As noted: “The simple fact is spelling has never been one of my strong points – I sometimes seem to follow Thomas Jefferson’s “advice” or whatever: Those who spell words only one way lack imagination.”
In fact, sometimes when typing I will look at the screen and a word I know well just all of a sudden looks “wrong” and I have to check it. I somewhat envy Matthew’s spelling as in the letters and such of his I have he seems to have the gift of the right “spelling genes.” For the rest of us, two thumbs up for Spell Checkers !!
This thread, however, seems to be going in a direction that may not contribute to illuminating an aspect of the Dutchman legend, i.e., Ely’s book. The purpose of the thread was simply to share some of my good fortune concerning information/data that has come my way.
What is important to me is the data, e.g., the letters from William Morrow and Co. and from John Wiley and Sons, and/or info. from the Ely family. If my spelling has raised an issue or caused a difficulty all I can say is it not the first time. I regret if it has caused any miscommunication.
At this point I feel it is probably best to close the thread in a day or so. For as we all know the Dutchman has been obfuscated more than enough. It does not need more.
Wish I had stayed the course of not posting again. (A path I will now follow assiduously.)
TE Glover
PS: Some might be interested in the below (it provides a bit of solace for some of us):
Genetic influences on reading and spelling ability and disability:
Abstract
The reading skills of 285 pairs of 13-year-old twins drawn from the general population were studied. The twins were independently tested using standardized measures of intelligence, reading and spelling ability. The genetic contribution to reading ability was assessed by examination of correlations in monozygotic (MZ) and same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins, and by analysing differences between MZ and DZ twins in concordance of reading disability rates. The results suggested that, at this age, genetic factors play only a moderate role in general reading backwardness or specific reading ******ation. However, when spelling ability was investigated, a heritability of 0.53 was obtained, increasing to 0.75 when intelligence was controlled. Strong genetic influences on spelling were also found when concordance rates for spelling disability were compared for MZ and DZ pairs. (
A twin study of genetic influence... [J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1987] - PubMed - NCBI)
Abstract
The reading skills of 285 pairs of 13-year-old twins drawn from the general population were studied. The twins were independently tested using standardized measures of intelligence, reading and spelling ability. The genetic contribution to reading ability was assessed by examination of correlations in monozygotk: (MZ) and student-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins, and by analysing differences bi Mccen MZ and DZ twins in concordance of reading disability rates. The results suggested that, at this age, genetic factors play only a moderate role in general reading backwardness or specific reading ******ation. However, when spelling ability was investigated, a heritability of 0.53 was obtained, increasing to 0.75 when intelligence was controlled. Strong genetic influences on spelling were also found when concordance rates for spelling disability were compared for MZ and DZ pairs. (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1987.tb00207.x/abstract)
I believe many of the posters here might believe the same agenda is at play. On the other hand, I'm personally happy that you have stated your "final feelings on the issue."
