Books and Marginalia, Real and Virtual

Books and reading played an enormously important role in Herman Melville’s intellectual and creative life. One might expect as much about any author of stature, but in Melville’s case-and by extension in the scholarly field devoted to his thought and writing-their significance is especially deep and pervasive. In literary composition, Melville relied more directly than most other authors on material and inspiration from printed works. Melville had accumulated a large library of volumes containing markings and notes that spanned his reading life. The expanding evidence of Melville’s reading and of digital methods for analyzing it offers some of the most intriguing prospects available for advancing our understanding of his craft and thought.