On this day in 1891, Moby Dick writer Herman Melville died at the age of 72.
While Melville will always be legendary for his epic novel, Moby Dick, we feel it is important to point out some of his other work which is perhaps more obscure. If you’ve never read his early work, Omoo, A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, is a great one! It was published before Moby Dick in 1847. Another intriguing bit of writing came after Moby Dick in 1866, when Melville published a volume of poetry called Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.
His writings are extensive and often draw from personal experiences, which make reading them all the more interesting. Melville was a contemporary of Washington Irivng, Edgar Allan Poe and was said to be an intimate friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
FUN FACT: In 2010 a group of Moby Dick fans who happened to be paleontologists announced that they would be naming a new species of extinct giant sperm whale, which they had discovered fossilized, Livyatan melvillei, in honor of the famous author.
Today, we encourage you all to call us Ishmael and make an attempt at your very own “big fish tale”.
Write on in peace, Mr. Melville!
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