August 26, 2012

Celebrating Herman Melville’s birthday

by

Today marks a special occasion here at Melville House as we celebrate the birthday of our namesake.

Author of many famous poems, short stories, and novels, Herman Melville was born in 1819 in New York and lived in the city on and off for significant periods during his lifetime. Though he died in near obscurity, Melville is now a legendary man of letters, and he’s been bestowed posthumously with many honors, including Herman Melville Square (Park Avenue South and 26th Street) and the Livyatan melvilleii, a giant sperm whale named in his honor.

To celebrate, Melville House is giving away three birthday bundles, which include copies of the novellas Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivener, as well as our “I Would Prefer Not To” t-shirts.

To enter the contest, tweet some of your favorite lines from Melville’s books with the hashtag #melvillebday, or just post them in the comments section below.

We’ll select three winners at random and announce the names toward the end of the business day.

Hungry for more things Herman Melville? Check out these stories from MobyLives:

+ 25 types of beards
+ Melville’s passport application
+ Moby-Dick reading marathon
+ Herman Melville and the new polytheism
+ 160 years of Moby-Dick
+ Illuminations for Bartleby the Scrivener
+ Herman Melville etsy doll
+ Moby-Dick toilet paper

 

MobyLives