a partial return to the author's earlier style. In 'White-Jacket;
or, the World in a Man-of-War' (1850), Melville almost regained it. This
book has no equal as a picture of life aboard a sailing man-of-war, the
lights and shadows of naval existence being well contrasted.

With 'Moby Dick; or, the Whale' (1851), Melville reached the topmost
notch of his fame. The book represents, to a certain extent, the
conflict between the author's earlier and later methods of composition,
but the gigantic conception of the 'White Whale,' as Hawthorne expressed
it, permeates the whole work, and lifts it bodily into the highest
domain of romance. 'Moby Dick' contains an immense amount of information
concerning the habits of the whale and the methods of its capture, but
this is characteristically introduced in a way not to interfere with
the narrative. The chapter entitled 'Stubb Kills a Whale' ranks with the
choicest examples of descriptive literature.

'Moby Dick' appeared, and Melville enjoyed to the full the enhanced
reputation it brought him. He did not, however, take warning from
'Mardi,' but allowed himself to plunge more deeply into the sea of
philosophy and fantasy.

'Pierre; or, the Ambiguities' (1852) was published, and there ensued
a long series of hostile criticisms, ending with a severe, though
impartial, article by Fitz-James O'Brien in Putnam's Monthly. About the
same time the whole stock of the author's books was destroyed by fire,
keeping them out of print at a critical moment; and public interest,
which until then had been on the increase, gradually began to diminish.

After this Mr. Melville contributed several short stories to Putnam's
Monthly and Harper's Magazine. Those in the former periodical were
collected in a volume as Piazza Tales (1856); and of these 'Benito
Cereno' and 'The Bell Tower' are equal to his best previous efforts.

'Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile' (1855), first printed as a
serial in Putnam's, is an historical romance of the American Revolution,
based on the hero's own account of his adventures, as given in a little
volume picked up by Mr. Melville at a book-stall. The story is well
told, but the book is hardly worthy of the author of 'Typee.' 'The
Confidence Man' (1857), his last serious effort in prose fiction, does
not seem to require criticism.

Mr. Melville's pen had rested for nearly ten years, when it was again
taken up to celebrate the events of the Civil War. 'Battle Piece