Herman Melville
He wrote a novel about a whale hunt that became a profound and enduring metaphor for humanity's struggle against nature and obsession.
1819–1891 (age 72)·American writer and poet·Birthday: August 1
Biography
Herman Melville's life was a sea voyage that began in a prosperous New York family and ended in obscurity. As a young man, he fled a staid education for the adventure of whaling ships and naval vessels, experiences that fueled his early, popular South Seas adventure tales like 'Typee.' His literary ambitions, however, swelled far beyond travelogues. In 1851, he delivered 'Moby-Dick,' a monumental, philosophically dense epic that baffled and disappointed readers seeking another simple sea yarn. The commercial failure of his masterpiece marked a turning point; he continued to write complex, darker works like 'Bartleby, the Scrivener,' but public indifference pushed him into a quiet life as a New York customs inspector. Forgotten at his death, Melville was resurrected in the 20th century as critics recognized 'Moby-Dick' not as a mere adventure but as a foundational text of American literature, a dark, poetic inquiry into fate, God, and the human soul.
#1 When Herman Was Born
The biggest hits of 1819
Herman's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1819Born
1824Started school
1832Became a teenager
1835Could drive
1837Could vote
1840Turned 21
1849Turned 30
1859Turned 40
1869Turned 50
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1879Turned 60
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1889Turned 70
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1891Died at 72
President: Benjamin Harrison
Key Achievements
- Authored 'Moby-Dick; or, The Whale,' now considered a central work of world literature and the American canon.
- Published 'Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life,' a successful early novel based on his experiences as a beachcomber in the Marquesas Islands.
- Wrote the enigmatic short story 'Bartleby, the Scrivener,' a seminal work of absurdist fiction.
- His posthumously published novella 'Billy Budd, Sailor' became a classic, later adapted into an opera by Benjamin Britten.
Did You Know?
Melville dedicated 'Moby-Dick' to his friend and literary neighbor Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom he greatly admired.
He served on a US Navy vessel, the USS United States, which provided material for his novel 'White-Jacket.'
The working title for 'Moby-Dick' was 'The Whale.'
He and his wife Elizabeth had four children, and their marriage was reportedly strained by financial worries and his writing moods.
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
