Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick, often considered the…

Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick, often considered the epitome of American Romanticism, is first published by Richard Bentley in London on October 18, 1851 in an expurgated three-volume edition entitled The Whale, and later as one massive volume, by New York City publisher Harper and Brothers as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale on November 14, 1851.

The first line of Chapter One—"Call me Ishmael."—is one of the most famous in literature. (Although the book initially received negative reviews, Moby-Dick is now considered one of the greatest novels in the English language and has secured Melville's place among America's greatest writers.)

Melville had married Elizabeth Shaw (daughter of noted Massachusetts jurist Lemuel Shaw) on August 4, 1847.

The Melvilles resided in New York City, where he became associated with New York University as an instructor.

In 1850 they had purchased Arrowhead, a farm house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Melville would remain for thirteen years, occupied with his writing and managing his farm.

Here he had befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lives in nearby Lenox, and had writtenMoby-Dick and Pierre (dedicating Moby-Dick to Hawthorne).