Chapter I: Front Matter

HERMAN MELVILLE

Mariner and Mystic

RAYMOND M. WEAVER

_Engraved on wood, by L. F. Grant._
_From a photograph._
]

HERMAN MELVILLE
MARINER AND MYSTIC

BY
RAYMOND M. WEAVER

NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1921,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TO

PROFESSOR FRANKLIN T. BAKER

“--_il maestro cortese_”

To Professor Carl Van Doren, to Miss Cora Paget, and to Mrs. Eleanor Melville Metcalf, I am, in the writing of this book, very especially indebted. By Professor Van Doren’s enthusiasm and scholarship I was instigated to a study of Melville. It has been my privilege to enjoy Miss Paget’s very valuable criticism and assistance throughout the preparation of this volume. Mrs. Metcalf gave me access to all the surviving records of her grandfather: Melville manuscripts, letters, journals, annotated books, photographs, and a variety of other material. But she did far more. My indebtedness to Mrs. Metcalf’s vivid interest, her shrewd insight, her keen sympathy can be stated only in superlatives. To Mrs. and Mr. Metcalf I owe one of the richest and most pleasant associations of my life.

RAYMOND M. WEAVER.

_October 1, 1921._

Most of the letters of Melville to Hawthorne included in this volume are quoted from _Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife_, by Julian Hawthorne. These letters, and other citations from Mr. Hawthorne’s memoir, are included through the courtesy of Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I DEVIL’S ADVOCATE 15
II GHOSTS 33
III PARENTS AND EARLY YEARS 53
IV A SUBSTITUTE FOR PISTOL AND BALL 77
V DISCOVERIES ON TWO CONTINENTS 98
VI PEDAGOGY, PUGILISM AND LETTERS 113
VII BLUBBER AND MYSTICISM 128
VIII LEVIATHAN 153
IX THE PACIFIC 170
X MAN-EATING EPICURES--THE MARQUESAS 194
XI MUTINY AND MISSIONARIES--TAHITI 215
XII ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR 233
XIII INTO THE RACING TIDE 250
XIV ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AGAIN 283
XV A NEIGHBOUR OF HAWTHORNE’S 305
XVI THE GREAT REFUSAL 334
XVII THE LONG QUIETUS 349
BIBLIOGRAPHY 385
INDEX OF NAMES 391

ILLUSTRATIONS

HERMAN MELVILLE _Frontispiece_
PAGE
MELVILLE’S GRANDFATHERS 40
GENERAL PETER GANSEVOORT
MAJOR THOMAS MELVILLE
ALLAN MELVILLE 56
MARIA GANSEVOORT MELVILLE 64
IN 1820
IN 1865
A PAGE FROM ONE OF MELVILLE’S JOURNALS 104
THROWING THE HARPOON 136
SOUNDING 136
SPERM WHALING. THE CAPTURE 160
ONE OF SIX WHALING PRINTS 160
“TOBY.” RICHARD TOBIAS GREENE 164
IN 1846
IN 1865
EVANGELISING POLYNESIA 184
RICHARD TOBIAS GREENE. IN 1885 200
FIRST HOME OF THE PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES IN TAHITI 224
THE FLEET OF TAHITI 224
ELIZABETH SHAW MELVILLE 272
ARROWHEAD 312
THE FIREPLACE. ARROWHEAD 312
HERMAN MELVILLE. IN 1868 352
MELVILLE AS ARTIST 368
MELVILLE’S CHILDREN 376

HERMAN MELVILLE
Mariner and Mystic

HERMAN MELVILLE