Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American writer, poet, and essayist. After leaving school early, he worked in various clerical and commercial positions before going to sea in 1839, including on whaling ships. His voyages to the South Seas provided material for his early novels Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847). His major works also include Moby-Dick (1851), The Confidence-Man, “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” and Billy Budd, Sailor, which was published posthumously. After the success of his early books waned, Melville largely withdrew from literary public life. From 1866 to 1885, he worked as a customs inspector in New York Harbor. His writing was rediscovered more fully after his death and is now regarded as part of the world literary canon.