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
#6442 22395163_rot_p_4.jpg
aridity
circa 1884*-1891
#7467 22395259_rot_p_3.jpg
calamitous
circa 1884*-1891
#6680 22395181_rot_p_2.jpg
downhearted
circa 1884*-1891
#7877 22395689_rot_p_1.jpg
draw
circa 1884*-1891
#6780 22395195_rot_p_6.jpg
herself
circa 1884*-1891
#7620 22395277_rot_p_7.jpg
implying
circa 1884*-1891
#6610 22395175_rot_p_4.jpg
lightning
circa 1884*-1891
#6046 22395139_rot_p_4.jpg
neck
circa 1884*-1891
#6557 22395171_rot_p_5.jpg
ones
circa 1884*-1891
#7192 22395225_rot_p_3.jpg
remained
circa 1884*-1891
#6665 22395179_rot_p_4.jpg
rising
circa 1884*-1891
#6005 22395135_rot_p_2.jpg
seemed
circa 1884*-1891
#7682 22395285_rot_p_8.jpg
testament
circa 1884*-1891
#6975 22395207_rot_p_1.jpg
thanks
circa 1884*-1891
#7409 22395251_rot_p_2.jpg
thousands