Herman Melville

Herman Melville (August 1 1819 – September 28 1891) was an American novelist, essayist, and poet. During his own lifetime his early novels, South Seas adventures, were quite popular, but his audience declined later in his life. By the time of his death he had nearly been forgotten, but his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, was "rediscovered" in following years and he is now widely esteemed as one of the most important figures in American literature.

Life

Early life

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819 as the third child to Allan and Maria Gansevoort Melville, and received his early education in that city. One of his grandfathers, Major Thomas Melville, participated in the Boston Tea Party. Another was General Peter Gansevoort who was acquainted with James Fenimore Cooper and defended Fort Stanwix in 1777.

Related Topics:
New York City - August 1 - 1819 - Thomas Melville - Boston Tea Party - Peter Gansevoort - James Fenimore Cooper - Fort Stanwix - 1777

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His father had described the young Melville as being somewhat gay as a child and Melville was also weakened by the scarlet fever, permanently affecting his eyesight. The family importing business went bankrupt in 1830, and the family went to Albany, New York, with Herman entering Albany Academy. After the death of his father in 1832, the family (with eight children) moved to the village of Lansingburgh on the Hudson River. Herman and his brother Gansevoort were forced to work to help support the family. There Herman remained until 1835, when he attended the Albany Classical School for some months.

Related Topics:
Scarlet fever - 1830 - Albany, New York - Albany Academy - 1832 - Lansingburgh - Hudson River - Albany Classical School

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Travels and wandering

Herman's roving disposition, and a desire to support himself independently of family assistance, led him to seek work as a surveyer on the Erie Canal. This effort failed, and his brother helped him get a job as a cabin boy in a New York vessel bound for Liverpool. He made the voyage, visited London, and returned in the same ship. 'Redburn: His First Voyage,' published in 1849, is partly founded on the experiences of this trip.

Related Topics:
Erie Canal - Cabin boy - Liverpool

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A good part of the succeeding three years, from 1837 to 1840, was occupied with school-teaching.

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It may have been the reading of Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast which revived the spirit of adventure in Melville's breast. That book was published in 1840, and was at once talked of everywhere. Melville must have read it at the

Related Topics:
Richard Henry Dana - Two Years Before the Mast

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time, mindful of his own experience as a sailor. At any rate, he once more signed a ship's articles, and on January 1, 1841,

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sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts harbour in the whaler Acushnet, bound for the Pacific Ocean and the sperm fishery. He has left very little direct information as to the events of this eighteen months' cruise, although his whaling romance, 'Moby-Dick; or, the Whale,' probably gives many pictures of life on board the Acushnet.

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Literary success

Melville decided to abandon the vessel on reaching the Marquesas Islands; and the narrative of 'Typee' and its sequel, 'Omoo,' tell this tale.

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After a sojourn at the Society Islands, Melville shipped

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for Honolulu. There he remained for four months, employed as a

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clerk. He joined the crew of the American frigate United States,

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which reached Boston, stopping on the way at one of the Peruvian

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ports, in October of 1844. Once more was a narrative of his

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experiences to be preserved in 'White Jacket; or, the World in a

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Man-of-War.' Thus, of Melville's four most important books,

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three, 'Typee,' 'Omoo,' and 'White-Jacket,' are directly auto

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biographical, and 'Moby-Dick' is partially so; while the less

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important 'Redburn' is between the two classes in this respect.

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Melville married Miss Elizabeth Shaw (daughter of noted jurist, Lemuel Shaw) on August 4,

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1847, in Boston, whereupon his nautical wanderings were brought to a

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conclusion. Mr. and Mrs. Melville resided in New York City until

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1850, when they purchased Arrowhead, a farmhouse in

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Pittsfield, Massachusetts (which is today a museum).

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Here Melville remained for thirteen years, occupied with his

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writing, and managing his farm. An article in Putnam's Monthly

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entitled 'I and My Chimney,' another called 'October Mountain,'

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and the introduction to the 'Piazza Tales,' present faithful

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pictures of Arrowhead and its surroundings.

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While at Pittsfield, Mr. Melville was induced to enter the lecture field. From 1857 to 1860 he filled many engagements in the lyceums, chiefly speaking of his adventures in the South Seas.

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Withdrawal and later life

After an illness that lasted a number of months, Herman Melville died at his home in New York City early on the morning of September 28, 1891. He was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

Related Topics:
September 28 - 1891 - Woodlawn Cemetery - The Bronx - New York

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In his later life, his works no longer accessible to a broad audience, he was not able to make money from writing. He depended on his wife's family for money, and later became a New York City Customs agent. His short novel Billy Budd, an unpublished manuscript at the time of his death, was later published successfully and was turned into an opera by Benjamin Britten.

Related Topics:
New York City - Billy Budd - Opera - Benjamin Britten

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