Facts about Herman Melville

1. 04

   A U.S. customs inspector by profession for nearly two decades, Herman Melville worked at the New York Custom House to support his family after his writing career faltered.

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2. 03

   Melville's 1851 masterpiece Moby-Dick received poor reviews and sold only 3,215 copies during his lifetime, remaining largely forgotten until a literary revival in the 1920s.

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3. 02

   In 1857, Melville's novel The Confidence-Man sold fewer than 1,200 copies in its first year, marking a commercial failure that foreshadowed his declining literary popularity.

   Herman MelvilleMay 14shareliteraturesalesnineteenth-century
4. 01

   During his 1841 whaling voyage aboard the Acushnet, Herman Melville jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands after eighteen months at sea.

   Herman MelvilleMay 14sharebiographymaritime19th-century