Which copy of the Gettysburg Address has 272 words?

[irshgrl500]

(10-22-2013 02:22 PM)Angela Wrote:  Ok, leaving the “safe space” in “other” – here is my first question in this forum.
Does anybody have an idea to which copy people refer when they speak of the 272 words of the Gettysburg Address?

Here is my trouble. I counted the words, and could not come up with 272. First I computer counted the transcripts which gives me 239 (Nicolay), 268 (Hay), 271 (Bancroft), 271 (Everett), 272 (Bliss).

Then I counted the words in the actual documents and the Bliss-copy turns out to be 271 as well. And most of the others don’t match the transcript either.

I also checked a few newspaper articles – none of those have 272.
How and when was 272 agreed upon – does anybody know that?

The Bliss copy is the version, which is currently displayed in the Lincoln Bedroom, at the White House, and it is 272 words, in length.

The Everett copy is also 272 words. I think the difference is in the word "battlefield" . In earlier versions, it is written as 2 words, battle field, and in the Bliss & Everett copies, it is either hyphenated, or written as one word. When it is hyphenated, it is counted as, one word.