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MELVILLE, HERMAN (1819-1891)

  • The Library possesses many American and English first editions of Melville, as well as a fine group of books on whaling and voyages. The 1951 exhibition of Moby-Dick and related materials gives a catalogue of works on display at that time. Most are from the Princeton University Library holdings. For particulars refer to: "Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. A Century of an American Classic. 1851-1951. Catalogue of an Exhibition. Princeton University Library" in the Princeton University Library Chronicle XIII, 2 (Winter, 1952) pp. 63-118 [full text] .

    Two interesting Melville association books are his copy of James MacPherson's Fingal (1762) and William Habington's Castara (1812 [first published, 1634]). Both have his notes. Acquired at the end of 1989 was his heavily annotated copy of Milton's works. Call number for this copy is (Ex) PR3551 .M57 1836, vols. 1 and 2. (Melville's King Lear is at Harvard; see R. Stoddard's Marks in Books.)

Research Tools for Printed Material (Books, Maps, Prints, etc.)

Notable Holdings

  • Herman Melville Collection

    The collection consists of photostats of letters by Herman Melville used by Willard Thorp in his selection of Melville's writings published as Representative Selections (1938), as well as photographs of Melville and his family, and printed matter about Melville and his works, including magazine a