Fget Wrdl! Cn y crac ɖ Dicinz Cod? An IT wrcr fṛm Caḷforńa jst dd
(Transcription of a Guardian article of 7 February 2022)
Ɖ raitr’z arcêic śorthand hz bafld xprts fr ovr a snć̣ri. So ɖe lōnćt a dsîḟrñcomṗtiśn fr fanz – wɖ stunñ rzults ɖt cast ny lît on hiz luvlîf n fnanśl peṛl
Sîmn Uzbōrn, Munde 7 Febrri 2022
Dspt ol ɖ prisiźn h bròt t ber on hiz intric̣t plots, Ćarlz Dicinz wz a ntorịsli mesi raitr. Hiz mańscripts r fl v ñci splojz, wɖ bérli leɉbl olṭreśnz cramd in btwn scrōld, slǒpñ lînz. Wrs stl wz hiz luv v a tîp v śorthand detñ fṛm ɖ 1700z. T ɖs, h add hiz ǒn ceotic modiḟceśnz t criet ẃt h cōld “ɖ devl’z handraitñ”.
Fond v puzlz n codz, ɖ gret Victorịn raitr yzd ɖz tîm-sevñ hîṛglifics t mc nots n copiz v hiz letrz n dokmnts, rīmz v ẃć h brnt. Acdemics r stl tôlñ t dsîfr 10 śorthand mańscripts ɖt svîvd. Fget Wrdl. Ɖs z ɖ Dicinz Cod. N fr a loñ tîm, it hd sīmd uncrac̣bl.
Last yir, ɖ stumt xprts bhnd ẃt z noun az ɖ Dicinz Cod project md a crî fr hlp. Ɖe pt ǎt a cōl fr aṃćr sluʈs t entr a comṗtiśn, ɖ tasc biyñ t trnscrîb wn v ɖz baḟlñ dokmnts: a misṭri letr ɖt hz bn cept fr mor ɖn a snć̣ri in a Ny Yorc lîbrri. It z scrōld in blu ñc on pepr bẹrñ ɖ letrhed v Taṿstoc Hǎs, ɖ Lundn hom ẃr Dicinz rout Blīc Hǎs.
Ẃn ɖ comṗtiśn opnd last Octobr wɖ a £300 prîz, ɖ not wz dǎnlodd 1,000 tîmz in ʈri dez. Ptisipnts wr invîtd t yz gîdz t bṛcigṛfi, ɖ nǎ obṣlīt śorthand sistm ɖt Dicinz hd adaptd. In ɖ semi-ōṭbạgraficl Devid Coṗfīld, bṛcigṛfi z dscrîbd az a “savij steṇgrafic misṭri”.
Cmpetitrz olso hd axes t a not-bc in ẃć Dicinz xplend, wɖ caṛcṭristic amḅgywti, sm v hiz ǒn simblz. H yzd “@” fr “abt” n an anğlr cnd v “t” t mīn “xtrordnri”. In ɖ end, onli 16 ppl, fṛm ol ovr ɖ wrld, wr ebl t sbmit s’luśnz. Nn manijd ɖ intîr ʈñ.
Ẃn Dicinz sat dǎn t cmpoz ɖ Taṿstoc letr, h wd hv bn aḿzd t cnsidr ɖt, olmst 165 yirz lêtr, it wd b pld t pìsz, endlisli aṇlîzd n ultiṃtli dsîfrd bî, amñ uɖrz, a 20-yir-old stydnt fṛm Ohîo cōld Cén Cox. “I ʈt it wz mînd-boġlñ ɖt ɖr wz smʈñ h’d ritn ɖt nbdi hd réd yt,” sz Cox, a fan v puzlz, Dicinz n īvn śorthand, hu studiz cogṇtiv sayns at ɖ Yṇvrṣti v Vjińa.
So ẃt dz ɖ Taṿstoc letr se? Sadli, it z nt nots fr – or īvn part v – a loñ-lost śort stori, olɖo ɖr z hop ɖt ɖ uɖr dokmnts me includ fix́n. Ẃt it dz rvil z a sūṭbli conṿlutd têl v a cani biznismn hu hz rīćt a frōt juñćr in hiz luvlîf n litrri c’rir, n z nǎ līnñ on hiz cnx́nz n ɖ corts fr hlp.
“Ɖ dīcodrz riyli hv hlpt t cast lît on ɖs trubld pirịd in Dicinz’z lîf,” sz Dr. Clér Wŭd, lecćrr in Victorịn litṛćr at ɖ Yṇvrṣti v Lstr. Wŭd līdz ɖ dīcodñproject wɖ Hygo Bolz, pṛfesr v Ñgliś at ɖ Yṇvrṣti v Foggia in Iṭli. Aftr a leñʈi proses v pìsñ ɖ entriz tgɖr n crosćecñ wɖ uɖr sorsz, ɖ per hv a transcript ɖt z 70% cmplit.
“I fīl oblîjd,” ɖ letr bginz, “ɖo vri rluctntli, t apil t y in prsn.” Ʈri nyli trnzletd frezz wr vîtl in unḍstandñ ẃt cmz nxt. Wn slūʈ ddyst ɖt “HW” rfŕd t Hǎshold Wrdz, a piriodicl Dicinz eḍtd n co-ǒnd wɖ ɖ publiśr Bradḅri n Evnz. Anɖr linct ɖ simbl fr “rnd” t Ol ɖ Yir Rnd, a ny jrnl Dicinz fǎndd in 1859 n ǒnd himslf aftr fōlñ ǎt wɖ Bradḅri n Evnz.
In anɖr brecʈru, wn solvr trnzletd tū scriblz az “Asnśn De”, a Crisćn fīst ɖt fōlz 40 dez aftr Īstr. Ɖs faṣnetd Wŭd n Bolz bcz Asnśn De in 1859 cǒinsîdd wɖ a pirịd in ẃć w nǒ Dicinz wz atmtñ t incorṗret Hǎshold Wrdz intu Ol ɖ Yir Rnd. Dd ɖ letr hv smʈñ t d wɖ ɖs trnziśn?
Ɖz cluz śed lît on anɖr letr, ritn in loñhand forćṇtli, ɖt z cept at ɖ sem Ny Yorc lîbrri. It’s an apoḷji t Dicinz fṛm ɖ manijr v ɖ Tîmz abt a rǎ ɖt hd iruptd ẃn Dicinz asct ɖ nyzpepr t print an advrt alrtñ hiz xistñ – n ptnśl ny – rīdrz t Ol ɖ Yir Rnd. It mnśnz anɖr letr, wn Dicinz hd ritn t Jon Ʈadịs D’len, editr v ɖ Tîmz. Untl nǎ, ɖs letr wz asymd lost. Bt w nǎ nǒ it wz ɖ Taṿstoc scrōl. So ẃt dd it se?
It’s importnt frst t unḍstand ẃr Dicinz wz in 1859. It wz a trici yir fr ɖ raitr, ɖen 47, dspt ɖ fem h hd ŕnd wɖ Blīc Hǎs n Devid Coṗfīld. A yir rlịr, hiz marij hd fōḷn apart amd s’leśs rūmrz v an afer wɖ an actris. Dicinz publiśt a fyrịs stetmnt in Hǎshold Wrdz, dscrîbñ ɖ rūmrz az “most grosli fōls, most monstṛs, n most cruwl-involvñ”. Ẃn h asct Bradḅri n Evnz t print ɖ stetmnt in Punć, ẃć it olso publiśt, ɖ cumṗni rfyzd. Ɖer rleśnśp fél apart n ɖ publiśr dclînd an ofr fṛm Dicinz t bai its śer v Hǎshold Wrdz.
Ɖ fōlǎt promtd Dicinz t plan hiz ǒn jrnl. Bt it wz a risci muv bcz, ẃl s’xesfl, h wz in fnanśl trubl. H hd a dvors, a rūmrd mistris, n 10 ćildṛn t pe fr. “H wz,” Bolz sz, “a s’lebṛti on ɖ rops.” Hǎshold Wrdz, ẃć Dicinz lōnćt in 1850, wz a vîtl sors v incm n a śopwindo fr hiz wrc. It hd tecn of in 1854 wɖ ɖ sirịlîześn v hiz novl Hard Tîmz.
Dicinz wz despṛt t hold on t hiz rīdrz bt Bradḅri n Evnz hd uɖr îdīaz. Ɖe wontd t cīp Hǎshold Wrdz alîv wɖt him – n sùd t privnt him fṛm gvñ ɖ impreśn ɖ maġzīn wz clozñ. Hvr, a juj rūld in Dicinz’z fevr: yes, h cd anǎns ɖ swić, az loñ az h sd Hǎshold Wrdz wz biyñ “discntinyd bî him” n nt ɖ publiśr.
A trîumfnt Dicinz yzd ɖs frêz in ɖ advrt intndd fr ɖ Tîmz, bt a clarc rjctd it. Un’wer v ɖ līgl rūlñ, ɖ clarc flt ɖ advrt gev ɖ fōls impreśn ɖt Hǎshold Wrdz wz indd biyñ śut dǎn. “A cansld advrt in ɖ Tîmz cem az a nasti s’prîz t Dicinz,” Bolz sz, “n nīdd t b recṭfaid.”
Ɖ Taṿstoc letr z, w nǎ nǒ, ɖ raitr’z despṛt bid t resk ɖ sićueśn bî apilñ t ɖ editr, an aqentns. Dicinz rfŕz t ɖ advrt “anǎnsñ ɖt, aftr Asnśn De, Hǎshold Wrdz wl b discntinyd bî m … [It] wz rfyzd n snt bac wɖ a mesij ɖt ɖs ptiklr wz untru n unfer.” H mnśnz ɖ juj’z rūlñ apruvñli, seyñ h cn si no “sns or rīzn” fr ɖ rjx́n.
Ɖ Tîmz swiftli apoḷjîzd n riinstetd ɖ advrt. Dicinz hd wún. Ol ɖ Yir Rnd, ẃć h lōnćt wɖ ɖ frst instōlmnt v A Têl v Tū Sitiz, wz a snseśn. A yir lêtr, it sirịlîzd Gret Xpcteśnz. Mnẃl, Bradḅri n Evnz feld t sev Hǎshold Wrdz. Ẃn ɖe ōx́nd its tîtl, Dicinz snapt it p at a frax́n v ɖ prîs h hd orijiṇli ofrd, ćrliśli adñ ɖ lîn “Wɖ Ẃć Z Incorṗretd Hǎshold Wrdz” t ɖ cuvr v Ol ɖ Yir Rnd.
Ɖ acdemics hv bn stund t lrn abt Dicinz’z ruʈlis biznisdīlñz – n aḿzd bî hiz līgl dubl standdz. “I mīn, h’z yẓ́li sceɖñ abt jujz,” Bolz sz. “N hir h z qotñ ɖ juj, nemñ him in ɖ letr, n seyñ ẃt a gret gai h z fr s’portñ him.” Yt Wŭd snsz vulnṛbiḷti tù. “Dicinz z rîdñ hî,” ś sz, “bt olso fīlñ ɖz prsnl n pṛfeśnl preśrz n trayñ t cīp ol ɖ plets spinñ.”
Ɖ £300 prîz wz wún bî Śên Bagz, a Caḷforńn IT wrcr n cód inʈyziast, hu solvd ɖ most simblz. “Aftr gtñ mostli C gredz in litṛćr,” h sz, “I nvr dremt eniʈñ I’d evr d wd b v inṭrest t Dicinz scolrz.”
Cox, hu az a ćîld rout codd letrz t frendz aftr biyñ inspîrd bî a bc abt Britn’z wortîm codbrecr Aḷn Tyrñ, cntribytd s’luśnz includñ ɖ wrdz “untru n unfer”. H sz: “Ẃn I trnd it in, I ʈt I wz on ɖ rît trac. Bt ɖen I ʈt ɖe mt gt a tűn v letrz n b lîc, ‘Wel, most v ɖz r fîn – bt ɖs dyd’z jst lcs lîc ɖ plot v Līġli Blond.’”
Ɖ Dicinz Cod project, ẃć z fundd bî ɖ guvnmnt’s Arts n Hymaṇtiz Rsrćcaunsl, wl run fr anɖr yir. Wŭd n Bolz wont t gro ɖer band v sluʈs t hlp trnscrîb mor dokmnts, sm mć mesịr ɖn ɖ Taṿstoc letr. Wn siriz v nots z hedd Aṇcdot, in loñhand. “Nǎ,” sz Bolz, xîtmnt bildñ in hiz vôs, “I ʈnc ɖt cd b Dicinz telñ a stori w’v nvr hŕd.”
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Mor dītelz abt ɖ Dicinz Cod project hir.
