When did Herman Melville sign on as a green hand for the whaler Acushnet?
Herman Melville signed on as a green hand for the whaler Acushnet on the 30th of December 1840. This five-year journey provided the raw material for his epic novel Moby-Dick.
Questions about Moby-Dick
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What historical events inspired the story of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville?
Two actual historical events served as the genesis for the story of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. One was the sinking of the Nantucket ship Essex in 1820 after a sperm whale rammed her two thousand miles from South America, and another involved the alleged killing of the albino sperm whale Mocha Dick off the Chilean island of Mocha in the late 1830s.
Where and when did Herman Melville write most of Moby-Dick?
The most intense work occurred during the winter of 1850, 1851 at Arrowhead, his house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Melville began writing Moby-Dick in February 1850 and finished eighteen months later while correcting proofs in New York.
How many volumes was Moby-Dick first published in London under the title The Whale?
The book was first published in London in October 1851 under the title The Whale in three volumes. Richard Bentley served as the publisher who censored or changed sensitive passages before a single-volume edition bearing the definitive title Moby-Dick; or, The Whale appeared in New York in November 1851.
Who is the narrator of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville and where does he travel to sign up for a whaling voyage?
Ishmael narrates his December travels from Manhattan Island to New Bedford, Massachusetts where plans exist to sign up for a whaling voyage as a green hand. He shares a bed with Queequeg, a tattooed Polynesian cannibal whose father was king of the fictional island of Rokovoko, before heading for Nantucket.