Bibliographical Problems in Melville

Abstract

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PROBLEMS IN MELVILLE G. Thomas Tanselle* In recent years more attention than ever before has been focused on the bibliographical problems raised by nineteenth-century American fiction as a result of the large editorial projects now in progress under the auspices of the Center for Editions of American Authors. Many of these problems are common ones, occurring in connection with each author— indeed, common to editorial work in general—but their range and character can be better understood as more specific examples from individual writers are brought together. I think that a survey of some of the problems which have arisen in the course of editing Melville for the Northwestern-Newberry Edition and of preparing a descriptive bibliography of his works can illustrate some of these common issues, even though Melville cannot be regarded as a typical case. The fact that his books were not widely popular in his own time and that his reputation did not begin to rise until the 1920s has resulted in a different bibliographical situation from that which exists for most of the other nineteenth-century American novelists now highly regarded. In one respect this situation makes the bibliographer's task easier, and in another respect more difficult. It is easier because there are fewer early editions to deal with: no book of Melville's appeared in an authorized edition during his lifetime other than in the original American and English editions (and in seven instances there is not even an English edition),1 whereas The Scarlet Letter, for example, went through three authorized American editions during Hawthorne's lifetime, as well as one English;2 as for early posthumous editions, only four of Melville's books were newly set in type before 1920,3 in contrast to the series of uniform editions of Hawthorne which Osgood and Houghton Mifflin published during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. But if Melville is relatively uncomplicated in this respect, his belated recognition creates problems for bibliographers in locating copies of his books, since edition sizes were likely to be small4 and since individuals were not inclined to preserveor collect his books at an early date. The situation is *G. Thomas Tanselle, Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, is Bibliographical Editor of the Northwestern-Newberry Edition of The Writings of Herman Melville and has recently published a Guide to the Study of United States Imprints. 58G. Thomas Tanselle symbolized by two auctions at Bangs & Company in 1894: in November the Charles B. Foote collection of Hawthorne filled seven pages of the sale catalogue, and Foote's copy of The Scarlet Letter brought $27 and of Fanshawe $155; the following month four of Melville's books— including Moby-Dick—were lumped together as a single lot, which sold for a total of $8.13 (and three years later seven of his books in a single lot fetched only $12).5 Despite these special circumstances, bibliographical work on Melville does involve many of the same problems raised by other nineteenth-century authors, and I should like to call attention to some of them from the point of view of the descriptive bibliographer and of the editor—for the CEAA editions have furnished ample evidence of the inseparability of descriptive bibliography and editing. To begin with, the bibliographer and editor must attempt to uncover all extant documents relating to the publication of an author's works, and in particular the location of publishers' records is likely to be a problem for those working on nineteenth-century American authors, since fewer American than British records for that period seem to have survived (even allowing for the destruction of papers in London during the second World War) . The facts about printing and sales of the English editions of Melville in the files of the present-day John Murray and Longman firms and in the Bentley Papers in the British Museum are more extensive than what would be known about the American editions if one had to rely on material in publishers' archives. Fortunately, Melville saved most of his statements of account, which are now among his other papers in the Houghton Library; as a result, what appear to be...