Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

MELVILLE, ARTHUR (1858-1904)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 103 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

MELVILLE, See also:ARTHUR (1858-1904) , See also:British painter, was See also:born and detained, without hardship, four months; was rescued by in See also:Scotland, in a See also:village of See also:Haddingtonshire. He took up paint- the See also:crew of an Australian See also:vessel, which he joined, and two years See also:ing at an See also:early See also:age, and though he attended a See also:night-school and later reached New See also:York. Thereafter, with the exception of a studied afterwards in See also:Paris and Grez, he learnt more from passenger voyage around the See also:world in 186o, Melville remained practice and See also:personal observation than from school training. in the See also:United States, devoting himself to literature—though for a The remarkable See also:colour-sense which is so notable a feature of his considerable See also:period (1866–1885) he held a See also:post in the New York See also:work, whether in See also:oils or in See also:water-colour, came to him during his See also:custom-See also:house—and being perhaps See also:Hawthorne's most intimate friend among the See also:literary men of See also:America. His writings are numerous, and of varying merit; his See also:verse, patriotic and other, is forgotten; and his See also:works of fiction and of travel are of irregular See also:execution. Nevertheless, few authors have been enabled so freely to introduce romantic personal experiences into their books: in his first work, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian See also:Life, or Four Months' See also:Residence in a Valley of the See also:Marquesas (1846), he described his See also:escape from the cannibals; while in Omoo, a Narrative of Adventures in the See also:South Seas (1847), See also:White Jacket, or The World in a See also:Man-of-See also:War (185o), and especially Moby See also:Dick, or The See also:Whale (1851), he portrayed seafaring life and See also:character with vigour and originality, and from a personal knowledge equal to that of See also:Cooper, See also:Marryat or See also:Clark See also:Russell. But these records of See also:adventure were followed by other tales so turgid, See also:eccentric, opinionative, and loosely written as to seem the work of another author. Melville was the product of a period in See also:American literature when the fiction written by writers below See also:Irving, See also:Poe and Hawthorne was measured by humble See also:artistic See also:standards. He died in New York on the 28th of See also:September 1891.

End of Article: MELVILLE, ARTHUR (1858-1904)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
MELVILLE, ANDREW (1545-1622) 		[next]
MELVILLE, JAMES (1556-1614)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries