Fun Facts About Herman Melville
- Herman Melville spent 19 years as a New York customs inspector. Future president Chester A. Arthur, who admired his writing, sometimes protected his job but never spoke to him.[1]
- Melville's wife could not always read his handwriting and gave up editing his unfinished Billy Budd. The pages sat in a family breadbox until 1919, and it was first published in 1924.[1]
- In 1842 Melville jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. He then joined a mutiny aboard the Australian whaler Lucy Ann and was briefly jailed in Tahiti.[1]
- After his Polynesian adventure book Typee became popular, Melville worried he would go down to posterity only as a "man who lived among the cannibals."[1]
- Melville's grandfather, Major Thomas Melvill, took part in the Boston Tea Party. The novelist himself was born with the surname Melvill.[1]
- In 2010 an extinct sperm whale was named Livyatan melvillei in Melville's honor by paleontologists who were fans of Moby-Dick.[1]
- Herman Melville was alive at the same time as Thomas Jefferson — their lives overlapped for 7 years (1819–1826).[1][2][3][4]
- Herman Melville and Louis Pasteur died on the same day of the year, September 28.[1][2][5][6]
Herman Melville was an American writer of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. At the time of his death, Melville was not well known to the public, but 1919, the centennial of his birth, was the starting point of a Melville revival. Moby-Dick would eventually be considered one of the Great American Novels.[1]
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Questions About Herman Melville
When was Herman Melville born?
Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819, and died on September 28, 1891.
How old was Herman Melville at death?
Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819, and died on September 28, 1891, at age 72.
What was Herman Melville known for?
Herman Melville was known for: Moby-Dick. Herman Melville was an American writer of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. At the time of his death, Melville was not well known to the public, but 1919, the centennial of his birth, was the starting point of a Melville revival. Moby-Dick would eventually be considered one of the Great American Novels.
Who was alive at the same time as Herman Melville?
Herman Melville's closest contemporary was Giuseppe Verdi. Their lives overlapped for 72 years.
Sources
- Herman Melville — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Herman Melville (Q4985) — Wikidata
- Thomas Jefferson — Wikipedia
- Thomas Jefferson (Q11812) — Wikidata
- Louis Pasteur — Wikipedia
- Louis Pasteur (Q529) — Wikidata
- Portrait: Herman Melville by Joseph O Eaton.jpg — Wikimedia Commons. Joseph Oriel Eaton, Public domain