Herman Melville date of birth:
August 1, 1819
How old was Herman Melville when died?
72
Where was Herman Melville born?
New York City
When did Herman Melville die?
September 28, 1891
Where did Herman Melville die?
September 28, 1891 (aged 72) New York City, New York, U.S.
Is Herman Melville gay or straight?
DISPUTED
What is Herman Melville nationality?
American
What is Herman Melville's occupation?
Novelist, short story writer, teacher, sailor, lecturer, poet, customs inspector
Herman Melville claim to fame:
Moby-Dick (1851)
What genre is Herman Melville's work?
Travelogue, Captivity narrative, Sea story, Gothic Romanticism, Allegory, Tall tale
Short Biography
Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet from the American Renaissance period. Most of his writings were published between 1846 and 1857. Best known for his sea adventure Typee (1846) and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851), he was almost forgotten during the last thirty years of his life. Melville's writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. The main characteristic of his style is probably pervasive allusion, reflecting his written sources. Melville's way of adapting what he read for his own new purposes, scholar Stanley T. Williams wrote, "was a transforming power comparable to Shakespeare's".