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.
The Melville Society Cultural Project was created in December 2000 to establish an affiliation with the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Together, we are dedicated to sharing an understanding of Herman Melville's writings, his life, and his times. Drawing upon the richness of New Bedford's museums, parks, schools, and other cultural institutions, our joint programs allow scholars, teachers, students, and visitors to explore this internationally acclaimed American writer whose works continue to resonate with our lives today.
The Melville Society Cultural Project Committee members are Jennifer Baker, Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, Wyn Kelley, Timothy Marr, Christopher Sten, and Robert K. Wallace.
On January 4, 2003, we celebrated the grand opening of The Melville Society Archive in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Library. The Archive, which contains primary and secondary materials from the collections of Jill Barnum, Walter Bezanson, Gail Coffler, Harrison Hayford, Jay Leyda, Robert D. Madison, William Reese, Merton M. Sealts, Jr., and Thomas Wendel, is available to visitors interested in research on Melville's work and life, during Library hours: Tuesday through Friday, 12 noon until 4 pm, and the first Saturday of the month, 10 am until 4 pm. For further information, inquiries, or donations, consult Michael Dyer, the Maritime Curator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and either Wyn Kelley: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Mary K. Bercaw Edwards: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. of the Melville Society's Archive Committee. Please note that these e-mail addresses are being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view them.
The Melville Society Cultural Project sponsors several annual events.
Moby-Dick Marathon
All are invited to assist in reading the entire novel, which occurs on the first non-holiday weekend after the New Year. Special offerings of "The Chapel" and "The Sermon" chapters are held in the Seamen's Bethel Church (the site featured in Moby-Dick).
Marathon Lecture
The Moby-Dick Marathon lecture is delivered each year on the evening preceding the Moby-Dick Marathon.
Click here for more information about the upcoming Moby-Dick Marathon.
Melville Summer Institute
The Summer institutes take up diverse topics for various groups – including high school teachers and graduate students.
The upcoming Melville Summer Institute is titled: "Teaching Melville: Moby-Dick and the World of Whaling in the Digital Age."
Subscriptions and Membership
Click the Whale Below to Donate
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.