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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2010

Brian Higgins
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Chicago
Hershel Parker
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
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Summary

Herman Melville collected and scrutinized the reviews of his books, especially in his early career, when he commented on them frequently in his letters and in his first journal. In May 1846, three months after the publication of his first book, Typee, a partly autobiographical, partly fictionalized account of his adventures in the Marquesas Islands, Melville wrote to his brother Gansevoort in London (unaware that he had died more than two weeks earlier): “I need not ask you to send me every notice of any kind that you see or hear of.” The following September he listed for John Murray, his English publisher, the English reviews he had seen, and he asked Murray to send him any additional ones he came across (Correspondence, 66). Melville's eagerness to see as many of his reviews as possible reflects his awareness of their power. He had been forced to agree to expurgate the American edition of Typee after the Presbyterian paper the Evangelist began a crusade against its condemnation of missionary activities in Hawaii. The reviews of his second book would determine whether or not he would have a literary career: After that book, Omoo, was published in 1847, he said he would “follow it up” with a third only if it succeeded (Correspondence, 87).

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Herman Melville
The Contemporary Reviews
, pp. ix - xxiv
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1995

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Brian Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago, Hershel Parker, University of Delaware
  • Book: Herman Melville
  • Online publication: 01 April 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511570445.002
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Brian Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago, Hershel Parker, University of Delaware
  • Book: Herman Melville
  • Online publication: 01 April 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511570445.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Brian Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago, Hershel Parker, University of Delaware
  • Book: Herman Melville
  • Online publication: 01 April 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511570445.002
Available formats
×