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Thread: 1912 French cursive? Titanic letter in bottle.

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    Senior Member Ole Juul's Avatar
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    Default 1912 French cursive? Titanic letter in bottle.

    Did this message in a bottle really come from the Titanic? Quebec researchers are trying to find out.

    "I am throwing this bottle into the sea, in the middle of the Atlantic. We are due to arrive in New York in a few days," the letter reads. "If someone finds it, contact the Lefebvre family in Liévin."

    "So far, we have not caught a smoking gun of a forgery," said Nicolas Beaudry, a history and archeology professor at the Université du Québec à Rimouski, who is studying the letter.

    "Hoaxes were common at the time because the press would publish messages from the sea, and they would attract a lot of attention from readers. At first glance, it may look like cursive, early-20th-century handwriting, but there are inconsistencies with what children learned in school in France"

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    Senior Member Yazeh's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1912 French cursive? Titanic letter in bottle.

    Yeah, thanks Ole. I read this one on the French CBC. The handwriting looks quite adult. At first I wondered it could have been the mother or someone else on the boat, who had humoured the young girl. .Or simply the girl was mature beyond her years...

    In some way, I'm glad (if the story is true) that she was having fun the day before the boat sank. And if it's not true, I send her a prayer.

    They don't mention the type of ink.. or much about the bottle though...

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    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1912 French cursive? Titanic letter in bottle.

    Thanks for that; it's very interesting. I find myself hoping that the experts do authenticate it, or at least find no reason for believing that it's a hoax. But the tendency to hope that is one reason that hoaxes sometimes succeed.

    Of course, the urge to "debunk" can be equally strong, and also lead to false conclusions. It's hard just to stick with the facts, and sometimes give "I don't know" as a final answer.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

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    Senior Member Ole Juul's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1912 French cursive? Titanic letter in bottle.

    Quote Originally Posted by Yazeh View Post
    Yeah, thanks Ole. I read this one on the French CBC. The handwriting looks quite adult. At first I wondered it could have been the mother or someone else on the boat, who had humoured the young girl. .Or simply the girl was mature beyond her years...

    In some way, I'm glad (if the story is true) that she was having fun the day before the boat sank. And if it's not true, I send her a prayer.

    They don't mention the type of ink.. or much about the bottle though...
    Well he said that he hadn't found any "smoking gun of forgery" which presumably means it looks like period ink as it should be a century later, and also correct paper, and not some paper made in the wrong, or unlikely, country. But yes, it would be nice if they had said something about that. Popular (low level) press like the CBC never get too detailed and always talk down to their audience. Such is the world.

    As for grown up hand writing, I do think that a 12 year old girl was expected to write in a mature manner in those days. I believe it was common to write decent cursive as early as 4 in those days. Times have changed.

    I like your sentiment about her having fun the day before.

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    Senior Member Yazeh's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1912 French cursive? Titanic letter in bottle.

    I didn't read the CBC version. I read the radio.ca. They said they compared her handwriting to other children of the same time period and hers seemed to be more mature. And that's the element not working:

    Les chercheurs ont cependant comparé la calligraphie de la lettre avec celle d’autres écoliers français de l’époque. Elle ne semble pas coller à celle d’une jeune fille de 12 ans. C’est l’élément qui nous laisse le plus de doute, révèle Daniel Bourgault.

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