Redburn
Encyclopedia
Redburn: His First Voyage is a novel by Herman Melville
published on September 29, 1849, by Richard Bentley
in London and on November 14, 1849, by Harper & Brothers
in New York City.
(1846) and Omoo
(1847). Redburn is a semi-autobiographical novel concerning the sufferings of a refined youth among coarse and brutal sailors and the seedier areas of Liverpool
. This theme of a youth confronted by realities and evils for which he is unprepared—or incorrectly prepared by both family and American institutions—is a prominent one in Melville's works.
The novel is not generally considered as profound as Melville's later works, the most notable being Moby-Dick
.
With Redburn, Melville returned to a more commercial format after the failure of his allegorical novel Mardi
, which was published earlier in the year. Redburn employed a straightforward, travelogue-like narrative in the traditions of his earliest work. Redburn does make some social criticisms, including attacks on the evils of drinking alcohol.
Redburn contains one of the more notable examples of spontaneous combustion
in literature, along with Charles Dickens
' Bleak House
.
."
Redburn was published in the United States in November 1849. Melville referred to it and his next book White-Jacket
as "two jobs which I have done for money—being forced to it as other men are to sawing wood". After it was praised, Melville felt guilt and wrote in his journal, "I, the author, know [it] to be trash, & wrote it to buy some tobacco with".
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
published on September 29, 1849, by Richard Bentley
Richard Bentley
Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge....
in London and on November 14, 1849, by Harper & Brothers
Harper & Brothers
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins.-History:James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishing business J. & J. Harper in 1817. Their two brothers, Joseph Wesley Harper and Fletcher Harper, joined them...
in New York City.
Overview
The author returned to the tone of his first novels, TypeeTypee
Typee is American writer Herman Melville's first book, a classic in the literature of travel and adventure partly based on his actual experiences as a captive on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands, in 1842...
(1846) and Omoo
Omoo
Omoo: A Narrative of the South Seas is Herman Melville's sequel to Typee, and, as such, was also autobiographical. After leaving Nuku Hiva, the main character ships aboard a whaling vessel which makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and the majority of the crew are imprisoned on...
(1847). Redburn is a semi-autobiographical novel concerning the sufferings of a refined youth among coarse and brutal sailors and the seedier areas of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. This theme of a youth confronted by realities and evils for which he is unprepared—or incorrectly prepared by both family and American institutions—is a prominent one in Melville's works.
The novel is not generally considered as profound as Melville's later works, the most notable being Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
.
With Redburn, Melville returned to a more commercial format after the failure of his allegorical novel Mardi
Mardi
Mardi, and a Voyage Thither is the third book by American author Herman Melville, first published in 1849.-Overview:Mardi is Melville's first pure fiction work...
, which was published earlier in the year. Redburn employed a straightforward, travelogue-like narrative in the traditions of his earliest work. Redburn does make some social criticisms, including attacks on the evils of drinking alcohol.
Redburn contains one of the more notable examples of spontaneous combustion
Spontaneous human combustion
Spontaneous human combustion describes reported cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition...
in literature, along with Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
.
Character List
- Wellingborough Redburn (a.k.a., Buttons)
- Mr. Jones
- Captain Riga
- The Highlander Crew
- Jackson
- Max the Dutchman
- Mr Thompson
- Lavender
- Jack Blunt
- Larry
- Gun-Deck
- The Liverpool Docks
- Danby
- Mary, Danby's wife
- Bob Still, Danby's old crony
- Townspeople, other foreign sailors, policemen, the poor, the beggars, the depraved
- Harry Bolton
- Miguel Saveda
- Carlo
- The O'Briens and the O'Regans
- Goodwell
Development & publication history
The first know allusion to Redburn appeared in a letter to Melville's English publisher, in the late spring of 1849, in which he stated the novel would be practical rather than follow the "unwise" course of his heavily-criticised previous novel, Mardi. . This more commercial approach to writing came as Melville's working conditions worsened and his family obligations increased. Now living with him in the small house in New York city were his wife, child, mother, sisters, and his brother Allen with his wife and child. Melville later portrayed himself at this time as being forced to write "with duns all around him, & looking over the back of his chair—& perching on his pen & diving in his inkstand—like the devils about St. AnthonyAnthony the Great
Anthony the Great or Antony the Great , , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was a Christian saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers...
."
Redburn was published in the United States in November 1849. Melville referred to it and his next book White-Jacket
White-Jacket
White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, usually referred to as White-Jacket, is an 1850 novel by Herman Melville first published in England on January 23 by Richard Bentley and in the U.S...
as "two jobs which I have done for money—being forced to it as other men are to sawing wood". After it was praised, Melville felt guilt and wrote in his journal, "I, the author, know [it] to be trash, & wrote it to buy some tobacco with".