University of Virginia Library

Analysis by samples

Obviously, it is only possible to show as illustrations a few of the results
obtained from the process of analysis. These are intended to show how the
method works and to indicate the outcome of the tests. There may be some
unease that what is being reported is based on samples of authors only. But

[ILLUSTRATION]

FIGURE 4. Shakespeare's dedications to Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece
followed by the Elegye dedication.

FIGURE 5. Twenty-four sentences from Venus and Adonis followed by 20 sentences
from the Elegye.

if these consistently give the same result, whether it be that the samples are
indistinguishable or distinguishable, it is fair to ask how many samples would
become "satisfactory" to the doubtful? Ten—twenty—fifty? There has to be
a point at which the accumulated evidence becomes overwhelmingly persuasive.
Readers disinclined to trust sampling should ask themselves whether

[ILLUSTRATION]

FIGURE 6. Fifteen sentences from the Elegye followed by 30 sentences from The
Tempest.

it is mere chance or co-incidence that the two Dedications which were signed
by William Shakespeare can instantly be shown to be consistent; and then,
whether it is equally co-incidental that they should happen to be indistinguishable
from samples from his first poem and last play but distinguishable
from samples by other writers, like Christopher Marlowe and John Ford.

It would be disquieting, though, for literary scholarship if this investigation
were to seem to set itself up in opposition to traditional methods. As
Morton has written, "Cusum analysis is not some isolated touchstone of
authenticity".[25] In fact, cusum analysis works best when able to support an
attribution made by literary scholars, and this it has done many times. In
addition to literary attributions already cited, Donald Foster's conclusion
with regard to the authorship of "Twas the Night Before Christmas"[26] is
entirely supported by my cusum investigation of that poem's authorship.

Naturally, most important for a positive attribution of the Funerall
Elegye is the virtual consensus that it was John Ford who wrote the poem.
This provided a new putative author to work on. Cusum analysis showed
first that Ford's writing was consistent by the habit of using words of 2, 3 or
4 letters (qs234lw). Then, samples of Ford were shown to be consistent with
samples of the Elegye (fig. 7). Four dedications by Ford can be also shown
to be perfectly consistent with each other and with the poem (fig. 8). In both

[ILLUSTRATION]

FIGURE 7. Combined sample of 42 sentences from John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
with 20 sentences from the Elegye inserted.

FIGURE 8. Twenty sentences from the Elegye followed by John Ford's dedications to
The Lover's Melancholy, Perkin Warbeck, Love's Sacrifice, and The Lady's Trial.

these charts, there is a smooth tracking of the graph-lines and no separation:
Ford's writing and that of the Elegye's author are indistinguishable.