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A revered poem, modernized

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" original may soon be on the Web
Times Union
Published 5:48 pm, Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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  • Executive director of the Troy Public Library Paul Hicok calls up the digitized version of  "T'was the Night Before Christmas" in The Troy Sentinel newspaper of Dec. 23, 1823 at the library Wednesday Nov. 14, 2012. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union) Photo: John Carl D'Annibale / 00020102A
    Executive director of the Troy Public Library Paul Hicok calls up the digitized version of "T'was the Night Before Christmas" in The Troy Sentinel newspaper of Dec. 23, 1823 at the library Wednesday Nov. 14, 2012. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

 

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TROY — Viewing an original copy of the famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" – also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" – is not easy. Only four are known to exist.

Appearing anonymously in the Troy Sentinel on Dec. 23, 1823, under the headline "Account Of A Visit From St. Nicholas," Clement Clarke Moore's poem has become a staple of American Christmas celebrations. Now, Gramercy Communications and the Troy Public Library have taken the first step in making the poem's original appearance available worldwide.

Tom Nardacci, owner of Gramercy Communications, decided to fund the digitalization of the poem to mark his company's relocation this year from Albany to 225 River St. in Troy, which was the Troy Sentinel's home for the 10 years it was published semiweekly from 1823 to 1832.

"One of the reasons I moved to the building was because it was a newspaper building," said Nardacci, "Our business is so intertwined with the media it made a lot of sense to be in the building," said Nardacci, who majored in history at Syracuse University.

Nardacci donated $2,836 to Troy Public Library to digitize the complete 10-volume set of the Troy Sentinel into a PDF format. The grant covered the costs of having Focused Technologies of Menands and Kirtas Technologies of Victor in Ontario County undertake the project.

Focused Technologies brought Kirtas Technologies into the project for its expertise in working with and preserving fragile documents.

All the scans are searchable by keywords, Nardacci said.

At Troy Public Library recently, Paul Hicok, the library director, showed the bound volume of the newspaper's Dec. 23, 1823, edition and the world-famous poem. Then Hicok switched on a library computer that downloaded the PDF form of the same edition. The search for "St. Nicholas" brought up the poem.

"This is the one that carries the first printing of 'A Visit From St. Nicholas,'" Hicok said, looking at the printed broadsheet page and then the digitized copy.

The library's computers are the only ones at present with access to the PDF, but Hicok is working on obtaining funds to place the 10 volumes online so anyone in the world can access the Troy Sentinel.

"Right now, we're talking to the Upper Hudson Library System," Hicok said about getting the computer operation in place to post the terabyte, which is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes of data created from scanning the Troy Sentinel. "It's a lot of data," Hicok said.

For now, Hicok said, the way to view the original page of the poem in the Troy Sentinel is to visit the Troy Public Library or the State Library in Albany. The other two copies are privately owned.

The Troy Public Library's newspaper holdings are rich in publications from the 19th century, when the city boomed along with industrial expansion. Whether it was the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, supplying the Union army during the Civil War or contributing to late 19th-century industrial growth, Troy newspapers documented the era.

"Going forward, it's going to be a challenge to us," Hicok said. "We would like to convert a lot of our newspapers to digital format."

kcrowe@timesunion.com • 518-454-5084 • @KennethCrowe

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