November 14, 1851: Moby-Dick published On this day in 1851, Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville about the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, is published by Harper & Brothers in New York. Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American literature and contains one of the most famous opening lines in fiction: "Call me Ishmael." Initially, though, the book about Captain Ahab and his quest for a giant white whale was a flop.
Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819 and as a young man spent time in the merchant marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling ship in the South Seas. In 1846, he published his first novel, Typee, a romantic adventure based on his experiences in Polynesia. The book was a success and a sequel, Omoo, was published in 1847. Three more novels followed, with mixed critical and commercial results. Melville's sixth book, Moby-Dick, was first published in October 1851 in London, in three volumes titled The Whale, and then in the U.S. a month later. Melville had promised his publisher an adventure story similar to his popular earlier works, but instead, Moby-Dick was a tragic epic, influenced in part by Melville's friend and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, neighbor, Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose novels include The Scarlet Letter.
After Moby-Dick's disappointing reception, Melville continued to produce novels, short stories (Bartleby) and poetry, but writing wasn't paying the bills so in 1865 he returned to New York to work as a customs inspector, a job he held for 20 years.
Melville died in 1891, largely forgotten by the literary world. By the 1920s, scholars had rediscovered his work, particularly Moby-Dick, which would eventually become a staple of high school reading lists across the United States. Billy Budd, Melville's final novel, was published in 1924, 33 years after his death.
Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819 and as a young man spent time in the merchant marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling ship in the South Seas. In 1846, he published his first novel, Typee, a romantic adventure based on his experiences in Polynesia. The book was a success and a sequel, Omoo, was published in 1847. Three more novels followed, with mixed critical and commercial results. Melville's sixth book, Moby-Dick, was first published in October 1851 in London, in three volumes titled The Whale, and then in the U.S. a month later. Melville had promised his publisher an adventure story similar to his popular earlier works, but instead, Moby-Dick was a tragic epic, influenced in part by Melville's friend and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, neighbor, Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose novels include The Scarlet Letter.
After Moby-Dick's disappointing reception, Melville continued to produce novels, short stories (Bartleby) and poetry, but writing wasn't paying the bills so in 1865 he returned to New York to work as a customs inspector, a job he held for 20 years.
Melville died in 1891, largely forgotten by the literary world. By the 1920s, scholars had rediscovered his work, particularly Moby-Dick, which would eventually become a staple of high school reading lists across the United States. Billy Budd, Melville's final novel, was published in 1924, 33 years after his death.
American Revolution
1776 : Benjamin Franklin takes sides
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/benjamin-franklin-takes-sides
Automotive
2006 : Last day for Texas' celebrated drive-in Pig Stands
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/last-day-for-texas-celebrated-drive-in-pig-stands
Civil War
1862 : Lincoln approves Burnside's plan to capture Richmond
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-approves-burnsides-plan
Cold War
1951 : United States gives military and economic aid to communist Yugoslavia
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-gives-military-and-economic-aid-to-communist-yugoslavia
Crime
1986 : Ivan Boesky confesses to illegal stock trading activity
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ivan-boesky-confesses-to-illegal-stock-trading-activity
Disaster
1985 : Volcano erupts in Colombia and buries nearby towns
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/volcano-erupts-in-colombia-and-buries-nearby-towns
General Interest
1969 : Apollo 12 lifts off
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/iapollo-12i-lifts-off
1982 : Walesa released from jail
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/walesa-released-from-jail
Hollywood
1941 : Cary Grant stars in Hitchcock's Suspicion
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cary-grant-stars-in-hitchcocks-suspicion
Literary
1851 : Moby-Dick is published
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/moby-dick-is-published
Music
1900 : American classical composer Aaron Copland is born in Brooklyn, New Yor
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-classical-composer-aaron-copland-is-born-in-brooklyn-new-york
Old West
1882 : Franklin Leslie kills Billy "The Kid" Claiborne
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/franklin-leslie-kills-billy-the-kid-claiborne
Presidential
1959 : Kennedy publishes article on television and American politics
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kennedy-publishes-article-on-television-and-american-politics
Sports
1970 : Plane crash devastates Marshall University
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/plane-crash-devastates-marshall-university
Vietnam War
1965 : Major battle erupts in the Ia Drang Valley
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/major-battle-erupts-in-the-ia-drang-valley
1967 : Marine general killed in Vietnam
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marine-general-killed-in-vietnam
1972 : Nixon promises Thieu that U.S. will continue to support South Vietnam
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-promises-thieu-that-us-will-continue-to-support-south-vietnam
World War I
1914 : Ottoman Empire declares a holy war
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ottoman-empire-declares-a-holy-war
World War II
1940 : Germans bomb Coventry
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-bomb-coventry
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