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"A Medium in Which I Seek Relief": Manuscripts of American Sailors 1919-1940

Herman Melville and Sailors' Snug Harbor

In a tantalizing twist, Herman Melville was intimately connected to Sailors' Snug Harbor and its library through his brother, Captain Thomas Melville, who ran the institution from 1867-1884. According to John Rocco ("Wearily, we seek a haven"), Melville was considered “one of the most important leaders of Snug Harbor for modernizing the record keeping and expanding the population. Herman Melville and the Melville family spent many holidays at Sailors’ Snug Harbor during Thomas Melville’s tenure as Governor." Thomas Melville was known as a strict disciplinarian, a style rooted in the seven years he spent as commander of a clipper ship. At age 37 he married Catherine Bogart, daughter of Snug Harbor’s Chief Physician (Barry 96-98; Shepherd, 22-25). (Learn more about Thomas Melville and other governors of Sailors' Snug Harbor in this embedded timeline).

About 20 books from the Snug Harbor Library are preserved in the SUNY Maritime Archives. Among these, at least one was owned by Herman Melville: an 1813 edition of John Turnbull's A voyage round the world, in the years 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804. The title page is inscribed "Herman Melville April 10th 1847 New York." Discovering the signature was a great joy for the librarian and English faculty member who happened upon it while randomly browsing the archives.

The year Melville acquired the Turnbull book was an exciting time for the young Melville. He was an up and coming novelist in the New York literary scene; his first two books, Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847), received positive reviews and "quickly established Melville as a new voice in sea fiction" (Rocco, "Herman Melville"). These novels, based on Melville's own adventures in the South Seas earlier in the decade, echo the colonialist travelogue genre typified by Turnball, while simultaneously critiquing Western culture and Christian missionaries specifically (Rocco, "Herman Melville"). The subject matter both shocked and titillated readers.

By the time Thomas Melville became head of Sailors' Snug Harbor in 1867, Herman Melville's life had changed dramatically. His more experimental works - including his monumental masterpiece, Moby-Dick - were not well received in his own era. In 1866 he took a monotonous day job as a customs inspector, where he worked six days a week until 1885. Melville faded into obscurity, though he never stopped writing, focusing on short fiction and epic poetry (Rocco, "Herman Melville"). Perhaps Melville's trips to the opulent Snug Harbor grounds during this period were a diversion from his everyday routine, or an opportunity to reconnect with maritime culture.

Unfortunately, additional documentation relating to Herman Melville has not (yet) been located in the Snug Harbor archives. With 375 linear feet of materials, one never knows what might be hiding out in the boxes or leather bond volumes.

This page references:

A voyage round the world, in the years 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 by John Turnbull NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. Original is the property of the Trustees of the Sailors' Snug Harbor.
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