You are invited to join The Melville Society

Starting with our March issue of Leviathan (15.1), Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) will not only publish Leviathan but also handle membership and subscription dues for the Melville Society. This is wonderful news!   Beginning with the new year, members will pay their annual Melville Society dues of $30 directly to JHUP. As always, your subscription order doubles as your membership dues. Simply go to the JHUP website (http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/leviathan/) and place your 2013 order.  If you prefer to wait, JHUP will market to you directly. You can then pay with a check, or use Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express credit cards. JHUP will update the Society on all subscription renewals, so we will also know to renew your membership and update your address information for our semi-annual Melville Society mailings.

About the Change: The Melville Society has had a rolling membership philosophy, often mailing the Journal to friends several years behind in dues.  JHUPs very different subscription philosophy may mean a few more dollars at the outset for many of us, but we hope you find our society well worth the commitment.   A few members are paid through 2013 right now, and the Melville Society will pay JHUP directly to make sure that these valued members receive all three 2013 issues of the journal. The treasurer will confirm paid status with these members by mail under separate cover.

The Melville Society will still handle donations directly, so you can still give via PayPal at http://melvillesociety.org/programs/donations-and-payments ; or, you may mail a check directly to your Treasurer at the following address:

Gerard McGowan

English Department Bldg. 607

Cullum Road

West Point, NY 10996

Please include your email address on the check.

Thank you for your continuing support of The Melville Society in 2012. You are an important part of the second oldest single-author society in the United States! Annual dues are $30, and your membership remains an incredible bargain.  Here is what you get:

The Society and the Cultural Project offer four giving opportunities and we strongly encourage you to consider a gift at this time.  They include:

1. The Melville Society Cultural Project, which sponsors the Melville Archive in New Bedford, the Book Donation Program for international scholars, and lecture series and exhibitions
2. The Walter Bezanson Fellowship, which supplements funds from the Melville Society Cultural Project to support scholars to work in the Melville Archive, located in the Library of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
3. The Society's Book Donation Program for international scholars, which accepts books related to Melville as well as donations to pay for postage
4. The Hennig Cohen Endowment, which awards an annual prize for the best Melville essay by a new scholar
5. The Murray Endowment, which supports Society publications and other general activities.

The Melville Society is dedicated to the study of the life and works of Herman Melville, and their cultural impact since the nineteenth century.  The organization enjoys the fellowship of over 500 scholars, artists, teachers, writers, readers, and enthusiasts throughout the world.

All members receive our award-winning journal Leviathan, which is published three times a year with Wiley Publishing, and offers scholarly articles, book and art reviews, Society news, and Melville-related current events

The Society arranges programs and panels at the annual conferences of the Modern Language Association and the American Literature Association

Since 1997, we have sponsored biennial international conferences in Volos, Greece; Mystic Seaport, Connecticut; Hofstra University, New York; Lahaina, Hawaii; New Bedford, Massachusetts; Szczecin, Poland; Jerusalem; and Rome. Join us in 2013 at our next gathering in Washington, DC.

The Melville Society Cultural Project, in affiliation with the New Bedford Whaling Museum, promotes lectures and exhibitions

The Melville Archive, a growing collection of primary and secondary sources, is located at the museum’s Kendall Institute

With support from NEH and Hofstra University, we are creating an innovative online critical archive, the Melville Electronic Library (MEL)

The Society awards the annual Hennig Cohen Prize for the best essay in Melville studies

The Walter Bezanson Fellowship offers an annual two-week fellowship for study in the Melville Archive, located in the Library of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

The Society’s Book Donation program supplies Melville texts for international scholars and libraries abroad