The bibliography of Herman Melville includes magazine articles, book reviews, other occasional writings, and 15 books. Of these, seven books were published between 1846 and 1853, seven more between 1853 and 1891, and one in 1924. Melville was 26 when his first book was published, and his last book was not released until 33 years after his death. At the time of his death he was on the verge of completing the manuscript for his first novel in three decades, Billy Budd, and had accumulated several large folders of unpublished verse.
The year 1853 saw a physical disaster that renders the books published by him in America prior to that date even more scarce today than would normally have been the case. At one o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday, December 10, 1853, the establishment of Melville's publishers Harper Brothers was completely destroyed by fire, reportedly caused by a plumber throwing a lit candle into a bucket of camphene, which he mistook for water. The fire burned Harper's stock of Melville's unsold books, which consisted of Typee, 185; Omoo, 276; Mardi, 491; Redburn, 296; White Jacket, 292; Moby-Dick, 297; and Pierre, 494. Mardi and Pierre, Melville's two least popular books, had the largest number of unsold copies burned. Isle of the Cross is a possible lost work that was rejected for publication in 1853. That year was also the beginning of the long period of unpopularity precipitated by the appearance of Pierre in 1852 and exacerbated by the publication of The Confidence-Man in 1857. Melville then turned his attention to poetry, to which he devoted more years than he had to fiction.. p. 136
A Melville revival that began in the 1920s led to the reprinting of many of his works, which had gone out of print in the United States, and the publication of the first collected edition.Herman Melville, The Works of Herman Melville (London: Constable, 1922–1924). In 1926, Moby-Dick was among the first titles in the newly founded Modern Library series. Beginning in 1948, independent publisher Walter Hendricks recruited scholars to edit annotated editions of Melville's works, beginning with a volume of his poetry.Library of Congress listings Produced under the general editorship of Howard P. Vincent, the series was originally projected to include 14 volumes but in the end only 7 appeared.
Melville's lifetime earnings from his first seven books (over a period of 41 years, from 1846 to 1887) amounted to $10,444.53, of which $5,966.40 came from American publishers and $4,478.13 from British. The bestselling title in the United States was Typee (with 9,598 copies). The book that earned Melville the most in the United States was Omoo ($1,719.78).
Reference edition The scholarly reference edition is The Northwestern-Newberry Edition of the Writings of Herman Melville published in fifteen volumes by Northwestern University Press in conjunction with the Newberry Library and the Modern Language Association's Center for Scholarly Editions between 1968 and 2017, under the general editorship of Harrison Hayford, Hershel Parker and G. Thomas Tanselle.About Northwestern University Press Search at NU Press website
Its aim is to present unmodernized critical texts which represent "as nearly as possible the author's intentions." The editors adopted as copy text either the author's fair-copy manuscript or the first printing based on it, which were then collated against any further printings in Melville's lifetime, since he might have made corrections or changes. In the case of Moby-Dick, for instance, after collating the American and British editions from the various printings, the editors adopted 185 revisions and corrections from the English edition and incorporated 237 emendations made by the editors. The editorial appendices for each volume include an historical note on composition and publication, an extensive account of the editorial process, a list of emendations and changes, as well as related documents.
All volumes remain in print in one format or another.Melville, Northwestern University Press. Accessed May 21, 2026. Individual volumes are edited by Hayford, Parker and Tanselle unless otherwise indicated.
Typee, A Peep at Polynesian Life (1968) Omoo, A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1968) Mardi and a Voyage Thither (1970) Redburn, His First Voyage (1969) White Jacket, or The World in a Man-of-War (1970) Moby-Dick, or The Whale (1988) Pierre, or The Ambiguities (1972) Israel Potter, His Fifty Years of Exile (1982) The Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, 1839–1860 (1987) edited by Hayford, Tanselle and Alma MacDougall Reising The Confidence-Man, His Masquerade (1984) Published Poems (2009) edited by Hayford, Tanselle, Robert C. Ryan and Alma MacDougall Reising Clarel, A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (1991) edited by Hayford, Parker, Tanselle and Alma MacDougall Reising Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Uncompleted Writings (2017) edited by Hayford, Tanselle, Robert A. Sandberg and Alma MacDougall Reising Correspondence (1993) edited by Lynn Horth Journals (1989) edited by Howard C. Horsford and Lynn Horth
The only previous collected edition of Melville's works was published in sixteen volumes by Constable of London between 1922 and 1924 under the supervision of Michael Sadleir.Aimery de France Dunlap-Smith, "Raymond Weaver, Melville Revival Pioneer: An Annotated Checklist", Leviathan, vol. 15, no. 1 (March 2013), pp. 63–80. Accessed through the Wikipedia Library (Project Muse), May 22, 2026. The Piazza Tales (1856), The Confidence-Man (1857), Battle-Pieces (1866) and Clarel (1876) were reprinted in this edition for the first time since their original publication.Meade Minnigerode, Some Personal Letters of Herman Melville and a Bibliography (New York and New Haven: Edmond Byrne Hackett, 1922), pp. 171–182. It also included the first publication of Billy Budd. Melville's earliest biographer, Raymond Weaver, is credited as the editor of the Billy Budd volume (the thirteenth, Billy Budd and Other Prose Pieces, 1924), but not of the edition as a whole. The Constable set was reissued in facsimile by Russell & Russell of New York in 1963. The Pequod Edition launched in 1924 by Albert & Charles Boni of New York under the editorship of Raymond Weaver was abandoned after four volumes (Israel Potter and Redburn in 1924, Moby-Dick and Mardi in 1925).G. Thomas Tanselle, A Checklist of Editions of Moby-Dick 1851–1976 (Evanston and Chicago: Northwestern University Press and The Newberry Library, 1976), p. 15.
Novels TitleDateFirst publisherNotesTypee: A Peep at Polynesian Life1846John MurrayMurray purchased the English rights to print 1000 copies for £100. It first appeared in two parts in Murray's Home and Colonial Library, Part I, February 26, 1846; Part II, April 1, 1846. Four thousand copies of the first edition of the book were printed.
The American rights were purchased by Wiley & Putnam after John Murray had agreed to publish the book in England, so that the credit of having first recognized Melville belongs to Murray's London publishing house. It appeared in book form in 1846 simultaneously in New York and London, being one of the first works to be published in this manner.
The sequel, containing "The Story of Toby", was written in July, 1846, and incorporated in the Revised Edition published in the same year. Extracts from the Sequel were also published prior to its appearance in book form. In England, John Murray paid an additional £50 for the Sequel, which was first printed as a small pamphlet in an edition of 1250 copies, and subsequently incorporated in the book.
Reprinted: New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1847; Harpers, 1849 (new copyright, printed from original plates); 1850; 1855; 1857; 1865; 1871; 1876; Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1892; 1896; W. Clark Russell, Ed., 1904; Ernest Rhys, Ed., 1907; W. Clark Russell, Ed., 1911; A. L. Sterling, Ed., 1920; Ernest Rhys, Ed., 1921. Boston: Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1900; 1910; 1919; W. P. Trent, Ed., 1902. London: John Murray, 1847 (1000 copies); 1848 (1000 copies); 1850; 1855 (750 copies); 1861; 1866; 1877 (500 copies); 1893 (1000 copies); Routledge, 1855 (6000 copies); 1910; H. S. Salt, Ed., 1892; 1898, 1899; W. P. Trent, Ed., 1903; W. Clark Russell, Ed., 1904; 1910; Ernest Rhys, Ed., 1907; 1921.Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas1847John MurrayThe manuscript was written in 1846, and the book was published in March, 1847. In England, John Murray paid £150 for the copyright. Together with Typee, Omoo was one of the earliest works to be published simultaneously in New York and London. The first English edition consisted of 4000 copies.
The Harper Brothers published in New York the same year. In their catalog for 1847 the book was advertised: "Muslin $1.25, paper $1.00." In 1849 Harper advertised: "In two parts 50 cents each, or complete in muslin gilt $1.25."
Reprinted: New York: Harpers, 1847 (four re-printings); 1855; 1863; 1868; Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1892 (new copyright); 1896; H. Clark Russell, Ed., 1904; 1911; Ernest Rhys, Ed., 1908, 1921. Boston: Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1900; 1910; 1919. London: John Murray, 1848 (1000 copies); 1849; 1850; 1861 (1000 copies); 1866; 1877 (500 copies); 1893 (1000 copies); Routledge, 1855 (6000 copies); 1910; H. S. Salt, Ed., 1892; 1893; H. Clark Russell, Ed., 1904; 1911; Ernest Rhys, Ed., 1908; 1921.Mardi: And a Voyage Thither1849Richard BentleyThe novel appeared in two volumes on March 16, 1849, in London (1000 copies), and on April 14, 1849, in New York in three volumes. It was the first Melville book published in England by Bentley. Raymond Weaver stated that up to February 22, 1850, 2154 copies were sold.
Reprinted: New York: Harpers, 1855; 1864.Redburn: His First Voyage1849Harper & BrothersThe manuscript was written in New York during the summer of 1849. The book appeared on August 18, 1849, in New York, and on September 29, 1849, in London (750 copies). Weaver stated that up to February 22, 1850, 4011 copies were sold.
Reprinted: New York: Harpers, 1850; 1855; 1863. London: Bentley, 1853.White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War1850Richard BentleyThe manuscript was written in New York City during the summer of 1849. In November of that year Melville went to London to dispose of it. Richard Bentley offered £200 for the English rights to print 1000 copies. The manuscript was refused by Murray, Colbour, and Moxon. Finally, in December, Bentley confirmed his previous offer, and accepted the manuscript for publication at the end of March, 1850 (1000 copies). The American Harpers edition came after the English.
Reprinted: New York: Harper, 1855; Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1892; 1896. Boston: Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1900; 1910; 1919. London: 1855; 1892; 1893; 1901.Moby-Dick; or, The Whale 1851Richard BentleyThe manuscript was written at Arrowhead, Massachusetts, in 1850–1851 and was first published in October, 1851. In England Richard Bentley agreed to pay £150 for the first 1000 copies, and half profits thereafter. The American edition (Harpers: 1 volume) is subsequent to the English (3 volumes, 500 copies) and contained thirty-five passages omitted from the English edition. The published price was $1.50.
Reprinted: New York: Harper, 1863, Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1892; 1896. Another edition, 1892; 1899; Ernest Rhys, Ed., 1907; 1921. Dodd Mead, 1922. Boston: Arthur Stedman, Ed., 1900; 1910; 1919.