October 27, 2014 – Housed in the National Archives at Boston is a list of crew members of a whaling ship, the Acushnet, which sailed out of Massachusetts in 1841 heading for the Pacific. What makes the document noteworthy is the sixth name from the bottom: Herman Melville, age 21. His experiences at sea provided material for six maritime novels. The last, Moby Dick, published in 1851, sold poorly during the author’s lifetime, but went on to become an American classic.
Link: Slate
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