1.
Old English
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Old English or Anglo-Saxon is the earliest historical form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid 5th century, Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. As the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain, Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, Old English had four main dialects, associated with particular Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish and West Saxon. It was West Saxon that formed the basis for the standard of the later Old English period, although the dominant forms of Middle. The speech of eastern and northern parts of England was subject to strong Old Norse influence due to Scandinavian rule, Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Like other old Germanic languages, it is different from Modern English. Old English grammar is similar to that of modern German, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs have many inflectional endings and forms. The oldest Old English inscriptions were using a runic system. Old English was not static, and its usage covered a period of 700 years, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century to the late 11th century, some time after the Norman invasion. While indicating that the establishment of dates is a process, Albert Baugh dates Old English from 450 to 1150, a period of full inflections. Perhaps around 85 per cent of Old English words are no longer in use, Old English is a West Germanic language, developing out of Ingvaeonic dialects from the 5th century. It came to be spoken over most of the territory of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which became the Kingdom of England and this included most of present-day England, as well as part of what is now southeastern Scotland, which for several centuries belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Other parts of the island – Wales and most of Scotland – continued to use Celtic languages, Norse was also widely spoken in the parts of England which fell under Danish law. Anglo-Saxon literacy developed after Christianisation in the late 7th century, the oldest surviving text of Old English literature is Cædmons Hymn, composed between 658 and 680. There is a corpus of runic inscriptions from the 5th to 7th centuries. The Old English Latin alphabet was introduced around the 9th century, with the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by Alfred the Great in the later 9th century, the language of government and literature became standardised around the West Saxon dialect. In Old English, typical of the development of literature, poetry arose before prose, a later literary standard, dating from the later 10th century, arose under the influence of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester, and was followed by such writers as the prolific Ælfric of Eynsham. This form of the language is known as the Winchester standard and it is considered to represent the classical form of Old English
2.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
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Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets, and is regarded by some as among the finest lyric, as well as most influential, poets in the English language. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not see fame during his lifetime, but recognition for his poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Love Peacock, and his own second wife, Mary Shelley. Shelley is perhaps best known for such poems as Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, Music, When Soft Voices Die, The Cloud. Shelleys close circle of friends included some of the most important progressive thinkers of the day, including his father-in-law, the philosopher William Godwin and Leigh Hunt. Though Shelleys poetry and prose output remained steady throughout his life, most publishers, Shelley became a lodestone to the subsequent three or four generations of poets, including important Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite poets such as Robert Browning and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He was admired by Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, yeats, Upton Sinclair and Isadora Duncan. Henry David Thoreaus civil disobedience was apparently influenced by Shelleys non-violence in protest, Shelleys popularity and influence has continued to grow in contemporary poetry circles. Shelley was born on 4 August 1792 at Field Place, Broadbridge Heath, near Horsham, West Sussex, England. He was the eldest legitimate son of Sir Timothy Shelley, a Whig Member of Parliament for Horsham from 1790–92 and he had four younger sisters and one much younger brother. He received his education at home, tutored by the Reverend Evan Edwards of nearby Warnham. His cousin and lifelong friend Thomas Medwin, who lived nearby and it was a happy and contented childhood spent largely in country pursuits such as fishing and hunting. In 1802, he entered the Syon House Academy of Brentford, in 1804, Shelley entered Eton College, where he fared poorly, and was subjected to an almost daily mob torment at around noon by older boys, who aptly called these incidents Shelley-baits. Surrounded, the young Shelley would have his books torn from his hands and his clothes pulled at and this daily misery could be attributed to Shelleys refusal to take part in fagging and his indifference towards games and other youthful activities. Because of these peculiarities he acquired the nickname Mad Shelley, Shelley possessed a keen interest in science at Eton, which he would often apply to cause a surprising amount of mischief for a boy considered to be so sensible. Shelley would often use an electric machine to charge the door handle of his room. His friends were particularly amused when his tutor, Mr Bethell, in attempting to enter his room, was alarmed at the noise of the electric shocks. His mischievous side was again demonstrated by his last bit of naughtiness at school, despite these jocular incidents, a contemporary of Shelley, W. H. Merie, recalled that Shelley made no friends at Eton, although he did seek a kindred spirit without success
3.
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
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Marlow is a town and civil parish within Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames,4 miles south-southwest of High Wycombe,5 miles west-northwest of Maidenhead and 33 miles west of central London, the name is recorded in 1015 as Mere lafan, meaning Land left after the draining of a pond in Old English. From Norman times the manor, parish, and later borough were formally known as Great Marlow, the ancient parish was large, including rural areas north and west of the town. In 1896 the civil parish of Great Marlow, created in the 19th century from the ancient parish, was divided into Great Marlow Urban District, in 1897 the urban district was renamed Marlow Urban District, and the town has been known simply as Marlow. Marlow is recorded in the Domesday Book as Merlaue, magna Britannia includes the following entry for Marlow, The manor of Marlow, which had belonged to the Earls of Mercia, was given by William the Conqueror, to his Queen Matilda. It is now the property of Sir William Clayton bart, a descendant of the last purchaser. Marlow owed its importance to its location on the River Thames and it had its own market by 1227, although the market lapsed before 1600. From 1301 to 1307 the town had its own Member of Parliament, Marlow is adjoined by Marlow Bottom, a mile to the north. Little Marlow is nearby to the east along the A4155 Little Marlow Road, the weather vane on the building features a man firing a cannon and may date from that period. The building is now owned by the Bosley family, the Hand & Flowers, the first gastropub to hold two Michelin stars, is located on West Street. Like many local pubs, it serves the award-winning beers brewed locally in Marlow Bottom by the Rebellion Beer Company, Marlow is twinned with Marly-le-Roi, France, since 1980. Budavár, a district of Budapest, Hungary, the A4155 road runs through Marlow town centre, with the A404 lying one mile to the east, the M40 motorway further to the north, and the M4 motorway to the south. Marlow is served by a station which is the terminus of a single-track branch line from Maidenhead. The train service is known as the Marlow Donkey, which was the given to the steam locomotives that once operated on the line. There is also a pub with the name, located close to the railway station. Bus services are provided by Arriva and Carousel Buses to neighbouring towns including High Wycombe, Henley-on-Thames, the club is based by Marlow Bridge and exercises above and below the lock. Olympic lightweight mens double sculls gold-medallist at Beijing 2008 Zac Purchase is a member of Marlow Rowing Club. Marlow F. C. is the oldest football club in the town, another local football club, Marlow United F. C. has been promoted to the Hellenic Football League Premier Division for the 2008/09 season
4.
Lady of the Lake
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Lady of the Lake is the name of the ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend. She plays a role in many stories, including giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin. Different writers and copyists give the Arthurian character the name Nimue, Viviane, Vivien, Elaine, Ninianne, Nivian, Nyneve, or Evienne, among other variations. The Lancelot-Grail Cycle provides a backstory for the Lady of the Lake, Viviane, in the prose Merlin section, though Merlin, through his power of foresight knows beforehand that this will happen, he is unable to counteract Viviane because of the truth this ability of foresight holds. He decides to do nothing for his situation other than to continue to teach her his secrets until she takes the opportunity to entrap and entomb him in a tree, a stone or a cave. Sir Thomas Malory also uses both Ladies of the Lake in his Le Morte dArthur, he leaves the first one unnamed, Malorys original Lady is presented as an early benefactor of King Arthur who grants him Excalibur when his original sword is damaged. She is later beheaded by Sir Balin as a result of a kin feud between them and a dispute over an enchanted sword, according to the Vulgate Merlin, it was the goddess Dianas enchantment, given to Dyonas, that caused Viviane to be so alluring to Merlin. The Vulgate Lancelot tells us that she was the Queen of Sicily, the continuation post-vulgata Merlin describes how she killed her lover to be with another man, but then she was beheaded by this man to be a murderess. This story was transferred to a lake in France, and was later called the Lake of Diana. In Sir Thomas Malorys text, Le Morte DArthur, he refers to Nimue as one of two Ladies of the Lake, without Nimue the Arthurian tale would not be as potent as it is with her. Malorys Nimue does not conform to the stereotypes surrounding her role, firstly, it is not Nimues hand that juts out the lake to hand Excalibur to Arthur. According to Malory, this belongs to the other Lady of the Lake. In Malorys text, Nimues character evolves from the dependent maiden to a woman who takes charge in order to help. She is married to Sir Pelleas and outwardly acts as an obedient wife, Nimue is a different kind of woman, one who does not shrink behind the male figures in her life. Instead, she is pragmatic, unflappable, and knowledgeable, similarly, Malory also introduces a character named Nyneve. This woman is another character for whom the title Lady of the Lake fits, similar to Nymue, Nyneve is sympathetic to Arthur and also marries Pelleas. She heavily stresses justice based on the greater good, in Malorys text, Nyneve is loosely related to Arthur receiving Excalibur. In Le Morte DArthur this king receives Excalibur three times, Once from the stone, once from the unidentified Lady of the Lake and once in a battle from Nyneve
5.
Walter Scott
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Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature, famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Old Mortality, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. A prominent member of the Tory establishment in Edinburgh, Scott was an member of the Highland Society. He survived a bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders at his grandparents farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a cure at Prestonpans during the following summer. In 1778, Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to him for school. In October 1779 he began at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and he was now well able to walk and explore the city and the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books and he was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Church of Scotland with emphasis on the Covenanters. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of 12, in March 1786 he began an apprenticeship in his fathers office to become a Writer to the Signet. While at the university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson, Scott met the blind poet Thomas Blacklock, who lent him books and introduced him to James Macphersons Ossian cycle of poems. During the winter of 1786–87 the 15-year-old Scott saw Robert Burns at one of these salons, for what was to be their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem The Justice of the Peace and asked who had written the poem, only Scott knew that it was by John Langhorne, and was thanked by Burns. When it was decided that he would become a lawyer, he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in Moral Philosophy, after completing his studies in law, he became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyers clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction and he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, as a boy, youth and young man, Scott was fascinated by the oral traditions of the Scottish Borders
6.
Clinker (boat building)
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Clinker built is a method of boat building where the edges of hull planks overlap, called a land or landing. In craft of any size planks are also joined end to end into a strake, the technique developed in northern Europe and was successfully used by the Norsemen and typical for the Hanseatic cog. A contrasting method, where edges are butted smoothly seam to seam, is known as carvel construction. From clinch, or clench, a common Teutonic word, meaning “to fasten together”, overlapping seams already appear in the 4th century BC Hjortspring boat. The oldest evidence for a vessel, dendrochronologically dated to 190 AD, are boat fragments which were found in recent excavations at the site of the famous Nydam Boat. The Nydam Boat itself, built ca.320 AD, is the oldest preserved clinker-built boat, clinker-built ships were a trademark of Nordic navigation throughout the Middle Ages, particularly of the longships of the Norsemen explorers and the trading cogs of the Hanseatic League. In building a simple pulling boat, the keel, hog, stem, apron, deadwoods, sternpost and perhaps transom are assembled, in normal practice, this will be the same way up as they will be in use. From the hog, the garboard, bottom, bilge, topside and sheer strakes are planked up, at the stem and, in a double-ended boat, the sternpost, geralds are formed. That is, in case, the land of the lower strake is tapered to a feather edge at the end of the strake where it meets the stem or stern-post. This allows the end of the strake to be screwed to the apron with the outside of the planking mutually flush at that point and this means that the boats passage through the water will not tend to lift the ends of the planking away from the stem. Before the next plank is laid up, the face of the land on the lower strake is bevelled to suit the angle at which the next strake will lie in relation with it and this varies all along the land. Gripes are used to hold the new strake in position on the one before the fastening is done. Once the shell of planking is assembled, transverse battens of oak, ash or elm, called timbers are steam-bent to fit the internal, elm species are not durable where the boat is used frequently in fresh water. As the timbers are bent in, they are copper riveted to the shell, through the lands of the planking. On many clinker built craft, e. g. in Scandinavia, in Thames skiffs, sometimes the timbers in larger craft were also joggled before being steamed in. With the timbers all fitted, longitudinal members are bent in, the thwart risings are fastened through the timbers with its upper edge on the level of the undersides of the thwarts. Bilge keels are added to the outside of the land on which the boat would lie on a surface to stiffen it. A stringer is usually fitted round the inside of each bilge to strengthen it, in a small boat, this is usually arranged to serve also as a means of retaining the bottom boards
7.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
8.
Skiffing
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Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing a Thames skiff. A Thames skiff is a hand built clinker-built wooden craft of a design which has been seen on the River Thames and other waterways in England. Sculling means propelling the boat with a pair of oars as opposed to rowing which requires both hands on a single oar, Thames skiffs were developed in the 19th century primarily for leisure use by private individuals sculling themselves. The design was based on the Thames wherries and shallops that were operated by watermen as a taxi service in London. By the late 19th century, when Jerome K. Jerome wrote of his expedition in Three Men in a Boat, there were thousands of skiffs at places like Richmond, Kingston. However, there are references to skiffs as early as 1812 and 1824 at Oxford, in August 1815, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was taken on a skiffing expedition from Old Windsor to Lechlade by Charles Clairmont and Thomas Love Peacock. He subsequently settled at Marlow where he regularly skiffed through the locks, skiffs have fixed rather than sliding seats, and the blades are held in thole pins at the side of the boat rather than outriggers. The blades are made of wood with leather collars and traditional spoons, pressure is applied by the feet against an adjustable wooden plate known as a stretcher board. Skiffs are usually Singles with one sculler, or Doubles with two scullers and a cox, however skiffs with more scullers or incorporating a sail are also used. Skiffing takes place in the Netherlands and Argentina, using the design of traditional Thames skiff although Argentinian skiffs usually have outriggers instead of tholes, the skiff is designed for optimum performance and so the technique applied is important. The two fundamental reference points in the stroke are the catch where the blade is placed in the water, the skiffer leans forward, and bends the legs slightly. After placing the blade vertically in the water at the catch, he or she applies pressure to stretcher, levering the blade in the water on the thole and this is called the drive phase of the stroke. On the recovery, it is normal to tip the blade flat, there are some differences from the rowing stroke. The hands must never pass one above the other - one hand must always lead, the seat does not slide and the unbending of the legs follows from the leaning back of the body. Finally skiffs are more stable so that it is possible to back further. The last extra distance provides considerable motive power to the boat, skiffs have the advantage of being able to carry loads and are stable enough to allow occupants to stand up and move about while on the water. Skiffing is therefore an ideal introduction to rowing and river sports, Skiffing provides an opportunity for both short and extended recreational outings on the Thames and other waterways in Britain. The Thames meander is an example of a long distance skiff journey, for more leisurely progress, a camping skiff has an easily erectable canvas cover and is used for outdoor recreational activity holidays
9.
Henley-on-Thames
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One of its boundaries has the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 11,619. The first record of Henley is from 1179, when it is recorded that King Henry II had bought land for the making of buildings, King John granted the manor of Benson and the town and manor of Henley to Robert Harcourt in 1199. A church at Henley is first mentioned in 1204, in 1205 the town received a paviage grant, and in 1234 the bridge is first mentioned. In 1278 Henley is described as a hamlet of Benson with a chapel, the street plan was probably established by the end of the 13th century. As a demesne of the crown it was granted in 1337 to John de Molyns and it is said that members for Henley sat in parliaments of Edward I and Edward III, but no writs have been found to substantiate this. The existing Thursday market, it is believed, was granted by a charter of King John. A market was certainly in existence by 1269, however, the jurors of the assize of 1284 said that they did not know by what warrant the earl of Cornwall held a market, the existing Corpus Christi fair was granted by a charter of Henry VI. During the Black Death pandemic that swept through England in the 14th century, to the west it included Bell Street and the Market Place. Henry VIII granted the use of the mayor and burgess. The original charter was issued by Elizabeth I but replaced by one from George I in 1722, Henley suffered at the hands of both parties in the Civil War. Later, William III rested here on his march to London in 1688, at the recently rebuilt Fawley Court. The towns period of prosperity in the 17th and 18th centuries was due to manufactures of glass and malt, Henley-on-Thames supplied London with timber and grain. A workhouse to accommodate 150 people was built at West Hill in Henley in 1790, Henley Bridge is a five arched bridge across the river built in 1786. It is a Grade I listed building, during 2011 the bridge underwent a £200,000 repair programme after being hit by the boat Crazy Love in August 2010. About a mile upstream of the bridge is Marsh Lock, chantry House is the second Grade I listed building in the town. It is unusual in having more storeys on one side than on the other, the Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin is nearby, and has a 16th-century tower. The Old Bell is a pub in the centre of Henley, the building has been dated from 1325, the oldest-dated building in the town
10.
Maine
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Maine is the northernmost state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Maine is the 39th most extensive and the 41st most populous of the U. S. states and territories and it is bordered by New Hampshire to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the north. Maine is the easternmost state in the contiguous United States, and it is known for its jagged, rocky coastline, low, rolling mountains, heavily forested interior, and picturesque waterways, and also its seafood cuisine, especially clams and lobster. There is a continental climate throughout the state, even in areas such as its most populous city of Portland. For thousands of years, indigenous peoples were the inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine. At the time of European arrival in what is now Maine, the first European settlement in the area was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement was the short-lived Popham Colony, established by the Plymouth Company in 1607, as Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements had survived. Loyalist and Patriot forces contended for Maines territory during the American Revolution, Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820, when it voted to secede from Massachusetts to become an independent state. On March 15,1820, it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise, there is no definitive explanation for the origin of the name Maine, but the most likely origin is the name given by early explorers after a province in France. Whatever the origin, the name was fixed for English settlers in 1665 when the English Kings Commissioners ordered that the Province of Maine be entered from then on in official records. The state legislature in 2001 adopted a resolution establishing Franco-American Day, other theories mention earlier places with similar names, or claim it is a nautical reference to the mainland. Attempts to uncover the history of the name of Maine began with James Sullivans 1795 History of the District of Maine. He made the allegation that the Province of Maine was a compliment to the queen of Charles I, Henrietta Maria. MAINE appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 in reference to the county of Dorset, the view generally held among British place name scholars is that Mayne in Dorset is Brythonic, corresponding to modern Welsh maen, plural main or meini. Some early spellings are, MAINE1086, MEINE1200, MEINES1204, mason had served with the Royal Navy in the Orkney Islands where the chief island is called Mainland, a possible name derivation for these English sailors. Initially, several tracts along the coast of New England were referred to as Main or Maine, Maine is the only state whose name has exactly one syllable. The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples, including the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Penobscot, who had a loose confederacy. European contact with what is now called Maine started around 1200 CE when Norwegians interacted with the native Penobscot in present-day Hancock County, most likely through trade
11.
Moby-Dick
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Moby-Dick, or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. The novel was a failure and out of print at the time of the authors death in 1891. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world, call me Ishmael is among world literatures most famous opening sentences. The product of a year and a half of writing, the draws on Melvilles experience at sea, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare. The white whale is modeled on the hard to catch actual albino whale Mocha Dick. In addition to prose, Melville uses styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry, and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies. Hundreds of differences, mostly slight and some important, are seen between the two editions, the London publisher censored or changed sensitive passages and Melville made revisions, as well, including the last-minute change in the title for the New York edition. The whale, however, appears in both editions as Moby Dick, with no hyphen, because the British edition lacked the Epilogue, which accounts for Ishmaels survival, it seemed that the story was told by someone who was supposed to have perished. Many reviewers in British magazines recognized a violation of the rules of fiction, other reviewers, however, found the book too fascinating to dismiss it for these reasons. Some of the scornful British reviews were either reprinted or quoted in American periodicals, about 3,200 copies were sold during the authors life. Ishmael travels in December from Manhattan Island to New Bedford with plans to sign up for a whaling voyage, the inn where he arrives is overcrowded, so he must share a bed with the tattooed Polynesian Queequeg, a harpooneer whose father was king of the island of Rokovoko. The next morning, Ishmael and Queequeg attend Father Mapples sermon on Jonah, Ishmael signs up with the Quaker ship-owners Bildad and Peleg for a voyage on their whaler Pequod. Peleg describes Captain Ahab, Hes a grand, ungodly, god-like man who nevertheless has his humanities and they hire Queequeg the following morning. A man named Elijah prophesies a dire fate should Ishmael and Queequeg join Ahab, while provisions are loaded, shadowy figures board the ship. On a cold Christmas Day, the Pequod leaves the harbor, Ishmael discusses cetology, and describes the crew members. Ahab will give the first man to sight Moby Dick a doubloon, a gold coin, Starbuck objects that he has not come for vengeance but for profit. Ahabs purpose exercises a mysterious spell on Ishmael, Ahabs quenchless feud seemed mine, instead of rounding Cape Horn, Ahab heads for the equatorial Pacific Ocean via southern Africa. One afternoon, as Ishmael and Queequeg are weaving a mat — its warp seemed necessity, his free will
12.
Herman Melville
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Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee, an account of his experiences in Polynesian life. His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years and his writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. Born in New York City as the child of a merchant in French dry goods, Melvilles formal education ended abruptly after his father died in 1832. Melville briefly became a schoolteacher before he took to sea in 1839 as a sailor on a merchant ship. In 1840 he signed aboard the whaler Acushnet for his first whaling voyage, after further adventures, he returned to Boston in 1844. His first book, Typee, a romanticized account of his life among Polynesians, became such a best-seller that he worked up a sequel. These successes encouraged him to marry Elizabeth Shaw, of a prominent Boston family and his first novel not based on his own experiences, Mardi, is a sea narrative that develops into a philosophical allegory, but was not well received. Redburn, a story of life on a merchant ship, and his 1850 expose of harsh life aboard a Man-of-War, White-Jacket yielded warmer reviews, Moby-Dick was another commercial failure, published to mixed reviews. Melvilles career as a popular author effectively ended with the reception of Pierre. His Revolutionary War novel Israel Potter appeared in 1855, from 1853 to 1856, Melville published short fiction in magazines, most notably Bartleby, the Scrivener, The Encantadas, and Benito Cereno. These and three stories were collected in 1856 as The Piazza Tales. In 1857, he voyaged to England, where he reunited with Hawthorne for the first time since 1852, the Confidence-Man, was the last prose work he published during his lifetime. He moved to New York to take a position as Customs Inspector, battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War was his poetic reflection on the moral questions of the Civil War. In 1867 his oldest child, Malcolm, died at home from a self-inflicted gunshot, Clarel, A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land, a metaphysical epic, appeared in 1876. In 1886, his son, Stanwix, died and Melville retired. Melvilles death from disease in 1891 subdued a reviving interest in his work. The 1919 centennial of his became the starting point of the Melville Revival
