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
#6231 22395153_rot_p_3.jpg
those
circa 1884*-1891
#6424 22395163_rot_p_2.jpg
great
circa 1884*-1891
#6624 22395177_rot_p_2.jpg
heard
circa 1884*-1891
#6661 22395179_rot_p_2.jpg
peacemaker
circa 1884*-1891
#6688 22395181_rot_p_4.jpg
assured
circa 1884*-1891
#6889 22395199_rot_p_9.jpg
able-seaman
circa 1884*-1891
#6891 22395201_rot_p_1.jpg
service
circa 1884*-1891
#6963 22395205_rot_p_2.jpg
oweing
circa 1884*-1891
#7117 22395215_rot_p_6.jpg
questions
circa 1884*-1891
#7201 22395225_rot_p_6.jpg
vices
circa 1884*-1891
#7279 22395234_rot_p_1.jpg
blemish
circa 1884*-1891
#7445 22395257_rot_p_3.jpg
fastidiousness
circa 1884*-1891
#7642 22395281_rot_p_4.jpg
proceeding
circa 1884*-1891
#7802 22395685_rot_n_1.jpg
Was
circa 1884*-1891
#7905 22395689_rot_p_1.jpg
there