, 2016

The author, emeritus professor of English, University of Auckland, and fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, carried out a thorough study of both Moore and Livingston's work. He endeavored to discover the characteristics that distinguish each author's work and then to determine where this poem fits. He did not have a pre-determined opinion.

His exhaustive study concludes, "These elements of composition are not readily subject to imitation. Their rates of use are largely beyond a writer's conscious control. They distinguish Moore's verse from Livingston's and they classify 'The Night Before Christmas' with the latter. The reasonable conclusion is that 'The Night Before Christmas' was composed by Henry Livingston."

Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous by Don Foster, Henry Holt & Company, 2000

The author, professor of English at Vassar College, has helped with dozens of investigations of anonymous and pseudonymous writings in criminal and civil cases. This question is addressed in the final chapter of the book. 

Foster's account is more narrative about both possible authors, written in an entertaining style, with less textual analysis than the above book. However, he does come to the same conclusion, as he says, "Moore's supporters always point to the form of this anapestic 'Pig and Rooster' fable as evidence that the Professor really was capable of writing a children's poem like 'A visit from St. Nicholas.' Major Livingston's heirs point to the content as evidence that he couldn't have. Major Livingston's heirs are right." Foster's work has served to encourage others to do even deeper textual analysis.

The Fight for "The Night": Resolving the Authorship Dispute over "The Night Before Christmas" by Tom A. Jerman, self-published, 2023

The author, a retired lawyer with some journalistic experience, seems to have set out to defend Moore's authorship, refuting Don Foster in particular. He carried out exhaustive research on the supposed authors and used textual analysis not available to the earlier investigators. His conclusion is that the Livingston claims are without merit.

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By Melissa Chim, Adjunct Professor and Reference Librarian, General Theological Seminary. The Conversation, December 16, 2021. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 4.0 International license.

General Theological Seminary is a member of the Association of Theological Schools. The ATS is a funding partner of The Conversation U.S.

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