Herman MelvilleAmerican novelist, short story writer, essayist, and

poet

Biography of Born in NYC on August 1,

1819

Third child of Allan and Maria Melvill

When Allan Melvill died, Maria added an “e” to their last name

Grandson of Major Thomas Melvill, an honored survivor of the Boston Tea Party, and the subject of Oliver Wendell Holmes’s poem, “The Last Leaf”.

Education and PovertyNew York Male School, now known as Columbia

Preparatory School

Melville’s father couldn’t afford NYMS, and moved his family to Albany to go into the fur business

Because of the strain of the War of 1812, Melville’s father had to declare bankruptcy

At the age of 12, Melville’s father died and left his family penniless

Ended up at Albany Academy

Acushnet On January 3, 1841, he sailed from New Bedford,

Massachusetts on the whaler, Acushnet

Melville notes that his life began the day he set sail on Acushnet

Moby Dick tells many of Melville’s stories while on Acushnet

Melville deserted the Acushnet, and lived among Typee cannibals, which inspired the story, “Typee”

“Typee” had a hard time getting published, but once it did, it became an overnight sensation

Due to the popularity of “Typee”, he wrote the sequel “Omoo”

MarriagesMelville married

Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court

Their anniversary is August 4, 1847

The couple honeymooned in Canada

They had four children

Purchased a farm house called Arrowhead

Melville’s BFFWhile at Arrowhead,

Melville befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne served as Melville’s only friend

Melville even went as far as dedicating Moby Dick to Hawthorne

HERMAN MELVILLE CRAZYOn September 8, 1852, The New York Day Book

published the above headline and attacked Melville’s work

He was called a raving madman and deranged

Supposedly was placed under treatment for his mental illness and has his pen and paper taken away from him

Harper & Brothers stopped publishing his work

After WritingHe lectured on the

South Seas

His wife got him a job as customs inspector for the city of New York, where he stayed for 19 years

He became known as the only honest man working in customs

His last shotMelville’s last effort was a 16,000-line poem,

entitled “Clarel”

“Clarel” is about his trip to the Holy Land

His uncle paid for the publication of the poem due to Melville’s pleas

Not only did the poem fail miserably, but the unsold copies were burned, because no one, including Melville, could and/or would buy it

Family DramaHe was in an unhappy

marriage

He was a rumored to be an alcoholic, mentally ill, and a wife-beater

His oldest son shot himself and his second son died at a young age as well

He was severely depressed

DeathBefore he died, he was

working on a novella, but unfortunately, left it unfinished.

Literary scholar, Raymond Weaver, finished the novella and published on Melville’s behalf, posthumously

He died on September 28, 1891 due to cardiac dilation

He is buried in the Bronx

Moby DickA story of a sailor out to

get revenge on a whale

Melville’s most famous work and thought to be one of the greatest literary works of all time

The book brought in minimal revenue ($556.37)

The original publication produced 3,000 copies, which a majority never sold