The Writings of Herman Melville, Vol. 1: Typee - A Peep at Polynesian Life - Softcover

Melville, Herman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810101599 ISBN 13: 9780810101593

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Almost from the time of its publication early in 1846, Melville's first book, based on his own travels in the South Seas, has been recognized as a classic in the literature of travel and adventure. From the beginning, however, there have been problems with the text. Due to disparities between the American and English editions, and revisions Melville had to make at his publisher's request concerning its racy style and attitude toward missionaries, the book has circulated in two versions.

This scholarly edition is based on collations of all editions published during his lifetime, incorporating many authorial readings that have often been omitted and some that have been misprinted in all previous editions. This edition is an Approved Text of the Center for Editions of American Authors (Modern Language Association of America).

About this title

From the Publisher

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From the Back Cover

Typee (1846) is the first 'romance' of the semi-autobiographical account of life in the Marquesas Islands in the 1840s. A blend of personal experience and the narratives of explorers and missionaries, it influenced many later writers on the Paciflc, including Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London. Melville himself deserted from a whaling ship in the islands and lived for four weeks among the inhabitants, observing and recording their way of life. Typee points up the wonders, the dilemmas, the 'fatal impact' of European encounter with the peoples of the Pacific. This edition offers an introduction that considers the book from a post-colonial perspective, and detailed annotation of Melville's allusions.

About this edition

• Publisher: Northwestern University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0810101599
• ISBN 13: 9780810101593
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 374
• Editor: Tanselle G. Thomas, Hayford Harrison, Parker Hershel