Long-Hidden Text Brings New Understanding to the Origins of "A Christmas Carol"

When unredacted phrases, style comparisons, and personality are all considered, it’s abundantly clear that Dickens, having markedly different sensibilities, heavily re-worked the Whittiers' text.”
— Stephen Sakellarios

PORTLAND, ME, UNITED STATES, December 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A new book by researcher Stephen Sakellarios, “The Sacred Carol: Rediscovering the True Authorship of a Christmas Classic,” presents compelling evidence that the origins of “A Christmas Carol” reach far deeper than the traditional account suggests. Based on a meticulous reconstruction of Dickens’ handwritten manuscript—which contains a surprisingly large number of heavily redacted phrases—the book uncovers layers of text that appear to come from an earlier, previously unrecognized source.

Sakellarios spent two and a half months digitally transcribing all 66 pages of the manuscript. Using graphics enhancement, AI-assisted image interpretation, and comparative literary analysis, he isolated Dickens’ redaction strokes and reconstructed the underlying text. This combined method revealed which letters Dickens had intentionally obscured, making it possible to reconstruct each original passage. When these restored passages were compared with the identified works of American writers Mathew Franklin Whittier and Abby Poyen Whittier, striking stylistic and thematic parallels emerged.

The book traces these findings across the novella: passages in which Dickens appears to revise or overwrite spiritual metaphors; scenes where recovered wording reveals deeper emotional resonance; and redacted paragraphs whose reconstructed phrasing closely matches the Whittiers’ established literary voices. Additional analysis of tone, language patterns, and narrative structure further supports the presence of multiple authors working at markedly different conceptual and emotional depths. Finally, Dickens’ own patterns of revision are examined, revealing that he was in fact copying over passages that were unfamiliar to him.

Rather than portraying “A Christmas Carol” as a work written in a single burst of inspiration in late 1843, “The Sacred Carol” argues that Dickens was adapting and revising a manuscript not originally his. The recovered text suggests a richer creative lineage—one that has remained unnoticed for 180 years.

“The Sacred Carol” is available in paperback on Amazon and in hardcover directly through IngramSpark.

About the Author
Stephen Sakellarios has compiled an extensive archive of Mathew Franklin Whittier’s writings and has worked extensively with relevant 19th-century periodicals, manuscript reconstruction techniques, and comparative literary analysis. His research invites a fresh examination of long-standing assumptions about literary authorship and the creation of beloved classics.

Stephen Sakellarios
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M.F.W. Books

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