Handwriting History collection:
Herman Melville wrote and revised the manuscript for Billy Budd from approximately 1884—1891. Melville had a wide range of handwriting styles, from carefully considered to hastily scribbled. His range of writing offers us a sterling opportunity to explore variations in personal handwriting styles and to test our abilities to read them.
The ink examples on the website are drawn from chapters 1—5; the pencil examples are from chapter 20.
The words and phrases have been checked for accuracy against the Melville Electronic Library edition.
Contact us for scholar or instructor access if you would like it.
Please send questions and requests for access to david@americanpaleography.org
David Kaminski
See an assortment of the exhibited words and other polygons here:
circa 1884*-1891
#6083 22395141_rot_p_1.jpg
assortment
circa 1884*-1891
#7461 22395259_rot_p_3.jpg
background
circa 1884*-1891
#7851 22395685_rot_p_2.jpg
case
circa 1884*-1891
#6167 22395149.jpg
cheerily
circa 1884*-1891
#7828 22395685_rot_p_2.jpg
court
circa 1884*-1891
#7507 22395267_rot_p_5.jpg
crown
circa 1884*-1891
#6129 22395145_rot_p_1.jpg
extinct
circa 1884*-1891
#6709 22395185_rot_p_3.jpg
Jove
circa 1884*-1891
#6066 22395139_rot_p_4.jpg
July
circa 1884*-1891
#7000 22395207_rot_p_3.jpg
multitude
circa 1884*-1891
#7834 22395685_rot_p_2.jpg
nothing
circa 1884*-1891
#6984 22395207_rot_p_3.jpg
novice
circa 1884*-1891
#7603 22395275_rot_p_6.jpg
reasons
circa 1884*-1891
#7226 22395227_rot_p_3.jpg
submitted
circa 1884*-1891
#6555 22395171_rot_p_5.jpg
virtue