![]() From a boyhood of relative affluence, he underwent a rapid fall in social prominence as his family accustomed itself to genteel poverty. He displayed no particular scholarliness or literary promise, but he did join a literary and debate society, as well as submit letters to the editor of the Albany Microscope. An aristocratic, imperious, unsympathetic woman, she moved in with her well-to-do parents, who helped educate and support her brood.įor two years, Melville attended the Albany Classical School, which specialized in preparing pupils for the business world. He suffered a mental breakdown, caught pneumonia, and died broke in 1832, owing nearly $25,000 and leaving destitute his wife, Maria Gansevoort Melville. His father, Allan Melvill (as the name was originally spelled), a snobbish, shallow man, was an importer of French luxury items, including fine silks, hats, and gloves. He was the grandson of two American Revolutionary War leaders, one of whom participated in the Boston Tea Party. My room seems a ship's cabin and at nights when I wake up and hear the wind shrieking, I almost fancy there is too much sail on the house, and I had better go on the roof and rig in the chimney." Yet, as he grew older, he drew into himself, in part a reaction to personal troubles and literary anonymity.īorn August 1, 1819, on Pearl Street in New York City near the Battery, Melville was the third of eight children, four boys and four girls, and a descendant of respectable Scotch, Irish, and Dutch colonial settlers. He gave full range to his imagination, as demonstrated by his comment about the writing of Moby-Dick: "I have a sort of sea-feeling. He was a faithful letter writer and established a reputation as a mesmerizing teller of tales. His merry blue-green eyes and cheerful sociability brought him many friends and partners for games of whist. ![]() He was a striking figure - average in height, with a full, curling brown beard, cane, and ever-present Meerschaum pipe. A reserved, bookish, skeptical man, he was never given to easy answers or orthodox religious beliefs. From early times, Herman Melville, like countless other lonely, contemplative, and misunderstood wanderers, was drawn to the sea. ![]()
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