HERMAN MELVILLE - AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED 03/08/1882 - HFSID 350437

HERMAN MELVILLE
Autograph Quotation signed by Herman Melville, one of the rarest of all signatures, framed with a picture of Melville and an explanatory metal plaque.
AQS: "Hours bright./Herman Melville/March 8, 1882.", 7¾x4¾. Herman Melville (1819-1891) worked at a young age as a cabin boy and sailor on merchant vessels. During an unsuccessful whaling expedition, he took part in a mutiny, was jailed and escaped. His seafaring inspired many of his later works, including Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846), Omoo, a Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847) and his masterpiece, Moby Dick (1851). Moby Dick, unlike his earlier works, was neither a critical or financial success. Melville's later writings, such as Pierre (1852), The Confidence Man (1857) and the short stories "Bartleby the Scrivener" and "The Encantadas" reflected his despair and contempt for society's corruption, hypocrisy and materialism. He wrote this quotation at a period during which he withdrew from the literary world and took work as a customs inspector on the docks of New York. Melville returned to writing and published a collection of poetry, John Marr, and Other Sailors, as well as With Some Sea-Pieces (1888) and wrote a new novel, Billy Budd, unpublished until 1924. One of the rarest of all signatures. Lightly creased with folds, light vertical folds touch writing and signature. Erased notes (unknown hand) at lower right blank area. Overall, fine condition. Framed, 27x16½.