The Melville Society is dedicated to the study and appreciation of the nineteenth-century American author Herman Melville, writer of Typee, Moby-Dick, and Billy Budd, such short stories as “Bartleby” and “Benito Cereno,” and several volumes of poetry, including Battle-Pieces and the epic Clarel. We publish the award-winning journal Leviathan which all members receive three times a year and which offers scholarly articles, book and art reviews, Society news, and Melville-related events. Membership is open to all. For information about Leviathan and joining The Melville Society click here.
The Eaton Portrait
By permission of Houghton Library, Harvard University: 61Z-4
click for larger image
Melville Electronic Library
The Melville Electronic Library is an online resource for Melville texts. Housed on a Hofstra University server, MEL is being developed and maintained by a group of Melville scholars and digital specialists.
Johns Hopkins University Press
To join the Melvillle Society and subscribe to Leviathan, visit Leviathan's Johns Hopkins University Press journal site by clicking here.
Melville Society Cultural Project
The New Bedford Whaling Museum in collaboration with The Melville Society is the established home of the Melville Society Cultural Project and Melville Society Archive. The Melville Society Archive is housed at the New Bedford Whaling Museum's Research Library, where significant works from this collection are also on display. The Melville Society Cultural Project also sponsors a book donation program and presents exciting annual events including the Moby-Dick Marathon and a Birthday Lecture.
Herman Melville's Arrowhead
Herman Melville's Arrowhead Facebook Group page of the Berkshire Historical Society. Celebrating historical Berkshire County and Herman Melville's Arrowhead, the farm and home where Melville lived while writing Moby-Dick.
You are invited to join The Melville Society
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 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 by Johns Hopkins University Press, and offers scholarly articles, book and art reviews, Society news, and Melville-related current events.
Members pay their annual Melville Society dues directly to Johns Hopkins University Press where your subscription order doubles as your membership dues. Simply click here go to the JHUP website and place your order. You can also send orders by mail with payment to:
Johns Hopkins University Press
P.O. Box 19966
Baltimore, MD 21211-0966 USA
The different subscription types are summarized below.
Click here to visit the subscription page of the Johns Hopkins University Press.
| New Subscriptions | Duration | Price |
| Individual Print Subscription (incudes membership in the Melville Society) |
1 year (3 issues) | $30.00 |
| Individual Print Subscription (incudes membership in the Melville Society) |
2 year (6 issues) | $54.00 |
| Individual Electronic Subscription (Member of the Melville Society) |
1 year electronic access | $35.00 |
| Individual Electronic Subscription (Member of the Melville Society) |
2 year electronic access | $63.00 |
| Institution Print Subscription | 1 year (3 issues) | $155.00 |
| Institution Print Subscription | 2 year (6 issues) | $310.00 |
With subscriptions starting at just $30 per year, in addition to three Journal publications per year – featuring scholarly articles, book reviews, Society news, and Melville-related current events – you get:
1. Announcements of our annual programs and panels at the Modern Language Association and the American Literature Association
2. Invitations to our biennial international conferences. Recent venues include Lahaina, Maui; Poland; Jerusalem; Rome; Washington D.C.; London.
3. Access to the Melville Society Archive, a collection of over 2000 books on Melville at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Library
4. Updates on the Melville Society Cultural Project, which since 2001 has presented lectures, curated exhibits, organized conferences, and collaborated with local organizations in New Bedford, Massachusetts
In addition, your membership supports:
- The Melville Society Cultural Project, which 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, an innovative online critical archive, the Melville Electronic Library (MEL).
- The annual Hennig Cohen Prize for the best essay in Melville studies.
- The Walter Bezanson Fellowship, which 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, which supplies Melville texts for international scholars and libraries abroad.
For further governance details, click here to see our By-Laws.
Subscriptions and Membership
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The Melville Society on Facebook
Visit for Details about Upcoming Events and Melville-Related News
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Fellowships and Scholarships
Melville Society Archive
Walter E. Bezanson Fellowship
The Melville Society, under the auspices of the Melville Society Cultural Project in New Bedford, offers an annual fellowship to help a scholar undertake research on Herman Melville at the Society’s Archive in the Research Library of the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Click here for more information and application details.
New York Public Library
Short-term Research Fellowships
Graduate students or other affiliated academics whose work would benefit from visiting the Manuscripts and Archives Division to view collections such as the Gansevoort-Lansing collection, and Duyckinck family papers are encouraged to apply.
Click here for more information and application details.
Links
Woodlawn Cemetary
Woodlawn Cemetary - final resting place of Herman, his wife, Elizabeth, and other family members. Click here to view photos of the gravesites.
125th Anniversary Celebration
A celebration of Melville's life at Woodlawn Cemetary on the 125th anniversary of his passing.
Lansingburgh Historical Society
Melville lived for nine years in this Lansingburgh house. It was here that he wrote Typee and Omoo.
Berkshire Historical Society
Melville's Arrowhead home and farm in Pittsfield, MA where he wrote Moby-Dick and lived for most of the 1850s.