November 14, 1851 –
Harper & Brothers published Herman Melville’s most famous novel on this date.
Titled Moby-Dick, the tale is teeming with seamen, spermaceti, and rigid harpoons. Scholars continue to debate its symbolism. The British publisher accidentally left out the ending – the epilogue – which confused many British readers. Without it, there was no explanation for how Ishmael, the narrator, survived to tell the tale. It appeared as though he died along with everyone else on the ship. The reviews from Britain were harsh, and the mistake proved costly to Melville.
Oops.
In America, Moby-Dick sold for $1.50 and included the epilog (the great savings apparently came from leaving off the “ue”). At the time, Americans deferred to British critical opinion, and many American newspaper editors reprinted British reviews without actually reading the American edition with the proper ending. One reviewer claimed the book wasn’t worth more than 25 cents. It took only two weeks for the publisher to realize that Moby-Dick would sell even fewer copies than Melville’s previous books. Over his lifetime, Melville’s royalties added up to only about $10,000.
These days, college students buy 20,000 copies of Moby-Dick every year.
Melville said, “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
The Haus of Dcaligari 