Visual Exploration of Letters

Technical Details

Chris Culy
info@chrisculy.net
chrisculy.net
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Tools & Sources

To make these visualizations using natural language processing (NLP), I have used a variety of tools in Python, Javascript, and R. ( indicates my own work)

For NLP and statistical analysis, I have used:

The visualization is all done in Javascript using:

In addition to the NLP and visualization, I used the following tools for analysis and infrastructure:

I have also used ggplot2 and other tools from the "tidyverse" in R for exploring analyses and visualizations, although these were not used in the final analyses and visualizations shown in the videos.

Finally, the subtitles for the videos were transcribed using IBM Watson, and are displayed using my own custom Javascript.

For more information to find out how you can use visualizations with your collection of letters, contact me!

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All of the data used in these demos comes from out of copyright materials.

Letters between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning

For the letters between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, I have used the versions originally published by their son Robert in 1898, as found on Project Gutenberg (vol 1) and the Internet Archive (vol 2). I have made available a basic annotated corpus, done with the help of students at the University of Tübingen, on my corpora resources page.

Letters of Michelangelo

For the letters from Michelangelo, I have used the versions originally published in 1875 by Gaetano Milanesi, as found on Project Gutenberg. I have made available a basic annotated corpus, on my corpora resources page.

The Journal of Eleazar Ingalls

For the journal of Eleazar Ingalls, I have used the version originally published in 1852, as found on Project Gutenberg.

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