Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, became a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime.
When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. In 1919, the unfinished manuscript for his novella Billy Budd was discovered by his first biographer. He published a version in 1924, which was quickly acclaimed by notable British critics as another masterpiece of Melville's. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.
Read more about Herman Melville: Later Works, Publications and Contemporary Reactions, Legacy, Selected Bibliography, References and Further Reading
Famous quotes by herman melville:
“To be a born American citizen seems a guarantee against pauperism; and this, perhaps, springs from the virtue of a vote.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“There is a touch of divinity even in brutes, and a special halo about a horse, that should forever exempt him from indignities.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The world is forever babbling of originality; but there never yet was an original man, in the sense intended by the world; the first man himself—who according to the Rabbins was also the first author—not being an original; the only original author being God.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The American, who up to the present day, has evinced, in Literature, the largest brain with the largest heart, that man is Nathaniel Hawthorne.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“A thing may be incredible and still be true; sometimes it is incredible because it is true.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)