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
#7604 22395277_rot_p_4.jpg
behalf
circa 1884*-1891
#7249 22395232_rot_p_6.jpg
berries
circa 1884*-1891
#7670 22395283_rot_p_7.jpg
burning
circa 1884*-1891
#7467 22395259_rot_p_3.jpg
calamitous
circa 1884*-1891
#6635 22395179_rot_p_2.jpg
darn
circa 1884*-1891
#7162 22395223_rot_p_1.jpg
dove
circa 1884*-1891
#6941 22395203_rot_p_3.jpg
entire
circa 1884*-1891
#6344 22395159_rot_p_4.jpg
expression
circa 1884*-1891
#6617 22395177_rot_p_2.jpg
half
circa 1884*-1891
#7260 22395234_rot_p_1.jpg
invocation
circa 1884*-1891
#7169 22395223_rot_p_4.jpg
possessed
circa 1884*-1891
#6371 22395161_rot_p_3.jpg
serious
circa 1884*-1891
#6591 22395175_rot_p_3.jpg
served
circa 1884*-1891
#7667 22395283_rot_p_7.jpg
special
circa 1884*-1891
#7193 22395225_rot_p_4.jpg
unsophisticated