August 26, 2012
Celebrating Herman Melville’s birthday
by Melville House
Today marks a special occasion here at Melville House as we celebrate the birthday of our namesake.
Author of many famous poems, short stories, and novels, Herman Melville was born in 1819 in New York and lived in the city on and off for significant periods during his lifetime. Though he died in near obscurity, Melville is now a legendary man of letters, and he’s been bestowed posthumously with many honors, including Herman Melville Square (Park Avenue South and 26th Street) and the Livyatan melvilleii, a giant sperm whale named in his honor.
To celebrate, Melville House is giving away three birthday bundles, which include copies of the novellas Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivener, as well as our “I Would Prefer Not To” t-shirts.
To enter the contest, tweet some of your favorite lines from Melville’s books with the hashtag #melvillebday, or just post them in the comments section below.
We’ll select three winners at random and announce the names toward the end of the business day.
Hungry for more things Herman Melville? Check out these stories from MobyLives:
+ 25 types of beards
+ Melville’s passport application
+ Moby-Dick reading marathon
+ Herman Melville and the new polytheism
+ 160 years of Moby-Dick
+ Illuminations for Bartleby the Scrivener
+ Herman Melville etsy doll
+ Moby-Dick toilet paper
Moby-Dick, the card game 
Sing-along Moby-Dick 
Coming soon: new Moby-Dick adaptation (sort of) 
Happy Birthday, Georges Perec 
17 Comments
“There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own.”- Moby Dick. I feel I’ve shared so many times!
“… whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a
strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the
street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off–then, I account it
high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” — From Moby Dick, and one of many lines I find pretty hilarious. The humor in Moby Dick is oft-neglected.
“Cussed fellow-critters! Kick up de damndest row as ever you can; fill your dam bellies ‘till dey bust—and den die.”
“He saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom,
and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad.” God save Pip, and long live Moby Dick. Happy birthday, Herman.
“It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.”
“… Billy Budd was like a young horse fresh from the pasture suddenly inhaling a vile whiff from some chemical factory, and by repeated snortings trying to get it out of his nostrils and lungs.”
“How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg — a cosy, loving pair.”
“For be it known that like most termagants, the dame was tidy at times, though capriciously, loving cleanliness by fits and starts.”
–Mardi by Herman Melville
Always reminds me of a former roommate.
I recently re-read MOBY DICK and loved it so much. There are many great lines in the novel, but i really liked this one:
“A noble craft, but somehow a most melancholy! All noble things are touched with that.”
― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
“…— pondering all this, the palsied universe lies before us a leper;”
From Moby Dick. I would like to paste the entire paragraph of this passage, but it would seem like overkill.
My favorite is the opening sentences of Bartleby: “Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel.”
Those sentences are even the epigraph of my unpublished novella – I stumbled across Bartleby after writing two drafts of my book, and was so delighted by the unexpected parallels between the two stories that I decided to use the quote as my epigraph.
“Who ain’t a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old
sea-captains may order me about- however they may thump and punch me
about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that
everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way- either
in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the
universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s
shoulder-blades, and be content.” Love this, always have.
“Heaven have mercy on us all, Presbyterians and Pagans alike for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.” From the ‘Ramadan’ chapter of Moby-Dick when Queequeg is fasting and Ishmael muses on the ‘strange’ actions.
“Heaven have mercy on us all, Presbyterians and Pagans alike for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.” From the ‘Ramadan’ chapter of Moby-Dick when Queequeg is fasting and Ishmael muses on the ‘strange’ actions.
“Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well- housed, well-fed, well warmed.” –”Poor Man’s Pudding and Rich Man’s Crumbs”
“Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well- housed, well-fed, well warmed.” –”Poor Man’s Pudding and Rich Man’s Crumbs”
Thanks for joining in the fun, everyone. We randomly selected three winners, after spinning in three circles and wearing three blindfolds. They are: James Crossley, Mary Duffy, Alison Caporimo. Send your mailing address and shirt size to support@mhpbooks. Thanks again, and happy birthday Herman Melville!