Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed.

MELVILLE, Herman.

$17,500.00

Item Number: 139021

Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Herman Melville to his publisher, Harper & Brothers. One page, the letter reads in full, “Harper & Brothers New York. Pittsfield Oct. 8th Gentlemen: Herewith is an article, which, if it suit, will you, according to what you have said to me, send me the money for, without further trouble to yourselves or me. Very truly yours H. Melville.” The letter likely dates from 1885 when Melville’s financial circumstances were becoming dire. The article he references, The Apple-Tree Table, first appeared in serial form in 1850 and was later published in a collected trade edition by Princeton University Press in 1922. “Melville’s ‘The Apple-Tree Table, or Original Spiritual Manifestations,’ enjoys a unique place among his works as a topical satire on a current religious movement: the Spiritualist cult of the 1850s… as Frank Davidson long ago pointed out, it ‘records its author’s thoughts on religion at a critical time in his life’ –  a time when Melville was meditating, and perhaps actually writing, the more comprehensive religious satire generally considered his bleakest and most difficult work: The Confidence-Man” (Karcher, The “Spiritual Lesson” of Melville’s “The Apple-Tree Table”, 1971). Melville’s financial success as a writer during his lifetime was not great, relative to his posthumous success; over his entire lifetime Melville’s writings earned him just over $10,000 (equivalent to $254,469 in 2021). Melville’s travelogues based on voyages to the South Seas and stories based on his time in the merchant marine and navy led to some initial success, but his popularity declined dramatically afterwards. By 1876, all of his books were out of print. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom folding chemise slip case with a morocco spine label lettered in gilt.

American novelist and short story writer Herman Melville remains best-known for his masterpiece Moby-Dick, the story of Captain Ahab on his quest for revenge against the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg at the knee. Although it is now recognized as one of the great American novels, its popularity during Melville's lifetime paled in comparison to his first novel, Typee, based on his exploits in Tahiti after jumping ship in the Marquesas Islands aboard the whaler Acushnet. Melville began writing Moby-Dick in February 1850 and finished 18 months later, a year after he had anticipated. Melville drew on his experience as a common sailor from 1841 to 1844, including on whalers, and on wide reading in whaling literature. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God.